Sweden has sent a battalion of 550 people to Latvia as part of NATO's forward land forces at the Camp Valdemar military base. This is the kingdom's first military mission as a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, the SVT television channel reports.
The battalion was transferred by sea. 250 soldiers arrived by ferry along with tanks and combat vehicles.
The last time the Swedish armed forces participated in a peacekeeping mission in Europe was in Kosovo. It was in the 1990s. They later participated in operations in Mali and Afghanistan. "In these operations, our task was to establish peace, this time we are sent to a country where there is peace, with the task of preventing war. We are here to deter," said Marcus Nilsson, communications officer for the southern Skåne Regiment P7.
NATO's modern land forces are present in all alliance countries bordering the Russian Federation. Sweden is the fourteenth country to participate in these forces, which have been stationed in Latvia since 2004. here.
