Ukraine conflict: Denmark deploys battalion to Latvia

Danish CV90s arriving in Riga. (Forsvaret/Niels Porsbøl)

Denmark is deploying a combat battalion to Latvia as part of NATO's efforts to reinforce its presence and deterrence in the Baltic states. The Forsvaret, the Danish Armed Forces, announced on its website on 2 May that the first 350 soldiers of the 750-strong battalion, which is drawn mainly from the Guard Hussar Regiment, were flying to Latvia that day.

The avant-garde of the battalion and the unit's equipment and vehicles were transported from Denmark to Latvia at the end of April. The Latvian Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported on 28 April that two transport ships arrived in Riga from the Danish port of Køge the day before with nearly 300 vehicles and pieces of equipment, including Piranha 5 armoured personnel carriers and CV9035DK infantry fighting vehicles, and taking two days to unload.

The Danish battalion will be stationed at Ādaži and will be integrated into Latvia's mechanised infantry brigade, as is the Canadian-led NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) battlegroup.

The MoD expected the deployment of the Danish battalion in Latvia and its participation in joint military exercises with the Latvian armed forces and units of other allies to further increase NATO interoperability and to increase readiness to threats at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels.

On 14 March the 175-strong Viking mechanised company drawn mainly from Denmark's Jutland Dragoon Regiment relieved troops from the French Army's 5e Régiment de Dragons (5th Dragoon Regiment) as part of the UK-led EFP battlegroup in Tapa, Estonia.