Lower thirds:

00:12 Katharina Kroll / DW Brussels Bureau Chief
01:20 Rune Andersen / Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters
02:07 Rune Andersen / Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters
02:47 Hans Martin Steiro / Commander 133 Air Wing, Evenes Air Station
03:08 Rune Andersen / Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters
03:58 Jonas Gahr Store / Prime Minister of Norway
04:21 Jonas Gahr Store / Prime Minister of Norway
05:02 Federico Dell’Agnolo / Captain, San Giusto, Italy
05:44 Henrik / Norwegian Navy
06:02 Gennaro Castaldo / US Marine
06:11 Alan Deloach Jr. / US Marine
06:50 Merit Lind / CEO, Helse Nord
07:12 John Inge Lund / on-scene Commander for Health Services
08:36 Norwegian soldier
09:15 Rune Andersen / Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters
09:51 Hans Martin Steiro / Commander 133 Air Wing, Evenes Air Station

Script:

+++PTC+++  (with pics from the North)
“The wind is brutal. It’s freezing cold here in the high north - ice and snow everywhere. It is one of the most extreme and unforgiving climates on Earth. Strategic interest in the Arctic has been growing as melting ice opens new sea lanes, making the region’s vast energy reserves and critical minerals all the more accessible. Donald Trump has made it clear: the United States has major strategic interests in the High North. At the same time, Russia is stepping up its military activity in the region, and China is becoming more present. All of this has pushed NATO to act. The alliance launched an operation called Arctic Sentry, bringing all activities of Nato members under one command. The aim is deterrence - to send a clear signal to Russia and China. But the operation also sends a message to President Donald Trump: NATO is on the job in the High North.” 

(MAP)
Just across the borders of Norway and Finland lies the Kola Peninsula - Russia’s most important military stronghold. Key assets, including nuclear capable submarines are housed here.

+++SOT Rune Andersen, Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters+++ 
“What has changed now is the relative importance of that. So we have a Russia that we consider more unpredictable and more aggressive, and that's why the relative importance of their bases and their potential to deploy out of this region is important to us as allies.”

And it wouldn’t just be nearby Europe in the line of fire.

+++SOT Rune Andersen, Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarter+++ 
“A lot of the weapons systems that are located on the Kola Peninsula is aimed towards the US.”

That’s one reason Washington has demanded that NATO step up security here, which the alliance is now doing with its Arctic Sentry mission encompassing all the operations it conducts in the region.

While Trump also insists that China poses a threat - a claim sources say has been exaggerated - allies are nonetheless willing to be more watchful.

+++SOT Rune Andersen, Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters+++ 
“We don`t see any Chinese military activity on this side of the Arctic as of yet. We see they conduct more research activity in the summer in the Arctic.”

It’s from here that much of the regional monitoring is conducted; Evenes Air Station. It sits just a few hundred kilometers from Russia and the Kola Peninsula - a strategic point for detecting undersea intruders and scanning the skies, capabilities recently demonstrated in NATO’s Cold Response exercise, the first major one conducted under Arctic Sentry.

+++SOT Hans Martin Steiro, Commander 133 Air Wing, Evenes Air Station+++
“This aircraft behind me is ideal for, submarine, warfare. So we are deploying buoys into the water, and to find and fix Russian submarines, and also other submarines.”

These two fighter jets are on call, day and night. They’re returning from a mission to intercept Russian military aircraft in international airspace over northern Norway.

+++SOT Rune Andersen, Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters+++
“You saw two F-35s from our QRA, our quick reaction alert, taking off to intercept Russian recce flights taking place outside of the Norwegian coast which is exactly what we expect during exercises like this. And it´s also what is part of our daily job is to be NATO´s eyes and ears in the North.” 

NATO hopes Arctic Sentry alleviates Donald Trump’s concerns and ends his threats to take control of the Danish territory of Greenland, which triggered high tension inside the alliance that hasn’t completely subsided. 

That was obvious when the leaders of Norway, Canada and Germany came to observe this showcase of allied power in Norway's High North.

+++SOT Jonas Gahr Store, Prime Minister of Norway+++
“It is up to the people in Greenland and in Denmark to trace the future for the people in Greenland, and any attempt to say that the a country can take land from another country is unacceptable. It's not acceptable under international law, and it is especially something which should be unheard of among allies.”

Still: When it came to the question of whether the US remains a trusted security partner – all three were in agreement.

+++SOT Merz +++
“Yes.”

+++SOT Carney+++
“Yes.”

