TALLINN, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – More than 130 Estonian servicemen flew to Poland Monday morning to take part in a NATO exercise, Estonia’s defense high command said.
About 6,000 servicemen from NATO’s 28 states will participate in Exercise Steadfast Jazz 2013, which will take place in Poland and the Baltic States between November 2 and 6.
The primary purpose of the exercise is to test the command and control elements of NATO’s Response Force, the alliance says.
In late July, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov criticized what he described as the “Cold War” spirit of the NATO exercise, specifically its scenario of rebuffing an act of aggression against Poland under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
Under Article 5, any attack on a NATO member is considered to be an attack on the alliance as a whole.
