- The Adazi base houses 500 Spanish soldiers, members of the NATO multinational battalion in Latvia.
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| Margarita Robles, Minister of Defense. |
Defense Minister Margarita Robles travels to Latvia this Thursday in the midst of the Ukraine war to visit the 500 Spanish soldiers who are part of the multinational battalion that NATO has deployed in that country as an instrument of deterrence against the Russian challenge.
It is the second time in four months that Robles has visited the Spanish troops integrated into the reinforced Advanced Presence (eFP) mission, based at the Adazi base, 25 kilometers from the Latvian capital and 120 from the Russian border, of which Spain has been a part since 2017. The NATO mission aims to maintain deterrence against any aggression against the Baltic countries, through a defensive deployment.
Robles' previous visit to Latvia, on December 30 last year, coincided with the escalation of tension between Russia and Ukraine, on whose border the Russian army had been concentrating troops for weeks ahead of the invasion of the country that is carried out just two months later. The armed conflict has reinforced NATO's presence on the eastern flank of the Alliance, a task to which Spain has contributed 150 soldiers. These troops were added to the 350 that were already part of the battalion, making our country the second largest contributor.
On this occasion, the trip of the Minister of Defense to the NATO multinational tactical group in Latvia, the same one that Pedro Sánchez visited on March 8, is marked by national news, after Robles was, during the control session to the Government yesterday, the main one indicated by independentistas and United We Can because of the Pegasus scandal.
The alleged espionage of dozens of Catalan and Basque pro-independence politicians with the Pegasus software has put the former magistrate in the spotlight because the National Intelligence Center, the body accused of the events, depends on the Ministry of Defense. The tension in recent days has reached such a point that the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, has demanded the resignation of Robles or, failing that, his dismissal by the Prime Minister, a demand to which Esquerra Republicana has joined.
NATO presence in Latvia
Soldiers from Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Albania, Montenegro, and Canada, which command the mission, participate in the Adazi base, in addition to those from Spain. Our country occupies several positions in the multinational battalion headquarters, including the second command of this unit, in charge of an infantry commander, and contributes with three soldiers in the headquarters of the Latvian Brigade.
Spain also contributes technological means, such as 'Leopardo 2 E' combat tanks and 'Pizarro' Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICV), and supports other mechanized means, such as the M-113 armored caterpillar transport (TOA), heavy 120 mm, Sapper Fighting Vehicles (VCZ) and 'Spike' anti-tank missiles.
The one in Latvia is one of the four multinational tactical groups that NATO has. The remaining three are located in Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland.