Canadian Military Buildup in Eastern Europe and Baltic States



Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan undertook a three-day visit to Belgium and Latvia in late October. A Department of Defence (DND) press release issued October 28 said that during the trip, Sajjan "advanced Canada's role as one of four NATO Framework Nations, each a key part of NATO's strengthened deterrence and defence posture in Eastern and Central Europe."

According to the DND release, "While at the NATO Defence Ministers Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Minister Sajjan met with representatives from Latvia and countries that will be supplying troops to the battle group Canada will command there. He also attended a discussion led by the UK on cooperation in Ukraine along with the United States, Poland and Lithuania."

Latvia

On July 8, during the NATO Warsaw Summit Prime Minister Trudeau announced a Land Task Force commitment beginning in early 2017 of up to 455 personnel "to support NATO's enhanced Forward Presence" in Latvia. The commitment includes a battle group headquarters element, a mechanized infantry company, combat service support, vehicles and equipment.

The DND release reports: "In Latvia, Minister Sajjan met with President Raimonds Vejonis, Defence Minister Raimonds Bergmanis and Foreign Affairs Minister Edgars Rinkevics. Following these meetings, Minister Sajjan was part of the opening panel of the Riga Conference, which focused on NATO's role in a challenging and changing security environment. On the margins of this conference, Minister Sajjan met with the Estonian Defence Minister Hannes Hanso and visited the Adai Military Base where Canadian Armed Forces members will be deployed in 2017."

Poland

At present Canada also has 220 troops deployed to Poland as part of what it calls Operation Reassurance -- Canada's contribution to NATO's buildup of troops and operations on Russia's borders in Central and Eastern Europe. In an interview with CBC News in May, Poland's president Andrzej Duda said he hopes Canada will increase its military presence in his country "to help deter Russian aggression." Canada's other commitments under Operation Reassurance, include:

- a Halifax-class frigate on a persistent rotational basis to conduct exercises and operational tasks such as surveillance and monitoring primarily with NATO's Maritime Command. The ships have been variously deployed to the Baltic, Mediterranean, Black and Aegean Seas; and

- an Air Task Force of up to six CF-18s together with a flight crew and support staff to be deployed to conduct periodic surveillance and air policing operations "in NATO areas of responsibility" and participate in joint training activities with other nations. The Air Task Force has been deployed to Romania for joint exercises and to Lithuania to take part in NATO's "air policing" of the Baltic region.

Romania

At the Brussels meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also announced that Canada would be among those contributing to a planned Romanian-led multinational brigade in the Black Sea region. According to DND, Canada will have F-18s stationed in Romania and a frigate in the Black Sea. It is not clear whether this is in addition to or part of Canada's prior commitment of six war planes under its Operation Reassurance.

Ukraine

Operation Unifier is the name of Canada's military training mission to Ukraine under which 200 Canadian Forces members are currently providing capacity building to the Ukrainian armed forces (comprised of regular forces and neo-Nazi militias in the National Guard) in coordination with the U.S., Britain and other countries. The mission began in the summer of 2015 and is scheduled to last until March 31, 2017. Military assistance is just one component of Canada's multi-faceted support to the Poroshenko government brought to power in the Ukraine by a U.S.-engineered coup d'état . On September 19, the Trudeau government tabled the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement in Parliament. It was signed in a ceremony on July 11 on the heels of NATO's Warsaw Summit.

On October 1 Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion announced "up to $8.1 million in new funding to support the National Police of Ukraine." The funding is to come through Canada's new Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPs) which the government claims is to fund "Peace Operations."

(TML Weekly No. 44, November 12, 2016)