In February, the UK plans to send several hundred additional soldiers to Estonia to expand the international NATO enhanced presence battle group in the Baltic states during the current regional military tension, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports.
The British military leads the battle group with approximately 850 soldiers deployed to Estonia alongside French, Danish and Icelandic forces – totalling around 1,200.
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Normally, the UK usually rotates its battlegroup troops every six months in March and September, but in 2022, it is planned that the new battlegroup will arrive a little early and the departing group will leave a little later, meaning two rotations would be stationed in Estonia for some months depending on the developments in the defence sector in the region.
«Our plan is for the first soldiers to arrive this month – in February. (..) And they are preparing at the moment. And that’s about 850 soldiers, like the battle group we already have in Estonia,» said the UK’s Ambassador to Estonia Ross Allen on Friday, February 4. The diplomat added that the time of stay of the double British troop presence «will depend on how serious the security situation is in our region in the future,» the ambassador said.
NATO battle group in Estonia to be strengthened by British troops
