Sweden has sent military personnel to Latvia to reinforce NATO on its eastern border
Sweden has sent 550 servicemen to Latvia to reinforce NATO's forward ground forces at the Camp Valdemar military base. This was reported by Swedenherald.com on January 18.
It is specified that the military landed in Riga in two columns - under the Swedish flag and under the alliance flag. This is Sweden's first participation in a military mission as a NATO ally. The Swedish military command indicated that preparations for the operation have been underway since last summer.
"The Swedish military will take turns with the Danish military every six months to complete the part of the NATO force in Latvia, which is stationed at Camp Valdemar in the town of Adazi, northeast of Riga," the portal reported.
NATO, according to the publication, is deploying military forces along the eastern border from the Baltic states to Bulgaria, as well as in Finland. In addition to Sweden, 13 countries are represented in the Latvian Multinational Brigade: Albania, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Earlier, January 3, it was reported that the UK will send 2.6 thousand troops and 730 units of equipment to the NATO exercise Steadfast Dart, which will be held from January to February in Bulgaria and Romania. It was noted that the 1st Division of the UK will exercise command of all land forces participating in the maneuvers.
In late December 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia must be strong to counter Western attempts to undermine the situation in countries near Russia's borders.
Back in March, Putin said during an interaction with the military that Russia was not going to go to war with NATO. He said that Russia had not moved toward the borders of NATO countries, but the alliance had come close to Russia's borders, noting that NATO was moving even into Asia and Latin America.
