Experts from countries interested in joining NATO battalion to arrive in Latvia in Aug

Experts will travel to Latvia this month from nations which have voiced a desire to participate in the Canada-led NATO battalion in Latvia, Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis (Greens/Farmers) announced in an interview with the morning news programme of the LNT commercial TV channel.

Bergmanis reported that Latvian military experts have already gone to Canada, where consultations on deploying the battalion are in progress. This month experts from Canada and other nations will go to Latvia to continue working on the issue.

The minister noted that those involved are actively working, and he believes that interim results will be revealed in October when defense ministers of NATO member states assemble in Brussels.

As reported, NATO leaders at the summit in Warsaw approved the deployment of four multinational battalions to the Baltic States and Poland as part of measures intended to discourage possible Russian aggression. Their deployment will begin in 2017 and proceed on a rotational basis.

The battalion stationed in Poland will be headed by the United States, while in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia the lead will be taken up by Canada, Germany, and Great Britain respectively.

The NATO battalion of approximately 1,000 multinational troops is expected to travel to Latvia next spring. Half of the battalion will be Canadian soldiers, and the remainder will be soldiers from Poland, Slovakia, France, and Denmark.