NATO bolsters presence in eastern Europe as Russia tension rises

The UK has deployed hundreds of troops to eastern Europe as NATO continues to bolster its presence in the face of perceived Russian provocation.


In the largest build up of troops in the region since the cold war, the UK has confirmed it will send RAF Typhoon jets to Romania for up to four months in 2017.

Defense secretary Michael Fallon also confirmed that 800 personnel will be moved to Estonia, 150 more than originally planned.

"Backed by a rising defense budget this deployment of air, land and sea forces shows that we will continue to play a leading role in NATO, supporting the defense and security of our allies from the north to the south of the alliance," Fallon said.

The announcement comes a week after a Russian fleet, which was reportedly en-route to Syria, passed close to British waters.
Tensions between Moscow and NATO have been increasing ever since Russia annexed the Crimea region in 2014.

Those tensions have been exacerbated in recent months by Russia's role in the Syria conflict.
On Wednesday, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that recent tactics by Moscow had forced his organization to respond.

"Russia has tripled defense spending," he told reporters.

"Russia has invested heavily in a modern military equipment. They are conducting a large scale no notice exercises close to NATO borders, but perhaps most importantly Russia has been willing to use military force against neighbors.

"We have seen that in Georgia and we have seen it in Ukraine with illegal annexation of Crimea and the continued destabilization of Eastern Ukraine. So therefore NATO has to respond. "

In July, the UK confirmed it would deliver one of four battalions to NATO's enhanced forward presence in the Baltic States and Poland.

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According to the Ministry of Defense, the deployment is like to include "armored Infantry, equipped with Warrior armored fighting vehicles, tactical UAVs, and a troop of our Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks."

UK Troops are expected to begin their deployment in Estonia in May 2017.