An ongoing NATO mission in the heart of eastern Europe has taken on new meaning for the Canadian soldiers who are there — including some from Manitoba who were recently sent overseas.
Canadian Armed Forces members from CFB Shilo, in southwestern Manitoba, arrived in Latvia as part of Operation Reassurance in mid-June.
According to the Canadian Armed Forces, that mission involves exercises, training and “some NATO-specific tasks” in central and eastern Europe, as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s “assurance and deterrence measures.”
Lt.-Col. Jesse van Eijk, commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, says Operation Reassurance is a display of strength and solidarity between NATO members that has taken on new importance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began last February.
“Fundamentally, from a more geopolitical…