Canada's defence and foreign ministers jointly announced on 18 March 2019 the extensions of military training missions in Iraq and Ukraine. Both had been slated to wrap up at the end of March, but security concerns persist.
In Iraq, Canada will keep 250 special forces troops advising and training Iraqi security forces, plus several attack helicopters, as part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State mission until the end of March 2021. The number of troops deployed could ramp up to 850, if needed, and they will also help neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon build their respective security capabilities, said officials.
Complementing those efforts, Canada last November assumed command of a new NATO mission. It has been contributing air power, medical support and help in training Iraqi forces since 2014.
‘We have made significant and lasting progress, but we recognize that more work is needed. Now we must ensure that Daesh can never rebuild and threaten the safety of Iraq,’ Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told a press conference, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
In Ukraine, some 200 Canadian troops will continue to provide arms, military engineering, logistics, military policing, and medical training until the end of March 2022. Since 2015, Canada has so far trained nearly 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Canada will also host a third Ukraine reform conference in Toronto on July 2-4.
‘Ukraine can continue to count on Canada's unwavering support,’ Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said. ‘It's very important to send a strong message to Ukraine, to the people of Ukraine, and to the international community that the invasion of Crimea and the annexation of Crimea are a grave breach of international law,’ she added.
Any potential ‘Arctic Sentry’ mission would be months in the planning, but with tensions high in the region given the US’s push for Greenland, NATO countries will need to continue to emphasise their commitment to the region, analysts have said.
Defence Minister Gen Vladimir Padrino López has declared that the Venezuelan armed forces “will continue to employ all its available capabilities for military defence”.
The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.
Disruption of infrastructure in Europe, whether by cyberattack, physical damage to pipelines or uncrewed aerial vehicles flying over major airports, as has happened more recently, is on the rise. What is the most effective way of countering the aerial aspect of this not-so-open warfare?
The US State Department’s approval of a multi-billion-dollar sale of weapons to Taiwan includes tactical mission networks equipment, uncrewed aerial systems, artillery rocket systems and self-propelled howitzers as well as anti-tank guided missiles.
Ireland’s multi-annual investment in capital defence spending is set to rise from €300m in 2026 to €360m in 2029–2030 with major upgrades across land, air, maritime and cyber domains.
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