“The meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Brussels agreed on the support to enhance the military capabilities of air and naval forces in the Baltic region on Wednesday. Similarly, NATO will significantly increase its capability to face traditional and hybrid threats by establishing a mechanism for receiving assistance in the event of a hybrid threat,” stated President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis after the meeting.
“In general, the meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Brussels is already considered successful, since the decisions taken make NATO even stronger and make our region even better protected. They will further enhance NATO’s ability to respond to a crisis and further strengthen NATO’s presence in our region,” noted the President of Latvia. During the NATO Summit, the Allies agreed on a new initiative providing that NATO should be able to provide 30 marine units, 30 ground units, and 30 airborne units within 30 days. These units would together form structured troops being jointly capable of performing defence missions.
The President of Latvia noted that the Allies appreciated our defence budget increased to reach 2% of GDP. It strengthens both our defence and the position of Latvia in the Alliance.
When speaking about the unity of the Alliance, Raimonds Vējonis noted that the historical events have proved that we can protect our countries and partners against military and hybrid threats only if we are united. Therefore, the Alliance must be united, strong, and able to find solutions to the new security challenges now more than ever before.
The President of Latvia also appreciates the agreement reached today in Brussels among Denmark, the Baltic States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, which seeks to form a multinational division headquarters in Latvia. That will improve NATO’s capability to plan defence and take practical steps in the Baltic region. The headquarters will be established in the Adazi Military Base in the coming months consisting of approximately 100 officers.
The meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government meeting will continue in Brussels on Thursday when a working session with representatives of Ukraine and Georgia is planned to discuss security challenges in their region.
During the second half of the day, President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis will participate in the official opening of the new premises of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to NATO. The President of Latvia will also hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday as well.
