The United States opened the summit of NATO leaders in Madrid on Wednesday. Bringing radical armed forces to the table to bolster alliance security across Europe, Canada separately signed an agreement with Latvia to increase the Western military alliance’s presence in the country.
It is not clear if additional Canadian troops will be sent to the Baltic, or if they will come from other allies. The deal was hastily signed on Wednesday afternoon and the Prime Minister’s Office did not provide any details.
Both the NATO Secretary General and the Estonian Prime Minister thanked Canada publicly and via Twitter for their additional support ahead of the official signing of the agreement.
President Joe Biden opened the meeting with other Western leaders, saying that the United States planned to add troops to Romania, recently established by a French-led war group, and further strengthen its forces in the Baltic States.
The US will send two more F-35 troops to the UK and establish ground-based air defense systems in Germany and Italy.
Additionally, significantly, the United States will establish a permanent headquarters in Poland for the Fifth Army and coordinate security in Eastern Europe in the event of Russian occupation.
The operations announced on Wednesday have more than 100,000 American soldiers already in Europe.
Russia ‘disturbing the peace’
“Where in an instant [Russian President Vladimir] Putin disturbed the peace in Europe and attacked the United States and our allies, the principles of the rule of law: we are moving forward,” Biden said at the summit.
NATO leaders are discussing a two-step process to boost security for its 30-32 members.
View | NATO Secretary General Sweden hails Finland’s rapid access:
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hailed Finland and Sweden’s quick accession process, saying the historic decision showed NATO’s doors were always open.
The Western Military Confederation is increasing the deployment of combat teams to the region and will create a brigade-level force of 5,000 to 6,000 troops.
Increased high availability forces
It also plans to deploy more member forces, a total of 300,000, to act as rapid reinforcements for troops already on the ground.
Britain and Germany plan to bolster their forces in the Baltic states ahead of the summit.
Asked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday whether Canada would be included on his panel in Latvia, he said his government was “developing plans that can be scaled quickly,” but further discussions would take place. during the summit.
View | NATO stresses the importance of contributions to member states’ expenses:
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the world has become more dangerous, so member states could “increase defense spending” as tensions rise.
Along with Canada in Latvia, Spain and Denmark are the main troop contributors.
Ahead of the summit, Trudeau met with Danish Prime Minister Matteo Fredericks on Wednesday.
“All Europeans are shocked and shocked to see the return of war to the European continent,” Frederickson said.
Following the invasion of Ukraine last winter, Denmark sent nearly 800 troops to Latvia to reinforce NATO forces.
Frederickson spoke about the gravity of the situation and the need for allies at this time.
“In this situation, we really need our friends,” he said. “It is a difficult situation for Europe. The most important thing that can be said about the war in Ukraine is that we must win it and Ukraine must win.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Jelensky addressed the 30 leaders and new candidates from Sweden and Finland via video link on Wednesday morning.
He said his country needed more arms and money to defend itself against Russia and warned that Moscow’s ambitions would not stop with Ukraine.
“Russia must be isolated. It should not be part of international organizations that want to destroy it,” Zhelensky said.
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