OREANDA-NEWS  The military leaders of Britain, the Nordic countries and the Baltic States held staff exercises in Buda in northern Norway, where they practiced actions in case of confrontation with the Russian Federation, Politico reported on Friday.

"British military strategists made a trip to Buda (...) in a rehearsal for the situation if Russia decides to act hostile on the threshold," the newspaper informs.

Politico clarifies that we are talking about the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) coalition: after its founding in 2014, it currently includes the United Kingdom, as well as Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

In particular, the head of the British Ministry of Defense, John Healy, took part in the exercises. According to the scenario of the exercises, the heads of the Ministry of Defense and military leaders monitored pro-Russian protests in one of the countries of the region and chose how to respond.

According to the publication, representatives of the defense departments gathered in Buda noted privately that the importance of JEF would only grow given the less attention the United States pays to Europe's defense needs.

At the same time, Politico adds, a number of observers believe that the JEF coalition is not effective enough. So, a member of the British Labour Party, who is related to the security sector, said that at the moment JEF is not able to deploy its forces to repel threats.