Interview: Expert calls NATO demonstration of military power "dangerous"

ZAGREB, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the demonstration of military power by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is dangerous, Hrvoje Klasic, professor of history at the University of Zagreb, told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday.

"Air Defender 2023," the largest ever air deployment exercise in NATO's history, is "a show of force at a time when the situation in Ukraine is deteriorating," and a show of force is "never good because it is always a threat to peace," he said. NATO should be careful because its activities are straining relations in the world, Klasic said.

NATO started "Air Defender 2023" on Monday. Some 10,000 soldiers and 250 aircraft, including 70 from Germany and more than 100 from the United States, are participating in the maneuver that will last until June 23.

Stressing that NATO must not become the extended arm of the United States, Klasic said that the alliance's members should react "measuredly" to the activities being carried out, and "this applies especially to Germany," host of the military exercise.

According to Klasic, weapons will not solve the conflict in Ukraine. Instead, the conflicting parties should sit down and talk. "At this time, it would be better to find a diplomatic solution, and not to expand the conflict," he said.

About 300 people protested against the exercise in northern Germany on Saturday, saying that it "underscores the rejection of negotiations with Russia and further escalates an already threatening situation."