+++SOT Jonas Gahr Store, Prime Minister of Norway+++
“By protecting Norway, keeping low tensions, avoiding conflict, here it is net positive for the security of the United States. We believe that is self interest.”

Cold Response is bringing together thirty-two thousand troops training on land, at sea and in the air – in an extreme scenario. They're rehearsing an attack on a Nato ally - in this case, Norway. Article 5 is triggered: an attack on one is an attack on all. Fourteen allies rush reinforcements to the north.

The Italian Navy’s San Giusto sailed nearly 6,000 kilometers from the Mediterranean to the Arctic, operating under completely new conditions.

+++SOT Federico Dell’Agnolo, Captain San Giusto, Italy+++
“The Mediterranean Sea is different from the Atlantic Ocean and the Norwegian Sea. So it was an opportunity for me to see new conditions, but also for the ship and the crew to train. I test the platform, the capability to resist the rough sea and, test the resilience or the with the crew to keep working, even if, sometimes the rough sea make you feel seasick.”

In the exercise  Norwegian corvettes show how speed changes the game. The crew says it’s the fastest warships, able to outrun most fleets and show up where it’s least expected. The training tasks are clearly defined.

+++ SOT Henrik, Norwegian Navy +++
“We have, spent the first week to have a first integration together with the rest of the NATO ships. We are, focusing on the amphibious operation from the landings."

The troops come from Europe, Canada, and the United States. For some, the extreme cold takes getting used to. 

+++SOT Gennaro Castaldo, US Marine+++
“Snow. Ice? Sleet. You know, terrible winds that makes it even colder.”

+++SOT Alan Deloach Jr., US Marine+++
“I did the Polar Plunge where we jump into the ice water. I learned quick that my body is, like, not used to it.”

To make the scenario as realistic as possible Civilian responders are included in the training. Narvik is a quiet, modern coastal town in Arctic Norway, set between steep mountains and deep fjords.

As part of the exercise, Narvik will receive “casualties” from the warfront. A train pulls in - carrying about 100 patients - both civilian and military. Extra mock casualties are added to test how much the system can handle.

+++SOT Merit Lind, CEO, Helse Nord+++:
We have seen a train coming from Finland with, wounded soldiers. And they will now be taking care of, by our civil, civilized health care. Yes. Our health care system, and  the we train how the, the, civilian system and the armed forces can work together.

+++SOT John Inge Lund, on scene Commander for Health Services+++
“Our hospital is in emergency state. Code red. Everyone is called in. We have also the military that is inside the hospital to help us. We have also the civilian defense to help. And a lot of volunteers know we are on top of things.”

In central Narvik - a town largely destroyed in the 1940 battles of World War II – the support for Nato's exercise is strong. People want to be ready for the worst.

+++SOT Resident Narvik+++
“If they were a and we be attacked, we need these people and they have to train here “Who is threatening you? “ Russia. Definitely not Sweden, not Finland, not Denmark, but Russia. And all know it.”

+++SOT Resident Narvik+++
“We need the training.”

+++SOT Resident Narvik+++
“It's very good that we are practicing. It's a more war in the world, so I think it's good.”

+++SOT Resident Narvik+++
“The threat is coming from where? I think it's Russia.”

Back out in the snowy woods, Norwegian soldiers are incorporating into their training what Ukrainian troops had to learn under fire in the real war

+++SOT Soldier+++
“So when it comes to drones, it is like a way much bigger threat to us than it has been. So one way to counter that is to dig down in the snow and, think more of, like, stay concealed from the air than, we did before. And but also it's, process of new, like opportunity for us as well, because it's, will give us more firepower and more ability to affect the enemy as well.” 

For commanders, the lesson goes further: NATO must never be pulled into the kind of grinding war that defines the front in Ukraine. 

+++SOT Rune Andersen, Commander, Norwegian Joint Headquarters+++
“An attack on NATO will not succeed. So we will not end up in a static, war of attrition, as you see in Ukraine. So I think that's that's the most fundamental. The need to develop warfighting skills that, deny Russia an advantage in a war of attrition.”

Geopolitical pressures and even potential adversaries may change but with the increased vigilance of Arctic Sentry and improved training like in Cold Response, NATO wants to prove one thing remains constant in the High North: 

+++SOT Hans Martin Steiro, Commander 133 Air Wing, Evenes Air Station+++
“If war comes, we’ll fight it. But if we’re prepared enough, maybe they wake up and say NATO is too prepared for a war today.”

END