Canada and Spain reinforced NATO presence in Latvia 81206175

Defense & Security News - Latvia
 
Canada and Spain arrived for the reinforced NATO presence in Latvia
Canada and Spain arrived in Latvia. Their presence is meant to temper any Russian ambition to expand. The Canadians will officially take command of the Latvia mission, based at Camp Adazi, on June 19.
     
Canada and Spain arrived in Latvia. Their presence is meant to temper any Russian ambition to expand. The Canadians will officially take command of the Latvia mission, based at Camp Adazi, on June 19.
Spanish soldier freshly arrived in Latvia (source: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm2iefAy)
     
"Deterrence does not mean picking a fight, that's the last thing we want to do," said Col. William Fletcher, who commands the Edmonton brigade that deployed Friday. Nearly 100 Edmonton-based soldiers deployed to Latvia on Friday, launching Canada's boots-on-the-ground leadership of a NATO mission to deter Russian aggression against the eastern European country.

More than a hundred Spanish vehicles, split between "Pizarro" Infantry / Cavalry combat vehicles and "Leopard" 2T battle tanks are already sailing to Latvia to participate in NATO's " Reinforced Advanced Presence " (eFP) after being shipped In the port of Vigo. This will be the first time that Spain has deployed mechanized and armored vehicles on a foreign mission.

In the Operation eFP will participate about 300 Spanish military, most of the Brigade "Extremadura" XI. About a hundred belong to the Logistics Unit of the operation, which is staffed by the Logistics Support Group (AALOG) nº 61 (Valladolid), the AALOG nº 11 (Madrid), the AALOG nº 41 (Zaragoza) and the Brigade "Extremadura" XI (Badajoz).

The Spanish contingent will fit into a battalion led by Canada and whose base will be located in the city of Adazi, near Riga, the capital of the Baltic. Together with Canadians and Spaniards, they will participate in the military deployment of Italy, Slovenia, Poland and Albania.