Sweden Will Send ‘Reduced Battalion’ to Join Canadian-Led NATO Force in Latvia

Sweden’s prime minister says his country plans to join a Canadian-led NATO brigade force in Latvia. In a speech on Jan. 8 to a national security conference, Ulf Kristersson said his government intends to contribute a reduced battalion. Battalion forces are typically up to a thousand soldiers, while brigades are usually between 3,000 and 5,000. NATO allies have agreed to scale up eight existing battle groups in eastern Europe to brigade-size forces. Canada leads a group of 10 other nations in Latvia and last year pledged to add a Leopard 2 tank squadron to the force. Sweden and Finland asked to join NATO after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022, following decades of neutrality....