Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has given assurances to the Baltic States about the UK's commitment to (a) the NATO alliance and (b) their territorial integrity; and if he will make a statement.

At the Wales Summit the Alliance reaffirmed its commitment to meet treaty obligations to any member under threat. A key UK objective for the Wales Summit was to provide greater reassurance to Eastern Allies as part of a robust response to Russia. The Summit launched a “Readiness Action Plan” which includes a continuous pattern activity in the air, on land and at sea, on a rotational basis. The Summit also agreed a new “spearhead unit” within the NATO Response Force, which will be able to deploy at very short notice. At the Summit, the Prime Minister, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), announced that the UK offer would be a Battle Group and a Brigade HQ. In addition to this, the UK deployed RAF Typhoons to NATO’s standing peacetime Baltic Air Policing Mission in May 2014 and provided E3-D support and 3500 troops for exercises in Eastern Europe before the end of 2015. These actions demonstrate the UK‘s continuing commitment to our eastern Allies, including the Baltic States, as we safeguard the freedom and security of all Allies by political and military means. I underlined the UK’s strong support when I met Foreign Ministers Linas Linkevičius and Urmas Paet at the Wales Summit.