Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether future British armed forces deployments are planned to (1) Lithuania, (2) Estonia, and (3) Latvia, in support of NATO commitments; and also to Finland.

The UK has put in place a significant and comprehensive package of measures as part of NATO's response to the changing geopolitical situation in Europe to demonstrate our commitment to NATO, collective defence and reassure our Easter Allies.

In additions to those exercises ongoing or recently completed, the UK is also currently examining its ability to support the following exercises in the Baltic States:

• Exercise SABER JUNCTION in Lithuania (14 August – 17 September 2014).

• Exercise SILVER ARROW in Latvia (29 September – 5 October 2014).

• Exercise IRON SWORD in Lithuania (12-14 November 2014).

The UK does not currently plan to exercise in Finland but is engaging Finland on building stronger military partnerships which should lead to mutual training opportunities in 2015.

For completeness, there are also 4 RAF Typhoon aircraft deployed to Lithuania in support of NATO's peacetime Baltic Air Policing mission which will return at the end of August. There are at present no plans to extend these commitments further, as future mission rotations are filled by Allies for the foreseeable future. However, we keep the situation under constant review and any potential future UK participation would be dictated by the regional situation and NATO requirements.