Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday Operation REASSURANCE would be renewed. The military operation, which launched in 2014 & was due to expire next year, is part of NATO’s efforts to counter Russian-backed unrest in the Baltic countries.
Canada is extending its military NATO mission in Central and Eastern Europe in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At any one time, there can be more than 900 Canadian Armed Forces members deployed to the operation, making it the largest current international military operation. In July 2018, Canada had planned to increase the number of soldiers deployed to Latvia from 455 to 540. “While Conservatives support our NATO allies in Eastern Europe and support the resumption of CF-18 policing operations as part of Operation REASSURANCE, this is only the first step in getting serious about Putin’s threats,” she said in a statement Tuesday.