Thursday, 26 June, will go down in the history of the NATO Multinational Brigade in Latvia. For the first time, the commander has been replaced.

The NATO Multinational Brigade was established last year. It consists of 14 allied countries and is led by Canada. The change of command ceremony is traditional and will take place once a year.

“Over the past year, I have seen real soldiers – true professionals, true warriors who are ready to support our alliance. After more than a year, our brigade has more than 10,000 soldiers. We have excellent equipment from all nations, which makes this brigade an extremely powerful organisation. But most importantly, we have great people. We come from 14 different countries, but you quickly realise that we are all the same. We share the same values that made us who we are,” said Aspirault.

During his nearly 30-year career, Colonel Kristopher Reeves has served as a commander in various military structures and as a senior military advisor to the Canadian Minister of National Defence. He has also participated in operations in Afghanistan and Ukraine. As commander of the brigade in Latvia, he is determined to continue what has been started and to strengthen it.

“The mission is very clear. We are here to deter with our presence. To ensure that this combat-ready brigade can effectively defend Latvia. That is our plan. To defend Latvia. And if there is a need to move around the countryside more, to understand the terrain, to bring in new capabilities from other nations, or simply to cope better with what we have. We will do all of that,” said the new commander, Colonel Kristopher Reeves.

The commander change ceremony is traditional and will take place once a year, which means that the current commander will lead the brigade until next year.

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