Sweden set to join Canadian-led brigade in Latvia once roadblocks to NATO membership end

Canada has more at stake than meets the eye in the long,drawn-out geopolitical drama over Sweden's bid to join NATO.

Sweden'sfull membership inthe military alliance is being blocked by Turkey and Hungary. The Nordic country is also set to playan important role in the multinational brigade that Canada is leading in Latvia.

"That's the plan," said Vice-Admiral Bob Auchterlonie, the Canadian military's operations commander, in a recent year-end interview with CBC News.

The brigade is expected to be fully operational next summer. In addition to the possibleparticipation of the Swedes, thebrigade also will include a sizable contingent of Danish troops who are already in the Baltic countrybut are not operating with the existing Canadian-led battlegroup.

"We're working heavily with our Spanish allies," said Auchterlonie. "We're going to lead with the Danes, and with Sweden, soon to be allies there."

Sweden's participation in the brigade dependson it joiningNATO first.Meeting with his Swedish counterpart in Stockholm on Monday, Latvia's foreign ministerKrijnis Karisuggested he wasconfidentthe obstacles to Sweden's NATO membership will soon be gone.

Turkey has delayed ratification of Sweden's membership for more than a year.The government ofTurkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoganaccusesStockholm of not taking seriously enough Turkey's security concerns regarding Kurdish militants.

On Tuesday, Erdogansaid his country's parliament could move towardratification when it sees positive developments on Turkey's pitch to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the U.S., and on Canada's arms embargo.

The federal government suspended the export of some drone technology to Turkey in 2020 after concluding the equipment had been used by Azerbaijan's forces fighting Armenia in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where fighting again erupted this year.

On the margins of last summer's NATO summit, Canada quietly agreed to reopen talks with Turkey about lifting export controls.

Unlikesome alliesleading military formations in Estonia and Lithuania, Canada has struggled to meet its commitment to establish a full brigade something Auchterlonieattributed in partto geography. The United Kingdom and Germany are relatively closeto the Baltics, he said, whileCanada has to bring its troops and equipment across the Atlantic Ocean.

The absence of barracks and training grounds in Latvia is also a problem, Auchterloniesaid.

Gen. Micael Bydn, Sweden's top military commander,advised Sweden's governmentlast year to commit troops to one of the NATO battle groups once the NATO accession process is completed.

The think-tank Stockholm Free World Forum recommended in a report last summer that Sweden consider joining the brigade in Latvia with a mechanized battalion of troops. The report saidthere would be a "strategic benefit to placing Swedish troops under the Canadian-led force based on the common interests of Sweden and Canada."

The Swedish Ministry of Defence did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. The country's embassy in Ottawa also declined, saying the ambassador was out of the country and unavailable.

Auchterlonie said the brigade in Latvia will conduct a major training exercise next summer after its headquarters which is initially being drawn from the 5th Canadian Mechanized Brigade in Valcartier, Quebec is established.

The Canadian contingent was bolstered recently by the arrival of 15 Leopard 2 tanks and the planned purchase of modern anti-tank weapons for ground troops.