NATO battalions in Poland, Baltics, from early 2017: Stoltenberg

Jens Stoltenberg made the announcement ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday.

The meeting will be the first of its kind since NATO country leaders decided at a Warsaw summit in July to deploy four rotating battalions to the alliance’s eastern flank amid fears of potential Russian aggression.

“From early 2017, NATO will have four multinational battalions in the eastern part of the Alliance,” Stoltenberg told reporters.

“This is credible deterrence. Not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent conflict. Concrete proof that NATO can and will deploy thousands of forces to support our allies.”

Stoltenberg said that on Wednesday, the countries which are responsible for leading the four battalions -- Canada, Germany, Britain and the United States -- would set out their plans for the battalions they will lead.

“And other Allies will confirm their contributions. And tomorrow I will be able to tell you more about the contributions from different NATO allies to the four battalions,” he added.

Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said last month that the first NATO military units under US command would arrive in Poland in January.

(pk)

Source: PAP/NATO