Canada will lead NATO force in Latvia
Mission aims to deter Russian aggression
WARSAW • Bowing to intense political pressure from NATO to do more for the alliance in the region, Canada confirmed Friday that it will lead one of four combat battalions in the Baltic states and Poland.
The open-ended NATO mission near the Russian border, to begin early next year, is designed to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from trying to repeat his annexation of Crimea in northeastern Europe.
Canada is to provide the commanding colonel and his headquarters, a mechanized rifle company, intelligence assets and other enablers for what some officers have described as a battalion-plusplus of about 1,000 troops.
The Russian Embassy in Canada has already decried the move as “sabre-rattling” while the foreign and defence ministries in Moscow have vowed that there will be repercussions.
“They can say that, but they absolutely know that it isn’t” sabre-rattling, said Canada’s top soldier, Gen. Jon Vance.
“It represents solidarity and cohesion in the alliance and a great opportunity.
“It raises the threshold of risk. It may be slight but it is definitely there. Terms like tripwire can be used as descriptors, but what it really does is raise that calculus of risks.
“Do you take any steps against a nation, given that the alliance has decided to put in what will be very credible combat forces not intended to attack, entirely defensive in nature?”
At the same time, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Vance stressed that NATO was open to continuing a dialogue with Russia, but the general said it had to be based on “on mutual respect rather than one nation bullying others.”
Canada’s commitment to the force was “open-ended,” as was NATO’s, Sajjan said.
The Canadian troops will be principally drawn from army bases in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.
Mostly infantrymen, they are expected to operate from a Latvian army base that is only 250 kilometres from the Russian city of Pskov. It is home to three airbases and about 10,000 troops of Russia’s elite 76 Guards Assault Division.
Britain, Germany and the U.S. will provide somewhat similar “tripwire” leadership alongside national armed forces in neighbouring Estonia, Lithuania and Poland.
Canada also announced Friday that it will continue to honour commitments made by the former Harper government to provide a frigate to one of NATO’s two fleets in Europe and to provide, on a rotational basis, as many as six CF-18 Hornet fighter jets to NATO’s air policing force in the Balkans.
Among other issues to be discussed by NATO leaders are cyber warfare, hybrid warfare that combines military operations with information warfare and the threat poised by ISIL.