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Canada-Led NATO Brigade in Latvia Expands Forward Presence Near Russian Border
The Canada-led NATO Multinational Brigade has established forward positions and stationed troops near Latvia’s eastern border, its commander said. Col. Kris Reeves told Defense News the unit now focuses on mounting an active defense rather than serving solely as a tripwire force. Canada contributes about 2,000 troops to the brigade, its largest overseas deployment.
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The Canada-led NATO brigade in Latvia has moved beyond its original tripwire deterrence posture and is now focused on mounting a credible defense of the Baltic country bordering Russia. Col. Kris Reeves, commander of the Canada-led NATO Multinational Brigade in Latvia, said the shift toward tactical credibility has meant establishing forward locations and stationing troops near Latvia’s eastern border in the terrain where they would actually fight.
“Right now I have a brigade, there is nothing on the other side of the border that can take out this brigade,” Reeves said in an interview at the Sēlija training range in central Latvia this week. ” Canada has about 2,000 troops in Latvia. Its contribution to the NATO Multinational Brigade there represents its largest overseas deployment.
NATO agreed in 2016 to establish multinational battlegroups in the Baltic countries and Poland as enhanced forward presence, with Canada as the framework nation for Latvia. Canada agreed in June 2022 to scale up the battlegroup in Latvia to a brigade. From a single garrison in a training area, Canadian forces in Latvia are now based in four different areas.
The brigade operates under NATO’s Multinational Division North alongside Latvia’s Mechanized Infantry Brigade. Reeves said he wants to see, and sees, signs of the Canadian Army understanding NATO better. Canada has not operated in an operational theater with NATO since Afghanistan.
The multinational brigade in Latvia includes troops from 14 nations. Reeves said the goal is to have fewer nations at the unit level because it is very hard to be perfectly seamlessly interoperable at the lowest level. The brigade is actively operating and training every single day.
