The scrutinising eyes of Cold Response
Did you know that an international group of independent observers are following exercise Cold Response? The purpose? More openness and less conflict.
With over 30,000 participants from 27 countries, Exercise Cold Response is the largest military exercise in Northern Europe this year. But as a host nation, Norway has a number of duties towards the rest of Europe. This includes notifying and informing about where, when, how and how many troops that participate in the exercise.
Openness and transparency
During the Cold War, a number of agreements and institutions came into place to reduce tensions and mistrust between the East and the West. Among these is the Vienna document enforced by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The agreement obliges Norway to invite and receive observers from any OSCE country, including Russia and Belarus. During Cold Response, 31 observers from 17 countries and two organisations are in Norway to observe the exercise.
“We are here to fulfil our obligations as stated in the Vienna document. The agreement requires us to observe exercises over a certain size, and since Cold Response is such a large exercise, we want to show that we believe in the Vienna document. We have an interest in keeping the agreements alive, because they ensure openness and transparency, says Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Hans Zettermark.
No counting of weapons
He represents the observer corps and has observed a number of military exercises in the past. For the past week, Norwegian authorities have bussed him and the other observers across northern Norway to meet the participating forces and departments. But the observers do not walk around lifting tarpaulins and tents to count weapons and materiel.
“No, our job is to get an overall impression of the size of the exercise. We see the whole picture and verify that this picture is in accordance with the information Norway has reported in advance”, says Zettermark.
Russia did not send observers
The observers all come from western countries, including the United States and Canada. Neither Russia nor Belarus have chosen to send observers to Norway. Nevertheless, Zettermark believes that it is important that Cold Response is scrutinised by independent observers, even though they all come from western countries.
“We want to clearly show that at least we meet the Vienna document. This is important because the agreements promote trust and remove mistrust. We also need to check and balance each other, and maintain our competence as observers”, Zettermark says.
Satisfied with the organising
He says the observers are very pleased with the organisation from the Norwegian side. Many of the observers have also been impressed by the important and active role conscripts fill in the Nordic forces.
“We have gotten a very good picture, and we have received thorough information both in advance and during the exercise. Norway has really fulfilled its obligations, and well so. This has been unusually well-arranged”, says Zettermark.
Important verification
His feedback is highly appreciated by Arms Control Norway, who is responsible for meeting Norway's international obligations and catering for the international observer corps.
“For Norway, it is vital to show that we are open and transparent about our exercise. To ensure this, we need observers on scene to verify that we carry out Cold Response as we said we would”, says Ragnhild Valle Hustad, Chief Arms Control Norway.
Hustad herself has participated as an observer in other exercises, including Zapad in Belarus. The last days of Cold Response the observers are in southern Norway to follow the participants who practice in the south-eastern parts of the country. The live exercise of Cold Response concludes on 31 March 2022.
