NATO begins large-scale military exercises in Poland
Anakonda-2018 military exercises start in Poland on Wednesday, November 7. These are the largest maneuvers for the Polish armed forces in 2018.
The stated objective of the exercises is the integration of national and allied structures and troops to conduct strategic defensive operations against conventional and hybrid threats. Their main focus is cooperation between military authorities and civil authorities and separate elements of the command structures of NATO.
Servicemen from ten NATO countries will participate in Anakonda-2018. Operating out of Poland and the Baltic States, international air space and the waters of the Baltic Sea will become the theater for the exercises. For the first time in the history, Anakonda exercises will be held in the territory of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Polish military authorities stated that the exercises are not aimed against any State. However, most military experts believe that Anakonda-2018 is NATO’s response to the Belarusian-Russian exercises, Zapad-2017.