Sweden to send first batch of troops to Latvia under NATO deployment

Europe, News April 27, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced his country’s decision to dispatch a scaled-down battalion to NATO forces stationed in Latvia by 2025.

Sweden’s deployment is aimed at bolstering the Baltic nation against the threat of a potential Russian incursion. This would mark Sweden’s first formal military deployment since joining the alliance earlier this year.

“The government this morning gave Sweden’s armed forces the formal task of planning and preparing for the Swedish contribution of a reduced mechanized battalion to NATO’s forward land forces in Latvia,” Kristersson told reporters at a news conference in Stockholm on Aprile 25, 2024, alongside Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina. As the first deployment, around 600 Swedish troops will be stationed in Latvia for six months.

“Our aim is a force contribution, including CV 90s armored vehicles and Leopard 2 main battle tanks. We’re planning for the deployment early next year after a parliament decision,” the prime minister added.

NATO’s deployment in Latvia, known as the Forward Land Forces (FLF), was initiated by the Baltic states and Poland back in 2017. However, in the wake of Russia’s complete invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO opted to expand these forces into Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia as well.

Latvia welcomes Sweden’s government decision to give the 🇸🇪 Armed Forces the formal task of planning and preparing for Sweden’s contribution of a reduced mechanized battalion to NATO’s Forward Land Forces in Latvia. Thank you, @SwedishPM, for working towards our common security! pic.twitter.com/O1SkHclLtS
— Evika Siliņa 🇱🇻🇺🇦 (@EvikaSilina) April 25, 2024

Currently, the FLF is being headed by Danish divisional staff. After the new arrangement, Sweden and Denmark will take turns assuming responsibility for deploying a battalion as part of a brigade stationed outside Riga.

Earlier statements from Kristersson also indicated that Sweden is committed to allocating 2% of its GDP to defense expenditures this year and in the future, marking a doubling of its previous spending levels.

Although Kristersson’s admonition is determined to send the troops to NATO mission by the start of next year, the final approval would come from the Swedish parliament.

According to Swedish laws, sending troops for overseas missions requires a parliamentary endorsement, there is a widespread anticipation that the parliament will approve the deployment, given the alignment among Sweden’s leaders and parliamentarians, except for a minority of left-wing and Green MPs, who concur on Sweden’s stance regarding NATO engagement.

*^{The Swedish Armed Forces conducting a high readiness action in the south-eastern and southern Baltic Sea in August 2020. (Image Credit: Joel Thungren/Swedish Armed Forces)}*

In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both Sweden and Finland submitted applications for NATO membership. Finland achieved membership status in April 2023, whereas Sweden followed suit in March, becoming the alliance’s 32nd member.

This marked the conclusion of over two centuries of military non-alignment for Stockholm and enabled the nation to deploy troops overseas in support of the transatlantic alliance’s objectives.

Separately on April 25, Sweden’s Minister of Defense Pål Jonson held talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III to discuss continued support to Ukraine and key security issues. During the talks, U.S. Secretary Austin thanked Minister Jonson for Sweden’s tremendous military aid to Ukraine.

Austin highlighted that Sweden, as the newest member of the NATO Alliance, demonstrates its solid commitment to regional security. According to the Department of Defense statement, “The United States and Sweden will continue to work together, alongside international partners, to support Ukraine.”