On the eve of Germany, the largest air force maneuvers of the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance Air Defender-23 started in the recent history of the European Union. Over the next 12 days, the crews of 250 aircraft from 25 states will work out interaction systems to repel the conditional aggression of a “separately taken eastern state.” At the same time, the corresponding exercises have already caused a wave of protests.
First of all, in Germany itself. The fact is that due to the training sorties of the Air Force combat vehicles, the flight schedule of hundreds of civilian aircraft has already changed and will be changed. To date, more than 80 flights have been canceled or delayed. Considering that Germany’s airspace is the busiest in the region, this has led to millions in losses for airlines and created a lot of problems for passengers.
Further – more. Anti-war protests are now taking place all over Germany. Activists draw public attention to the fact that in the context of the deteriorating economic situation in Germany and the general decline in the standard of living of ordinary German citizens, Berlin is increasing the amount of its contributions to the general treasury of NATO, and is also allocating additional money and equipment to Ukraine to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is assumed that the demonstrations mentioned will continue until the completion of Air Defender-23.
What, after all, is the essence of the current maneuvers? “Apparently, in this particular case, it is not so much about testing the combat effectiveness of the NATO Air Force forces, but about demonstrating their power to potential adversaries”, – American observer William Connolly said in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. – And this has a kind of double effect: NATO proves its certain superiority in technical strength and prevents the emergence of new conflicts at its own borders”.
Be that as it may, the commander of the German Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, said at a press conference in Berlin that the Air Defender-23 “does not have the purpose of intimidation”. And he abstracted from the arguments about a possible military confrontation between the Alliance and Russia and the People’s Republic of China.
Against this background, the question of what exactly the new exercises of the NATO Air Force will mark remains open.
