Skip to content

Cart

Your cart is empty

Article: Canada pledges more troops for Latvia in wider NATO reinforcement

A Canadian with The Canadian Special Operations Regiment participates in a timed shooting competition during Menton week at Joint base Lewis-McChord, Wa

Canada pledges more troops for Latvia in wider NATO reinforcement

PHOTO CAPTION: A Canadian with The Canadian Special Operations Regiment participates in a timed shooting competition during Menton week at Joint base Lewis-McChord, Wa., December 4, 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joseph Parrish via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

 

 

VILNIUS (Reuters) -Canada pledged on Monday to deploy up to 1,200 more troops in Latvia as part of a NATO plan to reinforce its battalions deterring Russian aggression in the Baltic region to combat-ready brigade level.

"We are going to more than double our presence ... to serve and defend democracy and the rule of law," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart Krisjanis Karins Trudeau at the Adazi military base in Latvia after an agreement was signed.

Canada leads a NATO "light" battalion in Latvia, currently 1,700 strong, intended to expand into a larger response force should Russia invade NATO territory.

But NATO had already said the force - along with similar battalions in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland - would be strengthened to become combat-capable.

"This additional personnel will reinforce and enhance our land, maritime and air capabilities and support special operations in central and eastern Europe," Trudeau said.

Trudeau was visiting Latvia ahead of a NATO summit in the nearby Lithuanian capital Vilnius on July 11-12.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Johan Ahlander; editing by Anna Ringstrom and Kevin Liffey)

MORE FROM THE

OAF NATION NEWSROOM

Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attends the annual international military-technical forum

Factbox: General Gerasimov appears for first time since Wagner mutiny

Army General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces, was shown in public Monday by the defense ministry for the first time since before the failed June 24 mutiny by t...

Read more
A soldier assigned to the Polish 1st Brigade Territorial Defense Forces seeks concealment in the wood prior to conducting a simulated assault

Poland moves troops to eastern border amid Wagner fears

Poland began moving over 1,000 troops to the country’s east on Saturday, the defense minister said — amid rising concern in the NATO-member that Wagner Group presence in Belarus could increase tens...

Read more
#3 Liquid error (layout/theme line 179): Could not find asset snippets/back-in-stock-helper.liquid