Units of allied battalion to start arriving in Estonia in March

TALLINN - The first units of the British-led multinational battalion of NATO to be stationed in Estonia will arrive here in March, Estonia's Defense Minister Margus Tsahkna said after visiting the Tapa military base with Prime Minister Juri Ratas on Tuesday.

Tsahkna said in a Facebook post after the trip that at Tapa preparations are under way for accepting 1,200 allies.

"Development work at the compound is in full swing and already in March we will accept French and Danish allied soldiers under the leadership of Brits," the minister said.

The bulk of the allied forces is due to arrive here in April, whereas in May the battalion will take part in the three-week Spring Storm exercise of the Estonian defense forces.

The NATO battalion battle group will be stationed at Tapa and will act in conjunction with Estonia's 1st Infantry Brigade.The UK will have 800 personnel with Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, Challenger 2 tanks and reconnaissance drones stationed in Estonia as part of the battalion. A French contingent will be part of the battalion in the first half of the year, to be then replaced by Danes.

The first members of the Germany-led multinational battalion to be stationed in Lithuania are due to arrive in that country this week. The main deployment and heavy movement will start in February, and the last troops of the battalion will arrive in Lithuania in June, the country's defense chief has said.

Latvian defense officials have said that a NATO battalion of more than 1,000 troops led by Canada will fully arrive in that country by June. Before that small contingent will arrive to make preparations for the arrival of the rest of the battalion. Canada will provide half of the soldiers of the battalion, which will also include personnel from Albania, Italy, Spain, Poland and Slovenia.