Egils Levits and Jens Stoltenberg agreed that the heads of state and government attending the London Summit will have to send a clear and strong signal about the unity of the Alliance and its readiness to face future challenges. President of Latvia also underlined the role of strong transatlantic bond in ensuring the success of NATO for the past 70 years, ‘NATO is the cornerstone of our collective security in Latvia and across the transatlantic area. Digital transformation and development of ICT keeps accelerating. To be able to ensure future security in the region, NATO will have to continuously upgrade its processes and knowledge base.’
President of Latvia and NATO Secretary General shared the same views on regional security, strengthening of defence, future challenges, sustainability and development of the Alliance. President Levits and Secretary General Stoltenberg also had shared understanding of how to make the Alliance even stronger and more united.
Jens Stoltenberg thanked Latvia for being a responsible partner, whereas President Levits thanked the Secretary General for support of the Alliance and its member countries in strengthening Latvia’s security. Latvia appreciates the presence of Canada-led multinational battle group in Latvia and will continue to support more equal burden-sharing within the Alliance. President also underlined that Latvia’s defence spending reached the 2% of GDP already in 2018. Egils Levits and Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged the significant role played by Latvia in securing NATO’s external border, therefore strengthening of Latvia’s defence capabilities should be supported at the level of the whole Alliance.
During his visit to Brussels, President of Latvia will also meet with the newly elected President of the European Council Charles Michel, visit Catholic University of Leuven and take part in workshop/roundtable discussion ‘Democracy in the digital age – risks and challenges’ together with postgraduate students of Faculty of Law, Faculty of Social Sciences and Institute of Philosophy, as well as attend the 101st Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia reception at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the European Union and opening of exhibition by artists Ilze and Kristīne Luīze Avotiņa.
