French contingent of NATO battalion moves out to exercises in Latvia

Helsinki, Aug 14 (UNI/Sputnik) A convoy of military equipment of the French contingent of the NATO international battalion based in Estonia began its movement towards the Latvian town of Adazi for artillery exercises, the Estonian defense forces said on Saturday.
The French infantry combat vehicles and Leclerc tanks will take part in the scheduled drills at the training ground in Latvia, according to the defense forces. This will be the last maneuvers for the current unit of the French NATO contingent in Estonia during their service in the country’s Tapa military town before the rotation, the statement noted.
The Estonian military said that the vehicles will be moving out along the highway from August 14 to August 16 and will be returning before August 22. The army urged drivers to exercise caution when traveling on these dates along the column’s path.
The military units of the UK contingent in Estonia, as well as the military police of Estonia and Latvia will be in charge of ensuring the safety of the convoy.
In 2016, NATO decided to deploy multinational battalions on a rotational basis in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland at their request. A NATO combat battalion group of about 1,200 troops has been deployed in the military town of Tapa since April 2017. The NATO International Battalion is led by the UK, with the presence of military units from France and Denmark on a rotational basis.