As previously reported by LSM, a 100-strong Canadian contingent left Canada June 9 and arrived in Latvia the next day, joining around 50 maple leaf soldiers already in place as part of the enhanced forward presence (eFP) inititative agreed at last year's NATO Warsaw summit.
They arrived by jet, as you can see in the video report by our LTV colleagues below.
A day earlier, June 9, 300 Spanish troops arrived, followed quickly by hardware including Leopard tanks and Pizarro fighting vehicles from a ship docking in Riga port June 11.
El contingente español ?? @EjercitoTierra en #eFP @Nato #MOPS se integra en el 'Battle Group Latvia' durante despliegue en #Letonia ?? pic.twitter.com/zFzpul8Qi3
— Estado Mayor Defensa (@EMADmde) June 10, 2017
The enlarged NATO presence in Latvia, when fully assembled, will include more than 1,000 soldiers from Albania, Italy, Canada, Poland, Slovenia and Spain, in addition to local Latvian troops and a separate US contingent on long-term 'rotation'.
As ever, we are delighted to turn to the helpful Cez Arysta for an easy-to-understand graphic.
.@NATO ? Quick fact sheet about #CAN-led ?? #eFP #battlegroup which will be soon operating in #Adazi, #Latvia ?? #BGLVA #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/b3jVA0k46N
— Cez Arysta ? (@cezarysta) June 11, 2017