Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau announced on May 12 that he would send a Canadian Armed Forces general and six staff officers to the northern headquarters of the NATO Multinational Force in Latvia to help plan, coordinate and integrate NATO military operations in the Baltic Sea region. In response to the Latvian prime minister's offer to permanently station Canadian troops on the ground, Trudeau responded that he was assessing developments.
Latvian Prime Minister Karins thanked Canada for leading NATO's military operations on the ground since 2016, and Karins stressed that as a NATO member, Latvia's current defense budget accounts for 2% of GDP and will increase to 2.5% in the next three years to better respond to regional security threats. Karins also called on Canada to permanently deploy military forces in the Baltic Sea region. At present, about 700 Canadian soldiers are stationed in Latvia, and since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Canadian government has announced an extension of its military deployment there until March 2025. (Phoenix TV Zu Keqin, Wu Jin, Su Yiheng reported in Vancouver)
