New NATO headquarters opened in Latvia
The press service of the Latvian Ministry of Defense announced that Latvia, Estonia and Denmark opened the Northern Division headquarters for the multinational troops in Adazi near Riga.
The main task of the Northern Division will be the management of military operations in its area of responsibility. The new headquarters will begin planning and managing military operations, as well as planning and integrating the NATO units’ activities in order to strengthen the security of the region and organize training in accordance with the alliance’s defense plans.
Division headquarters offices will be located in Adazi, Latvia and Karup, Denmark. The first chief of staff of the Northern Division will be the Major General of the Danish Armed Forces, Flemming Mathiasen.
The headquarters will be ready to start operating in the first half of 2019. Full operational readiness will be achieved over several years.
Currently, the headquarters is not a part of the NATO structure, since its inclusion in the alliance’s military administration must be approved at a ministerial meeting. The next meeting will be held in June 2019. After the approval, the new headquarters will be able to receive funding from the NATO budget and use the alliance forces to conduct their operations.
Earlier, the United States deployed 13 UH-60 and HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in Latvia as part of the Atlantic Resolve operation to strengthen the security of the region.
It was earlier reported that NATO will increase its military presence in the Black Sea in response to Russia's violation of international maritime laws.