This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 64%. (I'm a bot)

> SMARDAN, Romania - Around 600 French soldiers deployed as part of a NATO battlegroup in Romania held a combat exercise on Wednesday to test the 30-nation military alliance's readiness on its eastern flank, amid Russia's war in neighboring Ukraine.

> Romania's defense ministry said the main purpose of the exercise is to train the battlegroup "On the rapid deployment capability and execution of a combat mission" within a collective NATO defense operation.

> In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February, NATO bolstered its presence on Europe's eastern flank, including by sending additional multinational battlegroups to alliance members Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.

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