Latvia to spend €7m on hosting NATO battalion

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Accommodations for the Canada-led multi-national NATO battalion will cost Latvia at least €7m but total costs will still have to be finalized, reported LETA Tuesday.

The Latvian Defense Ministry said that about €7m would be invested in construction of barracks in the Adazi military base in central Latvia to provide accommodations for the NATO battalion that would arrive in Latvia in summer 2017.

Alongside with the barracks, construction of other facilities required for the Canada-led battalion will begin. The Defense Ministry is to report to the government on the planned construction in January next year but would not give any specific cost estimates for now.

As the permanent installations for the needs of the NATO battalion are to be completed in 2018, the ministry is working on temporary solutions for the required infrastructure in 2017. Canada as the lead nation of the multi-national battalion acts as the coordinator in communication with other countries which will contribute their troops to the battalion as regards the best temporary solutions, and consultations are under way about other expenditure.

As reported, NATO leaders at the summit in Warsaw in July this year approved the deployment of four multinational battalions to the Baltic countries and Poland as part of measures meant to deter Russia from possible aggression. Their deployment will begin next year and proceed on a rotational basis.

Canada is the lead nation for the battalion to be stationed in Latvia. Half of the battalion will be Canadian soldiers, and it will also include soldiers from Albania, Italy, Poland and Slovenia.

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