Sweden to Station Troops in Latvia
According to an announcement made by the Prime Minister of Sweden on 8 January, the country will deploy a force of around 800 troops to Latvia early next year. Reportedly, the unit heading to Latvia will be the South Scanian Regiment (P7) which is currently stationed in southern Sweden and is the only unit within the Swedish military which has been equipped with the Patgb-360 (Patria AMV) armored fighting vehicle. “We have started planning for this and assuming a decision comes, we are prepared to solve the task”, said South Scanian Regiment commanding officer, Colonel Lennart Wideström.
Latvian Prime Minsiter Andris Spruds expressed support for the decision on Twitter.
“We are pleased with this important decision, which, together with the upcoming admission of Sweden to NATO, will become a significant investment in strengthening regional security and the defense of Latvia. Thanks to Sweden for this decision!”
The unit will reinforce the NATO battlegroup in Latvia which includes contingents from 11 countries placed under Canadian command. The force is approximately 1,700 strong with Canada being the largest contributor to the battlegroup with around 1,000 soldiers. However, in July of 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to more than double Canada’s contribution to 2,200 men by 2026. Together with the Swedes and assuming no other force increases, this would mean a battlegroup of 3,700 by 2026.
The announcement comes despite the fact that Sweden has not yet acquired NATO membership due to Turkish and Hungarian opposition. However, following months of diplomatic maneuvering, a Turkish parliamentary committee finally greenlit Sweden’s bid to join NATO in late December albeit the general assembly of the parliament still needs to give its final approval. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that he is confident Sweden will become part of NATO by the time of the next alliance summit which is scheduled to be held in Washington DC from 9 to 11 July.