Canada vows Baltic battalion to counter ‘troublemaker’ Russia

Riga (AFP) – Canada vowed Monday to keep a soon-to-be deployed battalion in Baltic state Latvia for as long as Russia remains a “troublemaker” in the region.

Ottawa’s pledge refers to NATO’s planned deployment of four battalions of around 1,000 troops each in Poland and the Baltic states as a tripwire against fresh Russian adventurism in its Soviet-era backyard.

The alliance formally endorsed the move at its landmark weekend summit in Warsaw, the largest reinforcement of its eastern flank since the Cold War.

“As long as Russia is a troublemaker in the region, we need to be strong together and Canada will be part of it,” Foreign Minister Stephane Dion said Monday following talks with his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics in Riga.

The Kremlin has stepped up its presence in the Baltic Sea area and its jets frequently test the airspace of NATO allies such as Estonia. 

Canadian troops would remain “as long as it is necessary” while using “strong dialogue to convince Russia to change their behaviour,” Dion added, as NATO prepared to hold fresh talks with Russia on Wednesday. 

Canada announced it will lead a multi-national battalion in Latvia from early 2017 and deploy around 450 troops. Britain will lead a battalion in Estonia, Germany in Lithuania, the US will do so in Poland. 

Fears that Russia could attempt an attack in the Baltics surged after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, a move that sent East-West relations to their lowest point since the Cold War.