Defending the east of the Alliance – NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence
2017 has seen the arrival of more than 4,000 troops in countries along NATO’s eastern flank. Split into four multinational battlegroups, each consisting of approximately 1,000 soldiers, the troop deployment is known as NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence.
The battlegroups are stationed in the Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – and also Poland and are an important part of NATO’s defence and deterrence posture in the eastern and south-eastern part of the Alliance.
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg explain why the troop deployment is necessary.
