Forces stay on target in Latvia
Canadian troops’ mission unchanged as pandemic upends other operations
OTTAWA—On a recent day in Latvia, a group of Canadian soldiers left a military base near the capital city of Riga. The column drove about 30 kilometres, set up and, at one point over the next couple of days, fought back a simulated attack before packing up and returning home.
While a staple of Canadian military training in normal times, this particular exercise was unusual in that most other activities by the Canadian Armed Forces at home and abroad have been suspended or scaled way back in recent months because of COVID-19.
In fact, everything about Canada’s three-year-old mission in Latvia is unusual these days, in part because little has actually changed. Those on the front lines say that is a reflection of how the purpose of the mission — defending eastern Europe from Russian aggression — remains arguably more relevant than ever due to fears Moscow might try to take advantage of the pandemic to advance its own agenda.
“It is very important to keep that presence because we have not seen any scaling back of Russian forces,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“There is still an ongoing situation. Yes, it is probably not as tense as it used to be ... But at the same time, we are in a situation where we shouldn’t relax and we shouldn’t get complacent. That is something that the alliance understands and our Canadian friends understand.”
Canada has 540 troops in Latvia, where they form the core of a 1,500-strong multinational battle group established by the NATO military alliance three years ago. Similar battle groups led by Britain, Germany and the U.S. have been established in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, respectively.
The battle groups were created after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and began to support separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern regions. That sparked concerns the Kremlin could launch similar efforts against the Baltics and other parts of eastern Europe.
The battle groups are designed to defend against a Russian invasion, but their small size means they would almost certainly be overwhelmed in a real war. Instead, their main utility is to deter against Russian aggression, with the idea that an attack on one would draw in all of NATO.
The pandemic has forced the Canadian Armed Forces to suspend or scale back its operations around the world, including in Ukraine and Iraq, where the military has been training local forces. Thousands of military personnel have been told to stay home in Canada. The Canadian-led battle group in Latvia has been forced to adjust some of its practices because of COVID-19 as well. Those include more physical distancing, handwashing and having 60 soldiers go through their base, Camp Adazi, disinfecting surfaces every two hours.