In his speech addressed to the participants of the Conference, the President of Latvia emphasized that in the dangerous world, where peace was under threat once again, we should stick with the core values, which have kept us safe over many decades. These are the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. These are the cornerstones of EU and NATO policy.
Raimonds Vējonis underlined many challenges that the countries of the world faced in recent years including migration crisis in Europe, rapid spread of terrorism threat, as well as conflict in Syria and Ukraine. “All of this forces us to remember why peace in Europe has largely been maintained for over 70 years. Firstly, there are the rules and conventions of international relations. The EU and NATO have been the foundations of peace and stability in Europe,” said Raimonds Vējonis.
At the same time, the President of Latvia indicated that EU Member States had grown complacent during many decades of peace and used to think of war as something that happened elsewhere. “We have forgotten that one of the reasons Europeans came together in tighter cooperation was to avoid a repeat of the horrific conflicts of the 20th century,” stressed the President of Latvia.
In the conclusion, the President of Latvia said that due to Russia undertaking a huge military build-up underlined the importance of maintaining a well-functioning EU and a strong NATO. Europe should pull its weight and maintain its technological capability to keep up with modern military challenges.
Speech of President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis at the Riga Conference