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Canada to deploy the HMCS Regina to Europe for NATO mission

Canada is bolstering it's contribution to NATO's so-called reassurance mission in Europe.

On Wednesday, the Harper government announced that it will commit the HMCS Regina — a patrol frigate currently deployed in the Arabian Sea — to NATO Standing Maritime Forces "to further demonstrate support for Alliance solidarity."

"Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine and provocative military activity remains a serious concern to the international community," prime minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.

"Canada remains committed to working with our NATO Allies to promote the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

[ Related: Vladimir Putin: The best way to stop him is to empower Ukraine ]

NATO is increasing its military footprint in Eastern Europe amid growing concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions in the region following his country's annexation of Crimea.

Two weeks ago, NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen asked member states to come forward with contributions.

Canada has delivered.

In addition to the HMCS, Canada has sent six CF-18 fighter aircraft. The jets arrived in Romania on Tuesday and will be based there to reassure allies in Central and Eastern Europe.

[ Related: Putin allies hit with sanctions ]

Canada's military infrastructure and personnel are arriving while regional tensions remain high.

Political unrest has become the norm in Eastern parts of Ukraine where pro-Russia militia's — believed to be supported by the Russian administration — have seized government buildings and administrative offices. There are fears of growing violence as Ukrainians approach their May 25th presidential election.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Moscow to leave Ukraine in peace.

"The events in Ukraine are a wake-up call," Kerry said at an event in Washington, DC, according to the Guardian newspaper.

"Our European allies have spent more than 20 years with us working to integrate Russia into the Euro-Atlantic community. It is not as if we really haven't bent over backwards to try to set a new course in the post-Cold War era. What Russia's actions in Ukraine tell us is that today [President Vladimir] Putin's Russia is playing by a different set of rules.

"Through its occupation of Crimea and its subsequent destabilisation of eastern Ukraine Russia seeks to change the security landscape of eastern and central Europe. So we find ourselves in a defining moment for our transatlantic alliance – and nobody should mistake that – and we are prepared to do what we need to do, and to go the distance to uphold that alliance."

(Photo courtesy of Reuters)

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