"In 2024, the Alliance will be holding its largest collective defense exercise since the Cold War: STEADFAST DEFENDER. Over 40,000 troops from across the Alliance will exercise in Germany, Poland and the three Baltic States," Bauer was quoted as saying by NATO at a joint press conference with the head of the Norwegian armed forces, Eirik Kristoffersen.
The alliance is stepping into a "new era of collective defense," Bauer added.
Steadfast Defender is an annual NATO-led exercise designed to ensure that the alliance's forces are trained, able to operate together, and are ready to respond to any threat from any direction.
Meanwhile, Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chief of staff of the Italian armed forces, was elected Saturday as the new chairman of NATO's Military Committee and will take office in six months, the alliance said.
The same meeting also decided to retain the current chairman of NATO's Military Committee, Adm. Rob Bauer, for another six months.
"On 16 September 2023, the NATO Chiefs of Defence agreed to extend the mandate of the current Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer for an extra 6 months, and elect the Italian Chief of Defence, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone as his successor," NATO said in a statement following a meeting of the alliance's chiefs of staff in Oslo.