SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Canada extends NATO mission in Latvia to 2023: Trudeau
Riga, July 10 (AFP) Jul 10, 2018
Canada has extended its leadership of the NATO battalion based in Latvia until 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday in Riga, a day ahead of the alliance's summit in Brussels.

Canada leads one of four battalions deployed by the Western defence alliance on its eastern flank in 2017 in a deterrence and defence posture following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"We are ready to support our allies while facing global threats to security," said Trudeau, adding that Canada's current mission initially slated to expire in 2019, "will be prolonged for four years."

"Canada will not change its attitude towards security of the Baltic countries," Trudeau told reporters at a press conference with his Latvian counterpart Maris Kucinskis.

The Latvian premier hailed Ottawa's decision to extend its mission as "the perfect gift to Latvia on its centenary".

Later on Tuesday, Trudeau was due to visit some 450 Canadian troops deployed for Operation Reassurance, which is Canada's largest sustained military presence in Europe in more than a decade.

In total, over 1,000 NATO troops from nine other alliance members are deployed in the Latvian battalion.

The other three NATO battalions are based in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland and are led by Britain, Germany and the United States, respectively.

Trudeau's visit is the first ever by a Canadian head of government to Latvia, his office said. He now heads to Brussels for the NATO summit on July 11 and 12.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
AI systems proposed to boost launch cadence reliability and traffic management
China debuts Long March 12A reusable rocket in Jiuquan test flight
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4750-4762: See You on the Other Side of the Sun

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Redesigned carbon framework boosts battery safety and power
Molecular catalyst switches between hydrogen and oxygen production
Project Pele microreactor reaches key milestone with first TRISO fuel delivery

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
OPERA satellite data sharpens US crop and water management
Alen Space begins SATMAR satellite validation over Bay of Algeciras
Deep Arctic gas hydrate mounds host ultra deep cold seep ecosystem



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.