Trudeau to visit Latvia ahead of NATO summit
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will fly to Latvia for a two-day visit starting July 9, ahead of the NATO summit in Brussels, his office said Tuesday.
In addition to holding talks in Riga with Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis and President Raimonds Vejonis, Trudeau is also set to visit the Canadian-led multinational NATO Enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup based in the country.
The battlegroup 'plays a key role in Canada's efforts, together with Allies and partner countries, to maintain stability and security in Central and Eastern Europe,' a statement said.
Canada has deployed some 450 troops for the mission, dubbed Operation Reassurance, its largest sustained military presence in Europe in more than a decade.
NATO deployed four battalion-sized battlegroups in eastern Europe in a deterrence and defense posture following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The other three are based in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland and are led by Britain, Germany and the United States, respectively.
It will be the first ever bilateral visit by a Canadian head of government to Latvia, Trudeau's office added.
Trudeau will then head to Brussels for the NATO summit on July 11 and 12.
More from Defence Notes
-
![Companies’ results boom as countries dig deep to buy missiles and air defence systems]()
Companies’ results boom as countries dig deep to buy missiles and air defence systems
Air defence systems are continuing to appear top of countries’ shopping lists but broadly across different capabilities it is a sellers’ market, as demonstrated by backlogs and double-digit percentage point growth.
-
![Forging strong partnerships for warfighting communications in space (Studio)]()
Forging strong partnerships for warfighting communications in space (Studio)
Mike Moran, Director of US Government Business at Amazon Project Kuiper Government Solutions, highlighted the evolution of space as a critical warfighting domain at the Defence in Space Conference (DISC) 2025, held this week in London.
-
![Details revealed on Germany’s big spending plans]()
Details revealed on Germany’s big spending plans
In May this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the government plans to position Germany as “Europe's strongest conventional army”. A new blueprint outlines how this is going to occur through massive investment.
-
![European Council to deliver at “pace and scale” on European defence readiness 2030 roadmap]()
European Council to deliver at “pace and scale” on European defence readiness 2030 roadmap
Two of the concrete projects outlined in the readiness report, the European Air Shield and Space Shield, will aim to be launched by Q2 2026.
