On 9 June 2015, ICDS in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Tallinn hosted a lecture by Colonel Torbjörn Larsson, Commander of the Nordic Battlegroup NBG15, entitled Building a Battlegroup – On Time With Right Skills and Mindset. Colonel Larsson gave an overview of activities related to planning, preparation and stand-by for the Nordic Battlegroup 15, which is ready to be deployed on behalf of the European Union (EU).
During the first half of 2015, Sweden led a battlegroup made up of sub-units and personnel from Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway. The Battlegroup is capable of being on site in a crisis area within 10 days of an EU decision, and should be able to conclude its duties within 30–120 days.
Colonel Larsson’s speech was followed by a question and answer session. If the EU did decide to use the battlegroup, one of the major challenges would be deploying it to a land-locked country without access to harbours and via a poor road network. The term “battlegroup” is not entirely correct since the unit is designed to conduct peacekeeping operations.