00:05NATO is conducting military exercises just 30 kilometers from the Finnish-Russian border
00:10amid renewed drone incursions within NATO territory.
00:14On Friday morning, at least two people in the Romanian town of Galati were injured by a drone
00:18as Russia attacked Ukrainian infrastructure near the border.
00:22It's the most dangerous incident out of several recent encroachments into NATO territory.
00:27Baltic countries have reported Russia has hijacked Ukrainian drones,
00:31sending them into Baltic and other state territories.
00:34Lithuania was forced to close its airspace on a number of occasions, causing major disruption.
00:39NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has vowed to defend every inch of NATO territory,
00:44with the U.S. ambassador describing the violation into Romania as reckless.
00:49So while traditional capabilities like battle tanks, Chinook helicopters, armed forces
00:54are still vital to protect Europe's eastern flank, particularly as a deterrent against any Russian invasion.
01:00Exponential growth and investment into counter-drone systems and surveillance
01:04are more vital at this moment with ongoing Russian aggression and drone incursions.
01:10I think the big thing there, I think, is having this, you know, kind of autonomous kill web
01:14of these different drones and things, all these unmanned capabilities.
01:18So, one, we're preserving that power.
01:21So when we do get attacked, the counter-attack that comes from the allies from NATO,
01:25that we have all those humans still able to go to the fight.
01:29Finland retained conscription into the army for young males even after the Cold War ended.
01:34Given its 1,350-kilometer border with Russia, it's always been on guard,
01:39as the Finns say the threat from the Kremlin never went away.
01:42Having joined NATO in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
01:46Finland says along with allies, it's collectively learning from the Ukraine more,
01:50including advancements in drone and anti-drone technology.
01:56We have done that alone centuries, but now we are not alone and we have allies.
02:02And as we are learning from each other and in developing our interoperability capabilities,
02:09then it's really important to have our allies and exercise with them.
02:13And we don't have only our conscripts, but we also have our reservists.
02:18Because a reservist is the backbone of the Finnish army.
02:22And we are learning and we are adjusting our ways to think.
02:26And we are looking really closely how the war is developing as it has changed.
02:33How much it changed the battlefield, that's the soldier's task.
02:37Around 10,000 soldiers from seven allied countries, including the US, UK, France,
02:42as well as the Finnish army conscripts, are taking part in the Northern Star and SWORD 26 exercises.
02:49Shona Murray, Euronews, Finland.
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