NATO's presence in the Baltic States and Poland

The purpose of the allies' presence in the Baltic States and Poland is to strengthen the Alliance's deterrence and defence profile by demonstrating solidarity and the will to protect NATO's territory. Following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Alliance committed to increasing the Alliance’s presence in the region at the NATO Summit in Madrid in 2022. This included deploying additional robust in-place combat-ready forces and up scaling from existing eFP battle groups to brigade-size units.

How does Denmark contribute to NATO’s presence in the Baltic states?

Denmark contributed to eFP with a series of deployments. Following the Madrid Summit, Denmark has only increased the dedication to the deterrence in the Baltic region. In 2023, the Danish Government decided to send Danish soldiers to Latvia periodically to participate in NATO’s deterrence and defence posture in the Baltic States. The first Danish soldiers forming part of NATO’s military presence in the Baltic states were deployed to Latvia in the fall of 2023. The latest Danish deployment to FLF Latvia were in August 2024, where Denmark deployed an armoured battalion around 800 soldiers. The Danish contribution is part of the Canadian-led multinational brigade in Latvia when deployed and part of the NATO Force Model at a higher state of readiness.

The Danish Camp Valdemar outside of Adazi in Latvia acts as the base for both the Danish soldiers and for soldiers deployed by other allies.

The basis for the Danish deployment is the parliamentary decision B194 adopted on April 21, 2022.

Denmark is also one of the lead nations of Multinational Division North (MND-N), a NATO headquarter in Latvia. MND-N is part of the NATO Force Structure and is a key asset in the Baltic area.