Hundreds of Swedish troops arrived in Latvia on Saturday to join a Canadian-led multinational brigade along Nato’s eastern flank, a mission Sweden is calling its most significant operation so far as a member of the Western defence alliance.

Sweden’s armed forces said the mission of 550 troops will contribute to the alliance’s deterrence and defense efforts, and ensure stability in the region, and that it “marks Sweden’s largest commitment yet since joining NATO.

Hundreds of Swedish troops arrived in Latvia on Saturday to join a Canadian-led multinational brigade along NATO’s eastern flank, a mission Sweden is calling its most significant operation so far as a member of the Western defense alliance.

Russian-sponsored disruption of underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea will continue and escalate unless such activities are met with a firm response from NATO countries, Lithuania’s new Foreign Affairs Minister Kęstutis Budrys told journalists in the Latvian capital Riga on Thursday,

In Riga Russian Theatre's rehearsal room, actors gather for a table-read of the season's big premiere, "Lady Macbeth" -- but the play's poster will not crop up around the Latvian