DR: lack of underpants prevented Danish soldiers from defending Latvia from Russians
The Danish battalion has been stationed in Latvia since last May and serves as NATO’s eastern bastion against Russia, Danish Radio reported. But because of the heat cannons there is nothing to breathe in the soldiers’ tents. In addition, the Danes are short of underpants.
Some 800 Danish soldiers have been stationed at Camp Valdemar in Latvia since November as part of NATO’s forward presence in the Baltics.
It has recently been revealed that the camp tents and the surrounding area have exceeded the MPC for suspended particulate matter.
The pollution exceeds the permissible norms set by the office of the working environment and comes from diesel heat guns VA-M40 models, which heat the living and working rooms of Danish soldiers during the cold Latvian winter.
It was reported in the memo of the Ministry of Defense to the relevant parliamentary committee.
It is said in the note that the measurements were made “in mild weather,” so the heat guns were not working at their full capacity. Consequently, it is possible that the measurements did not reveal the full extent of the problem.
“It is quite obvious that Danish soldiers should not live in tents with air pollution. Neither on assignment nor in training,” Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen of the liberal Venstre party writes in a memo.
The health authority did not believe that the soldiers’ stay in such tents posed a significant risk of subsequent illnesses. However, it did recommend that the continued use of similar heat guns be carefully considered.
“I take this issue extremely seriously and look forward to resolving it and ensuring that this does not happen again,” writes Troels Lund Poulsen.
Earlier, a spokesman for the military union lamented that soldiers were housed in dilapidated, moldy tents without being given the most basic equipment.
“To put it mildly, we are short on everything from ammunition to underpants. That’s the saddest part of my deployment. And I’ve seen a lot in 20 years!” he said at the time.
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