Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many British military personnel are now serving in the three Baltic States and what is the current total NATO deployment there.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The United Kingdom (UK) currently has 21 Service personnel in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as fellow members of NATO. In the Baltic States there is a persistent NATO presence through three NATO Force Integration Units and three NATO-accredited centres of excellence.
Since Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have continually demonstrated our commitment to regional defence and security by contributing to NATO assurance activity, including: providing ships to NATO’s Standing Naval Forces in the Baltic Sea; deploying RAF Typhoons to deliver Baltic Air Policing; and conducting exercises in the region, with 400 UK personnel participating in exercise SILVER ARROW in October 2016.
At the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, NATO Allies agreed to enhance the Alliance’s presence in the Baltic States and Poland through the deployment of four highly capable battalions. The UK will be lead the Enhanced Forward Presence battalion in Estonia and it is anticipated that up to 800 UK personnel will be deployed in the Spring of 2017. The contributions from NATO Allies will be:
Host Nation | Framework Nation | Based from | Contributing Nations | Number of Personnel | Deployed from |
Estonia | UK | Tapa | France, Denmark | Each Enhanced Forward Presence deployment is expected to have around 1,000 personnel, but this will vary over time due to planned rotations of units. | Each Enhanced Forward Presence battalion will be deployed from early 2017. |
Latvia | Canada | Adazi | Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia | ||
Lithuania | Germany | Rukla | Belgium, Croatia, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway | ||
Poland | US | Several locations including Żagań, Świętoszów, Skwierzyna, and Bolesławiec | Romania, UK |
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the government of Lebanon has requested British air support for its frontier and other military forces; and if so, what their response was.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
No formal request for air support to the Lebanese Armed Forces has been received from the Government of Lebanon. However, should the UK Government receive such a request, it would be given due consideration, in consultation with the counter-Daesh Coalition.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) Royal Navy vessels, and (2) vessels from other NATO members, are being deployed for search and rescue operations in the Aegean Sea; whether the orders given to those vessels include arresting traffickers; and what assessment they have made of whether the available forces are sufficient.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the statement I made to this House on Monday 7 March (Official Report, column 1079). The Royal Navy has deployed Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Mounts Bay and a Wildcat helicopter to support NATO activity in the Aegean Sea. These will work alongside three Home Office vessels: VOS Grace, which has been deployed since November; the cutter Protector, which is en route to the region; and a further cutter that is expected to start operations later this month.
In addition to RFA Mounts Bay, there are five NATO ships on station at the moment. Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Turkey have each deployed a ship.
NATO ships will provide information to enable Greek and Turkish civilian authorities to intercept migrant vessels and arrest traffickers. It is not an interdiction or search and rescue operation, but RFA Mounts Bay would give assistance to any vessel it found in distress, in accordance with international obligations.
With regards to sufficiency, we note the substantial contribution being made by the UK and other members of NATO, but we always look to see what further contributions members of the Alliance can make.