Della Rocca (ARF): NATO, facing most dangerous and unpredictable security environment

 NATO is facing "the most dangerous and unpredictable security environment" in decades, the representative of the Allied Reaction Force (ARF), Colonel Raffaele Della Rocca, said on Monday.He participated, along with the representative of the the Ministry of National Defence Joint Forces Command (CFI-MApN), Colonel Bogdan Tudorache, at the press conference for the presentation of the multinational exercise STEADFAST DART 25 (STDT 25), taking place in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania."For 75 years, the Allies have worked together for the security of the population. NATO is a defensive alliance. There is no doubt that NATO is ready, willing and able to defend every inch of allied territory, if need be. The Alliance is currently facing the most dangerous and unpredictable security environment in decades," Della Rocca said.He explained that following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, NATO leaders met in Brussels to discuss the consequences of this action. At the Madrid Summit in June 2022, Allied leaders made the decision to strengthen the Alliance by creating a new NATO force model, the ARF, thus improving the Alliance's ability to "face any scenario".With the ARF, he added, "the Alliance is able to offer a wider range of forces available to respond at very short notice to emergency situations".This involves forces in multiple areas, rapidly deployable for defence and deterrence. ARF command is executed on a rotational basis, Della Rocca added.The colonel explained that STDT 25 had a force deployment stage starting with the beginning of the year until February 7 and one to highlight readiness on the Eastern Flank, which ends February 21.The scenario of the exercise, he further showed, does not target a specific nation, but "is a simulation of a crisis situation that threatens the Alliance", adding that "one of the goals is to strengthen the Eastern Flank".As regards the displacement involved for this exercise, Della Rocca said that "deploying such a large number of people and equipment from one country to another means various challenges related to infrastructure, logistics, interoperability or coordination"."We can say that it was a relatively successful phase. We can expect some small problems, but I think that in Romania, the impact on the citizens has been very small," he emphasized.In his turn, the representative of the Joint Forces Command (CFI-MApN), Colonel Bogdan Tudorache, said that this type of exercise represents our country's commitment to NATO."This is the only way we can show our level of interoperability. This is how we train together and find out the best procedures to fight together with our allies," he emphasized.Tudorache said that 1,150 Romanian soldiers and 120 military equipment are part of STDT 25, including 10 helicopters and four F-16 aircraft.One of the most important events of the multinational military exercise will take place at the Smardan firing range.STDT 25 brings together 10,000 military personnel from nine allied countries: Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkey, United Kingdom and France.The equipment involved belongs to the land, air and naval forces of the allied countries - 17 naval vessels, more than 20 aircraft and more than 1,500 military land vehicles. (photo:https://shape.nato.int/)