Ahead of Zapad-2017 military exercises Germany and France condemn Russia for 'strategy of intimidation'
Germany and France have criticized the future joint Zapad-2017 military exercises by Russia and Belarus, saying that Moscow is trying to demonstrate its military strength near the border with the EU and NATO.
"It is particularly important in this context that we reaffirm our presence in the face of...this demonstration the Russians are making, which is a strategy of intimidation," French Defense Minister Florence Parly said on September 7, as part of an informal meeting of the defense ministers of the EU member states in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.
Parly and her colleague from Germany, Ursula von der Leyen, noted that NATO is ready to guarantee the safety of all its participants.
The day prior, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that although he did not see the Zapad exercises as an "imminent threat," Moscow had violated the standards of openness by inviting only three NATO experts.
Western countries believe that more than 100,000 servicemen will take part in the maneuvers, and according to OSCE rules, other countries must be notified about such large-scale exercises in advance and a sufficient number of observers invited to them. Russia and Belarus maintain that the number of participants in the maneuvers will not exceed 12,700.
Following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in the spring of 2014, and in response to Moscow's support of militants in eastern Ukraine, NATO deployed an additional four thousand troops in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.