The head of state pointed out that, under the current security situation, the decision taken at the NATO Summit in Warsaw to strengthen the Allied presence in the Baltic States and Poland was crucial. “Broad participation of the NATO member countries in the battlegroups in the Baltic States demonstrates the involvement of our allies in our regional security,” indicated Raimonds Vējonis.
He stressed that it was vital for every NATO member country to ensure the defence spending of 2% of the gross domestic product. “Latvia is hitting this target step by step so that the defence spending reach 2% of GDP in 2018 already,” shared Raimonds Vējonis.
During the meeting, the officials discussed the need to strengthen the resilience of the Baltic population to Russia’s information activities. The parties agreed that the countries should cooperate on this issue both bilaterally and in close co-operation between NATO and the European Union.
The President of Latvia emphasised the need for keeping the priority of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) high on the European Union’s agenda and for facilitating the implementation of the decisions made at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga. Raimonds Vējonis laid stress that Latvia supported the organising of the next EaP Summit in Brussels in November this year with the Eastern Partnership countries also being engaged in the preparation process thereof.
The officials agreed that Latvia and Lithuania should cooperate closely in the negotiations on the next EU multiannual financial framework.
In response to the concerns Lithuania expressed regarding the safety of the Ostrovets NPP under construction in the territory of Belarus, Raimonds Vējonis stated that Latvia supported the Lithuania’s position on the need to comply with all the necessary safety and environmental standards during the implementation of the project.
During the meeting, they also discussed the close economic ties between the two countries, the development progress of the railway project Rail Baltica, and the strengthening of the energy market. The President of Latvia emphasised that Lithuania was the largest trading partner for Latvia and one of the largest investors and procreators of incoming tourism market consistently.