Germany deployed a mobile radar system to Latvia
The Bundeswehr deployed a mobile air control and alert center in Latvia, as reported by the Ministry of Defense of the Baltic Republic on Tuesday, April 18th. The radar installation was placed at the Air Force Base in Lielvarde, located about 50 km from Riga. It will remain there for three months while the German military will be training Latvian soldiers to service the equipment.
The German Military brought this monitoring system to Latvia last year. The deployment of this equipment was announced by German Defense Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, in March during her visit to Riga. "We did not forget what it means to be a country on the eastern border and how important the protection of NATO and our NATO partners has been for Germany for many decades." said von der Leyen, recalling the experience of the Cold War. "Now it's our time to respond with something we have learned about defence," the minister added.
At the North Atlantic Alliance summit in July 2016, it was decided to redeploy four NATO battalions to the eastern flank of the Baltic countries and Poland to guarantee their security against the background of Russia's actions in Ukraine. Germany took command of the battalion in Lithuania, as did the United States in Poland, the British in Estonia, and the Canadians in Latvia.