The liberal government extended the presence of NATO in Canada in Latvia for another three years, but it is still struggling to fill the equipment gaps as the war in Ukraine quickly restores to fight the battlefield forces.
Prime Minister Mark Carnary announced the extension for three years on Tuesday night after a meeting with Prime Minister Latvia Evica Celina in Riga, the capital of the Baltic country.
On Wednesday, he visited the Canadian forces in Adazi camp, serving about 2,200 Canadian soldiers with 1,300 soldiers from more than ten other NATO countries.
“We know that peace can only come through power,” Carney said in his statements to hundreds of forces that collected the fighting vehicles and equipment to the Prime Minister. “In the years that have passed since its inception, only the need to reassure the operation has increased.”
The Prime Minister said that the threat posed by Russia, which limits Latvia, will not disappear quickly.
“While a long time ago, I understood the threat of Russian aggression,” Carney said on Tuesday as announcing the expansion of the military presence in Canada. “Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has destroyed any previous assumptions that many others have detained from post -Cold War security.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the extension of the Canadian Military Training Mission in Latvia until 2029, which is part of the government’s commitment to NATO to increase defense spending.
Before speaking to the forces on Wednesday, Carney toured the newly constructed barracks and the tanks full of the main battle tufts of the Canadian tiger 2A4, many of them in the late eighties and early nineties.
The increasing age has made it difficult for the army to keep a reserves of spare parts to keep them operating.
Defense Secretary David Mcceceti, who accompanied the Prime Minister, said the government admits that the tanks should be replaced.
“The government followed the restart of the Canadian armed forces, from top to bottom. We started securing the financial affairs needed to do so,” McCointt said, in reference to an additional $ 9.3 billion in defensive spending in the current budget year.
“We will take the initiative from professionals who run the Canadian armed forces. We are clearly working with them to find out what their needs are and how to meet these needs.”
Throughout the tour, Colonel Chris Reeves, Commander of the Canadian Brigade and Zifi. Jet Albinos, the Danish leader of the NATO section in Latvia.
Albinus thanked Canada’s continuous support for the mission.
Driver spending
The federal government was forced to buy a rapid combat parliament, combat the suffocating and the short -term air defense system of the forces deployed in Latvia, but there are still challenges.
“You only need to run the news and see how important the drones are in the Battle of Ukraine,” Reeves told reporters. “We are watching and studying to understand that battle, but we need these pieces of equipment here in Latvia.”
The army recently introduced a small number of RQ-21 monitoring aircraft from Blackjack to Latvia, where a few soldiers are now working, but Reeves said more.
Reeves said that the extension of the publication is a good news because it provides certainty in terms of planning and dealing with the allies.
“I have confidence that we are here for the long run,” Reeves said.
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