NATO Enhanced Forward Presence

Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) is a NATO-allied forward-deployed defense and deterrence military force in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. This posture in Northern Europe through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and in Central Europe through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and in Eastern Europe through Romania and Bulgaria, is in place to protect and reassure the security of NATO's Northern, Central and Eastern European member states on NATO's eastern flank.

Following Russia's invasion of Crimea, NATO's member states agreed at the 2016 Warsaw summit to forward deploy four multinational battalion battle groups to areas most likely to be attacked.

The numbers involved, although a notable supplement to the armed forces of the country being defended, are limited so that they avoid seeming to threaten Russia. The chief value of the force is that it is impossible to invade Poland or the Baltic states without battling the soldiers and firing on the flags of the involved NATO states, giving cause for war. It is believed that the prospect of war with all those countries will deter aggression.

The original four multinational battalion battle groups are based in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, and led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the United States respectively.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO members agreed to establish four more multinational battalion battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia led by Italy, Hungary, France, Czech Republic respectively at 2022 Madrid Summit. Starting in 2026, a battle group led by Sweden will also be deployed to Rovaniemi, Finland.

The troops serving in the multinational battalion battle groups rotate every six months and train and operate with their host nations' militaries.