The President of Latvia pointed out that the United States was the closest strategic partner of the Baltic States, which together with NATO formed the cornerstone of the common regional security. During the last six months, the political dialogue between the USA and the Baltic States has reached an unprecedented level of intensity.
“All the meetings, including the meeting held today, give us confidence about consistent commitment of the United States to NATO and the readiness to defend the Baltic States. We highly appreciate the permanent military presence of the United States in the Baltic States and the commitment of the United States to increase the funding for European defence significantly in 2018, which will contribute to the deterrence capabilities of the NATO,” stated Raimonds Vējonis.
The President of Latvia confirmed that for its part, Latvia would fulfil its promise to increase defence spending up to 2% of GDP already next year.
During the meeting between the Presidents of the Baltic States and the US Vice-President, the parties also discussed economic cooperation. The President of Latvia appreciated that the United States was ready to start exporting liquefied natural gas to the Baltic States and Central European countries, which would strengthen the energy security of the region by diversifying the sources of energy supplies.
Raimonds Vējonis also emphasised the need to seize opportunities for expanding economic cooperation between Latvia and the United States, since there are now examples of successful US investments in Latvia, for example, in the banking sector, and more and more Latvian entrepreneurs are planning to develop their business projects in the United States. There is great potential for cooperation in the field of modern technologies and information technologies.