Figures supplied by the NATO press office show that of eight multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, Latvia's is the largest with a strength of 1,887 troops, ahead of Lithuania's 1,632 and Estonia's 1,430.
NEW figures for #NATO’s forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance: https://t.co/VDSFGvCVpv
— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) June 28, 2022
BG 🇧🇬: 968
BG 🇪🇪: 1430
BG 🇭🇺: 900
BG 🇱🇻: 1887
BG 🇱🇹: 1632
BG 🇵🇱: 1033
BG 🇷🇴: 1148
BG 🇸🇰: 643
9641 troops in 8⃣ battlegroups pic.twitter.com/5VvtodPLy4
These battlegroups are multinational, and combat-ready. Their presence is designed to make it clear that an attack on one Ally will be considered an attack on the whole Alliance.
The attached document gives more details of the composition of each battlegroup. The personnel and force numbers are based on information provided by contributing nations and may include forces deployed in a support role.
More announcements regarding the strengthening of NATO's eastern flank are expected at a summit meeting taking place in Madrid from June 28-30. NATO has provided background information about the key topics on the agenda and it is also possible to follow the summit in real time and explore the detailed program of the meetings.
According to Latvian Television, it is expected that the number of rapid reaction forces will be increased from 40,000 to 300,000, and brigades with 3,000 to 5,000 troops each will be formed in the Baltics instead of the current battle groups.
The Alliance will also adopt its new Strategic Concept, a key document which reaffirms NATO's values, purpose and tasks. It provides a collective assessment of the security challenges facing the Alliance and outlines the political and military tasks NATO will carry out to address them.
