Canadian troops to find permanent home in Latvia to deter Russian aggression
Edmonton Journal
Juris Graney
6 hrs ago
Canadian troops will be permanently stationed in Europe starting this June — for the first time since the end of the Cold War — as a deterrent against Russian agitations in the region.
Led by the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, a contingent of about 450 Canadians will be headquartered at the Adazi military complex, about 30 kilometres northeast of the tiny Baltic country’s capital of Riga.
From there Canada will lead a battalion of between 1,200 to 1,500 soldiers from Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain as part of NATO’s latest operation, Enhanced Forward Presence.
Some 4,000 soldiers are being deployed in four multinational battle groups in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia to complement and bolster each host nation’s military capabilities and building interoperability.
Canada’s contribution will be made up of 3rd Canadian Division troops previously destined for the Drawsko Pomorskie training area in northwestern Poland as part of Operation Reassurance, which began in 2014.
The void left by Canada’s departure from Poland will be filled by a U.S.-led battle group that includes Romania and the United Kingdom.
Brig.-Gen Simon Hetherington said it will be Canada’s responsibility in Latvia to integrate all sending nations’ troops “into one cohesive unit.”
“It’s about bringing together the great strengths of each nation to provide a coherent and valid deterrent,” Hetherington told Postmedia. “Currently there is absolutely no intent to conduct aggressive patrolling or show of force.”
Because of the small size of its own army, Latvia, which was admitted into the NATO fold in 2004 along with the other Baltic nations, is relying on the protection mandate of the alliance — an attack on one is an attack on all — to safeguard its sovereignty.
NATO’s increased military presence is aimed at ensuring Russia doesn’t overstep its place in Eastern Europe in case Moscow is willing to test the resolve of the 28 member nations of NATO.
Hetherington, who recently returned from Latvia, said the message from the people he spoke with was clear.
“They don’t want history to repeat,” he said. “The Latvians are clear. They’ve been through this. Their defensive strategy is to deter, defend and show resilience.”
Hetherington said the decision to permanently station Canadian Armed Forces, and potentially their families, for a number of years in the Baltics, is to ensure a “consistent and continuous presence in Latvia.”
“We’ve learned over the years that we have to have that consistency at a command level,” he said.
“It’s not going to be short term.”
Having twice been illegally occupied by the former Soviet Union and once by Nazi Germany after declaring independence in 1918, the people of Latvia, a country of just two million people, are cognizant of the dangers and capabilities their neighbours to the east pose.
At the Russian military base Pskov, less than 100 kilometres from the snaking border it shares with its former occupier, is the 76th Airborne Division, a unit whose hardened troops are veterans of two Chechen wars and were a key member in Russia’s invading force in the South Ossetia conflict in Georgia in 2008.
Then there are Russia’s most recent acts of aggression, including the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Moscow’s backing of separatists battling Ukrainian armed forces in the contested Donetsk region is a haunting reminder of Latvia’s past.
And Europe’s juggernaut is not standing idly by as NATO moves its troops into the region.
Moscow is planning two joint military exercises — Slavic Brotherhood and Zapad 2017 — with Serbia and Belarus in June and September and NATO pegs Russian troop numbers on Moscow’s western flank at around 330,000.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of his ministry of defence quickly — and repeatedly — labelled NATO’s military expansion as deliberately provocative and an act of aggression by the West.
Conversely NATO says its troop movements are simply a response to “aggressive rhetoric” and “increased military activity and provocations close to NATO’s borders.”
“Our role is to show the commitment of Canada to NATO and NATO’s front lines,” Hetherington said.
“We are not diplomats, we are soldiers but it’s refreshing to be welcomed into a place for coming in to help out if we need to.”
With a decision yet to be made about Canada’s continued involvement in Ukraine — the training mission is due to end on March 31 — Hetherington said 3rd Canadian Division is treating it as business as usual.
“We have the flexibility and agility so that if there is a change in mandate we can react to that,” he said.
First deployed in the summer of 2015, some 600 Canadian troops have rotated through the region to help improve the quality of Ukrainian soldier through small teams training, combat first aid, shoot-move-communicate solder drills and de-mining training.
Hetherington said on his last trip to the region he heard how the training from the Canadians was saving lives of the front-line troops.
“We haven’t had the throughput to really institutionally make changes but gradually it’s happening at the lower levels,” he said.
Led by Edmonton-based troops from 3rd Canadian Division, Canada has made sure that the red and white Maple Leaf flag has been highly visible in Eastern Europe since 2014 as part of its continued commitment to its NATO allies and troops in Ukraine.
Ukraine
Location: Starychi
Start date: Summer 2015
End date: Set for March 31, 2017 but could continue indefinitely
Current Canadian contingent = 160 soldiers (approx.)
Troops: About 600 3rd Canadian Division troops have trained an estimated 3,100 Ukrainian troops
Details:
– Bulk of Canadians based outside of Lviv at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre with a smaller number in Kamyanetz-Podilsky at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence Demining Centre.
– Operation stems from a bilateral agreement between Canadian and Ukrainian governments following the Russian annexation of Crimea.
– Strictly a training mission, Canada troops are there to improve the professionalism of Ukrainian military while they battle Russian-backed separatists in the troubled Donetsk region in the east. Troops are training counterparts in weapons, combat first aid, shoot-move-communicate soldier drills, training for military police and reconnaissance training.
Poland
Location: Drawsko Pomorskie
Start date: May 2014
End date: Canada’s involvement in Poland ends in June
Current Canadian contingent = 200 soldiers (approx.)
Troops: About 1,600 3rd Canadian Division troops — currently 1st Battalion PPCLI — taken part in military exercises.
Details:
– Canada’s involvement in Operation Reassurance is part of NATO assurance and deterrence measures in Eastern Europe against any potential Russian aggression in the region.
– Troops have undertaken more than two dozen military exercises in Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany Poland and Latvia since being deployed.
– While it is primarily a deterrence measure, the operation is also enabling NATO nations to develop interoperability.
– Canada’s involvement in Poland ends in June when its 200 troops will move to Latvia as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence. Canada’s void in Poland will be filled by the U.S.
Latvia
Location: Adazi
Start date: June 2017
End date: Indefinite long-term commitment
Troops: Total Canadian contingent will be about 450
Details:
– This is not a training mission. For the first time since the early 1990s, Canada will have permanently stationed Armed Forces, and potentially their families, in Europe when it establishes a battalion headquarters just outside the capital of Riga.
– Canada will beef up its presence to 445 troops from 200, which will include those stationed at task force headquarters.
– Canada’s responsibility will be to integrate all sending nations into a cohesive multinational brigade of between 1,200 and 1,500 troops from Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain.
– Latvia will be one of four multinational battle groups stationed in Eastern Europe; Britain will take the lead in Estonia at Tapa and Germany will similarly lead in Rukla in Lithuania. The U.S. will lead a battlegroup in Poland come June.
jgraney@postmedia.com
twitter.com/jurisgraney
