Ottawa spends $2.6 billion on NATO defense operations in Europe
Canada is spending $2.6 billion in defense spending on the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) largest overseas mission, based in Latvia, while NATO continually calls on member countries to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense measures.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on July 10 in Riga, Latvia ahead of this week’s NATO leadership summit where Mr Trudeau and Defense Minister Anita Anand Meet with a number of world leaders and NATO officials.
The $2.6 billion in federal funding will go to CAF’s “Operation REASSURANCE,” which was established in Latvia in 2014 after NATO agreed on a set of military measures “based on the principles of defence, deterrence and de-escalation, designed to strengthen NATO’s collective defence”.
Canada will begin funding in fiscal year 2023-24 and will use it to “renew and expand” the operation over the course of three years.
Canada currently has about 800 CAF troops stationed in Latvia working with the country’s military and NATO allies, but the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on July 10 that up to 2,200 troops will be “permanently deployed in the coming years “. part of the renewal of Operation REASSURANCE.
“Canada also stands ready to deploy additional personnel for allied crisis response, cooperative security and collective defense,” the PMO said in a press release.
The PMO said Canada will also “acquire and pre-position critical weapons systems, enablers, supplies and supporting intelligence, cyber and space activities to fulfill commitments made under the June 2022 Canada-Latvia Joint Statement”, and will continue to support NATO’s enhanced Forward. Battle Group presence in Latvia.
NATO defense expenditure
Mr Trudeau’s announcement that Ottawa will allocate $2.6 billion to Operation REASSURANCE over the next few years comes amid calls from NATO for all member states to allocate at least 2 percent of their GDP to defense spending – a target that Canada has not met since NATO established the requirement in 2006.
By 2022, Canada’s military spending will fall to just 1.27 percent of GDP, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in February that all member states must set tough requirements and timetables to meet the target.
However, the Washington Post reported in April that according to a leaked Pentagon assessment, Mr. Trudeau had “told NATO officials that Canada will never reach 2% defense spending.”
Mr. Trudeau responded to the April 19 report by saying that Canada is a “reliable partner of NATO, a reliable partner around the world, and with our military investments.”
The Prime Minister also said at the time that his government would “continue to work on investments to give the men and women of the Canadian Forces the necessary support to deliver”.
