90,000 men and women are deployed in Europe during the Steadfast Defender 2024 exercise, the largest ever orchestrated by NATO since 1988. In the air, at sea and on land, the armed forces of the 32 member countries work on their automatisms, via a confrontation scenario against a power which has all the trappings of the Russian army. “We must prepare for anything that can happen after Ukraine. Vladimir Putin wants to restore the great Russian empire, that is a challenge for us,” advises Norwegian general Terje Bruøygard.
In the Far North, the war in Ukraine has revived the desire to conduct large-scale exercises, in the event that the master of the Kremlin would like to push his pawns there in a few years. The slow disappearance of the Arctic sea ice also opens up considerable economic opportunities (maritime routes, hydrocarbon deposits, etc.). Appetites are whetting, the region is becoming militarized.
In this new large video format, L’Express tells how the Far North, once a land of peace and low interest, has become over the years a highly strategic area. You can discover it on our site, and on all our social networks.