Raimonds Vējonis
“The European Union must do more to protect its borders and its citizens. The countries should cooperate more to ensure the safety of our information space and cyber security, stimulate media literacy and critical thinking in our populations,” stressed President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis at the Foreign Policy and Security International Forum, The Riga Conference 2017, on Friday, 29 September 2017.

 

In his address to the participants of the Conference, the President of Latvia emphasised two ways of security: as soft security and hard security.

 

"If membership in NATO helps us overcome the challenges of hard security, the EU should do the same with soft security,” outlined Raimonds Vējonis.

 

The President of Latvia noted that trust and belief in the state were central to counter hybrid threats. Soft security involves everyone, not just military and state personnel. Therefore, we must look after all our citizens as well as we can by enabling their opportunities to high-quality education and adequate health care. We must seize every even small, symbolic opportunity to remove barriers hindering the social cohesion.