NATO's 4 Polish and Baltic Battlegroups Fully Operational - Secretary General

Sputnik News

13:06 28.06.2017(updated 13:07 28.06.2017)

According to Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's four multinational battlegroups in the Baltic countries and Poland are now fully operational.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – NATO's four battlegroups in the Baltics and Poland are now fully operational, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

"NATO's four multinational battlegroups in the Baltic countries and Poland are now fully operational, a clear demonstration that our alliance stands united in the face of any possible aggression," Stoltenberg told a press conference.

European NATO members and Canada are set to increase their annual defense spending by 4.3 percent this year, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

"This year, in 2017 we foresee an even greater annual real increase of 4.3 percent. That is three consecutive years of accelerating defense spending. This means over the last three years European allies and Canada spent almost $46 billion more on defense," Stoltenberg told a press conference.

In January, almost 1,000 US soldiers and the first shipment of the equipment for the US tank brigade arrived in Poland as part of the Atlantic Resolve mission of NATO. Early in May, three UH-60L Black Hawk US helicopters and 50 staff arrived at an air base in central-west Poland.

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