STOCKHOLM (Sputnik) — The second bi-annual Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015 in northern Sweden, Norway and Finland kicked off Monday and is due to wrap up on June 2.
With Norway as a lead nation, the fighter jet drills involve some 115 aircraft, including tanker aircraft and 3,600 personnel, from the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The ACE 2015 operational theater is divided between northeast Norway's Bodo Air Station, northern Finland's Rovaniemi Air Force base and northwest Sweden's Kallas.
All three of the High North locations are in close proximity to the Arctic Circle, a high-interest region for Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway.
"Instead of playing war with NATO in Northern Europe, the government should work for detente between the power blocs."
Backers of the exercises in Sweden have argued on the eve of the drills their usefulness for the country's international cooperation, adding their particular importance in the wake of what is perceived as a threat to EU and NATO members' security from Russia.
Hirdman, who served as Sweden's ambassador to Russia in the early 2000s, disagrees with these assessments and believes they are mistaken.
"The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is rooted in the Soviet Union. There are no objective reasons that Russia would consider acts of aggression against the EU or NATO."
Arctic Challenge Exercise drills began in 2009 on the basis of Sweden's Nordic Air Meet and Finnish-Swedish cross border training.
