On 13 September, President of Latvia, Egils Levits, opened the Riga Security Forum 2019 and highlighted the significance of defence, cyber security and stable media landscape in ensuring democracy and freedom.
President of Latvia thanked the organisers for invitation to open the Riga Security Forum 2019 and praised the Latvian Institute of International Affairs for its vital role, which it has played since its founding in 1992, in providing considered analysis and recommendations, as well as overviews of international trends, regional security context, foreign policy strategies and other issues important for Latvian society.
President pointed out that Latvia's decision to join NATO was one of the most important for ensuring freedom and giving the sense of safety to the people and their homes. Latvia and other European countries have gone through the dreadful experience of losing their independence in 1940, therefore, the presence of Nation in the region is a clear signal of Latvia’s and its allies’ determination to prevent such tragedies from ever occurring again. President of Latvia praised the fact that Latvia reached and is ensuring the defence spending of 2% of GDP, thus showing other NATO countries that Latvia is a reliable partner.
In his address, President Levits underlined that hybrid threats have become as powerful as direct military threats and are beginning to undermine our values, trust in democracy and statehood. President praised the efforts of Riga-based NATO Centre of Excellence for Strategic Communication in strengthening the media landscape. He also complimented the work done by Helsinki-based European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats in countering hybrid threats. Information and communication technologies, social media and artificial intelligence are currently developing faster than ever before and are becoming a serious threat to national security.
“I am an optimist. I was part of the Baltic Way; I saw how the Berlin Wall fell a few months later and I felt at first hand the fragility of the authoritarian system in the face of strong desire for statehood. We should not forget the lessons of the past and must continue to stand up for the values on which our freedom and democracy is based. Then Latvia and its people will not have to fear that the tragic history might ever repeat itself,” said the President in conclusion of his address.
