Multinational NATO battalion to arrive in Latvia early next year
A multinational NATO battalion led by Canada will arrive in Latvia in spring 2017. The Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to Canada, Kārlis Eihenbaums, stated on September 6 that the Northern Alliance soldiers will arrive in the Baltic State as soon as the snow melts. The diplomats from other NATO countries also signaled their readiness to deploy forces to deter Russia’s possible offensive operations in the Baltic, Leta wrote.
According to Eihenbaums, all members from the NATO contingent in Latvia will be known by October. Poland and the Baltic States are afraid of a possible recurrence of the Crimean events in their countries. The North Atlantic Alliance agreed to deploy one battalion to Poland and one to the Baltic States. These battalions will have a total of 1,000 fighters in each. Canada will lead the battalion in Latvia; Germany, in Lithuania; the United Kingdom, in Estonia; and the United States, in Poland.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization emphasized that military personnel from the battalions will be changed in order to avoid violating the terms of the Russia-NATO Founding Act. In this document, the North Atlantic Alliance undertook obligations not to concentrate significant forces in Eastern Europe on a regular basis.