The Swedish exercises "Aurora" are conducted with the support of NATO, the country itself is not a member of the alliance. 19,000 servicemen take part in them. The exercise will last three weeks, the Air Force notes..

"The security situation in the region has worsened," commander of the Swedish army Mikael Biden commented on the start of the maneuvers.

"Today, Russia is a country that influences the overall situation in Europe from the point of view of security by its actions - the annexation of the Crimea and the ongoing conflict in the east of Ukraine, so it is clear that we are very carefully monitoring what Russia is doing," Biden said..

As noted by Reuters, in recent years, Sweden has reduced defense spending, and in March of this year the country again introduced a military appeal.

"Aurora is the largest operation in the last 23 years, in which the Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Army will interact. These maneuvers are an important signal in the sphere of defense policy. They will help us to protect ourselves from various incidents and more accurately assess our defenses, "- quotes the Swedish edition of The Local statement of Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hulttqvist.

In addition to the Swedish army, military personnel from the United States, France, Norway and other NATO countries participate in the exercises. Previously, NATO said that the maneuvers are not a response to the Russian-Belarusian exercise "West-2017".

In the Russian-Belarusian maneuvers "West-2017", which began on Thursday morning, almost 13 thousand servicemen take part. They will be held from September 14 to September 20 at the training grounds in Russia and Belarus. The active phase of the exercises in Belarus will last three days - from September 17 to 19.