Trudeau announces plans to more than double size of NATO deployment in Latvia

Canada plans to more than double the size of its contribution to a NATO mission in Latvia by adding 1,200 military personnel to its contingent there, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday.

It will be a gradual deployment of troops and some new equipment to create a persistent presence in the Baltic country.

Canada has roughly 1,000 soldiers deployed to Latvia right now. With the extra forces — including 15 Leopard 2 A4M tanks — the contingent will swell to 2,200 over the next few years.

The full deployment won't be complete until 2026.

The Liberal government has earmarked $2.6 billion for the deployment over three years, but it is tapping into previously announced funds from the 2022 federal budget — $1.4 billion — to pay for it.

Trudeau made the announcement at Camp Adazi, the military base near the Latvian capital of Riga that houses the existing Canadian contingent. He was joined at the press conference by Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and Defence Minister Anita Anand.

"This is the way forward in modern defence," Trudeau said. "Almost a dozen countries from across NATO are co-operating, training and working alongside each other and learning valuable lessons from each other that make our collective defence stronger."

Canada and Latvia signed an agreement on Monday — a so-called "roadmap" for creating the NATO brigade.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leaders of the western military alliance agreed at their summit last year to turn battle groups based in several Eastern European countries along the border with Russia into full combat-capable brigades.

Canada had been in charge of the multinational battle group in Latvia. It was established in 2017 to deter Russian aggression in the region.

WATCH | Canada ramping up role in NATO's Latvia mission: 

Canada commits to more than double troop presence in Latvia at NATO summit

1 year ago

Duration 1:47

Ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has committed to more than doubling Canada's presence in neighbouring Latvia by adding 1,200 military personnel to its contingent of roughly 1,000 soldiers currently deployed there. The mission there is one of eight NATO bases set up in Eastern Europe in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The roadmap does not include commitments from the other nations serving with Canada in Latvia to contribute to the bigger formation. It does spell out how a Latvian mechanized brigade will be folded into the NATO commitment

NATO has conducted negotiations with other member nations — such as Albania, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain — to secure contributions to expanding battle groups.

Trudeau put the best face on the situation Monday, saying there are always "challenges" when working with "such a large number of diverse nations."

"But there are challenges that end up benefiting the work that we're doing, being different countries coming from different perspectives," he said.

There are battlegroups in two other Baltic nations. The United Kingdom leads the NATO contingent in Estonia and Germany commands the battlegroup in Lithuania.

Both of those nations have established their brigade plans and have started exercises intended to send a message to Russia. Two weeks ago, the Germans led a major exercise called Griffin Storm just as Berlin offered to permanently station 4,000 troops in Lithuania.

WATCH | Trudeau asked about Ukraine's possible path into NATO: 

Trudeau asked about Ukraine's possible path into NATO

1 year ago

Duration 1:20

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is committed to bringing Ukraine into NATO 'as soon as conditions allow' — but he noted there isn't a 'unanimous' position across NATO as to how this might happen, despite a shared commitment to Ukraine.

Sean Monaghan, a defence expert and a visiting fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said each NATO country has faced challenges in turning battlegroups into brigades. 

"I think progress on these has been mixed," Monaghan said.

Trudeau also restated the government's pledge to buy and pre-position critical weapon systems in Latvia. The prime minister cited the intelligence and cyber warfare help Canada is providing to Latvia as well.

"Canada and all countries must be clear that Russia's unprovoked war on an independent country, on a free and democratic Ukraine, is a threat to freedom, international law, human rights and the whole set of shared democratic values that generations of soldiers have fought to defend," he said.

Last month, the federal government announced that Canada would deploy a squadron of Leopard 2 main battle tanks — 15 tanks in total — and about 130 personnel to the Latvia the mission starting this fall.

Trudeau met with some of the Canadian Armed Forces members who are stationed in Latvia later Monday before departing for Vilnius for the NATO summit.