To Protect Europe, Let Ukraine Join NATO—Right Now
Foreign AffairsJun 03, 2023
The Facts
On Monday, more than 250 aircraft and 10K military personnel from NATO countries and Japan began a two-week military exercise in Germany — the largest deployment of aircraft in the alliance’s history.
Over 20 partner countries will participate in the exercise, which will be held at four locations in Germany, as well as one location each in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The threat of Russia attacking NATO territories is possible, and it’s important these nations prepare. Although this exercise was planned long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s perfectly timed so that allies like Japan and Sweden can join the drills to prepare for defending against an attack on their territories.
Establishment-critical narrative
The scale and size of this exercise prove that this isn’t a routine practice for a hypothetical scenario where a NATO country is attacked in the future. This is preparation for further offensive actions by NATO in its war against Russia.
