NATO's Future

3,000 elite soldiers in record-breaking NATO exercise

The largest NATO exercise for special forces to date is currently underway, Sky News reports. 3,000 elite soldiers from the US, the UK and 22 other countries are taking part in the exercise, which is called Trojan Footprint 2026.

The exercise will last ten days on land, at sea and in the air. Sky witnessed an exercise off the coast of Greece in which American and Greek elite forces parachuted from a Hercules plane. They then got into inflatable boats and headed towards a simulated enemy naval base.

One of the Greek elite soldiers says he feels "very close" to the American soldiers. When asked if they could carry out a similar operation without the Americans, he answers:

- Yes, of course.

Sources: Poland Misses US Email Warning

On Wednesday, Poland was hit by the US decision to suspend the deployment of 4,000 troops. However, the head of the Polish National Defense Force, Wieslaw Kukula, had received an email about the decision a few days earlier, three sources close to Kukula told Politico.

The email from the US arrived on Monday, according to the sources. It ended up in Kukula's classified inbox, but was never read. Poland's military leadership then learned of the decision through the media on Wednesday, after it was first reported by Army Times.

The Pentagon says the decision is a strategic decision and was not made spontaneously, but does not provide details. According to Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, it does not mean a reduction in the total number of US troops in the country.