Military vehicles will be moving across the country until the end of May on highways and expressways, as the alliance is carrying out its STDE-24 drills throughout the first half of 2024.
The General Staff of the Polish Army appealed to drivers "to exercise extreme caution," reminding them that "one should not drive between military vehicles traveling in a column."
It also appealed "to protect data, not to publish information and photos depicting troop movements and their location, dates and times of military columns, data on departures and landings of military aircraft."
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, gen. Christopher Cavioli, announced in January that the Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 would feature some 90,000 soldiers "from all 31 Allies" and Sweden, as troops will train ways to respond to a "simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary”.
During the drills, NATO "will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America," the commander told reporters.
He added the exercise would represent a "clear demonstration of our unity, strength, and determination to protect each other, our values and the rules based international order.
One of the key aspects of Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 will be the "deployment of NATO's quick reaction force to Poland," on the alliance's eastern flank, the Reuters news agency reported.
Other major locations include the Baltic states, Germany, Norway and Romania, according to officials.
Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 is NATO's biggest since 1988, the Reuters news agency reported.
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Source: Reuters, NATO, PAP