Defence leaders to meet the Commander of the Canadian Army

On Monday, 7 May, Defence Minister Raimonds Bergmanis and Brig Gen Ivo Mogiļnijs, Chief-of-Staff of the National Armed Force Joint Headquarters, will meet with Lt Gen Paul Wynnyk, Commander of the Canadian Army, who will be in Latvia on a working visit from the 5th to 7th of May.

The meeting between Lt Gen Wynnyk and Latvian defence leaders will focus on international, regional security challenges and deployment of NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup Latvia.

While in Latvia, Lt Gen Wynnyk will visit the Ādaži military base to meet with commanders and troops of NATO’s eFP Battlegroup Latvia, as well as inspect the military equipment and infrastructure of the base.

As reported previously, Canada is leading the deployment in Latvia as Framework Nation. Canada has contributed around 450 Land Force Mechanised Brigade troops, armoured vehicles, reconnaissance platoon and support elements to NATO eFP Battlegroup Latvia.

Decision on establishing an enhanced forward presence of multinational battalion-size battle groups in Baltic States and Poland was adopted by the heads of states and governments during the NATO Warsaw summit in 2016. Such battle groups were created and deployed to promote the implementation of NATO’s deterrence strategy and strengthen the Alliance’s collective defence by demonstrating solidarity and resolve to defend the alliance against all kinds of aggression.

On 19 June 2017, the Ādaži military camp hosted the NATO eFP Battlegroup Latvia welcoming ceremony.

Seven months later, the Canadian-led NATO eFP Battlegroup Latvia troops completed their first rotation and a change of command ceremony was held on 15  January 2018.

Czech and Slovak troops will join NATO eFP battle group Latvia this year.

Media contacts:
Media Relations Section
Military Public Affairs Department
Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
E-mail: prese@mod.gov.lv
Website: www.mod.gov.lv