Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt today said Denmark is willing to send up to 300 troops to Poland and the Baltic nations as part of a NATO rotating unit.
The company will be deployed for up to 90 days on a rotation as part of NATO forces, and will take part in military exercises, particularly in the Baltic states.
“We want to send a clear message to the NATO nations who feel vulnerable,” Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish prime minister, said according to the Copenhagen Post. “They need to know that they can count on the rest of NATO.”
Thorning-Schmidt said the measure would be in response to the increase in Russia’s role in the conflict between Ukraine and the separatists.
She said the troop deployment would not violate the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Agreement between NATO and Russia.
This first Danish company deployed could prove to be just the first step, as Denmark is considering taking part in a planned NATO reaction force able to quickly send 4,000 soldiers to eastern Europe. Estonia is also in discussion to be part of this group.
Danish F-16s just finished a rotation at Ämari air base last month as part of NATO’s air policing mission. German Eurofighters are currently stationed there.
Source: Estonian Public Broadcasting
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