On 24 January, President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs chaired a meeting of the National Security Council (Council) at the Riga Castle. The meeting focused on the military defence of Latvia's eastern border.
Following up on the decision taken at its meeting in November last year, the Council examined a report by the Ministry of Defence on the development and provision of military defence of the state border. The Council was briefed by the Minister of Defence and the Commander of the National Armed Forces on the proposed plan, the technical solutions for the defence of the national border, including reinforcement and logistics hubs and physical defence installations, as well as the necessary expenditure. The Council acknowledged the need to increase investment in mobile platforms, live-fire capabilities and sensors.
The Minister of Defence also provided information on cooperation with Estonia and Lithuania on the joint establishment of the Baltic Defence Line. The Council endorsed the further development of the plan in line with the procedures outlined by the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Council called for the Latvian public to be informed about the planned measures and executed tasks, with due regard for data protection and confidentiality.
The participants agreed to revisit this issue at a later date to assess the progress made in enhancing the military defence of the country's eastern border.