The amendments submitted by the President of Latvia and adopted by the Saeima at its meeting of February 25 to the Law on National Security, the Law on National Armed Forces, and the Law on Structure of the Cabinet of Ministers improve actions of top state officials and institutions in the event of threat to the country.
“I will stay in my place, you will stay in your place – the words aired in the evening of 17 June 1940 will never be possible again,” underlined Raimonds Vejonis.
The amendments to the Law on National Security provide the duty of National Armed Forces to launch military defence actions immediately in the event of unexpected military invasion to prevent the threat. State officials may not prohibit the subjects of the Law on National Security to show armed resistance against enemies.
The new regulation aims to improve the decisional capacity of the Cabinet of Ministers in the event of national threat. In the cases of national threat, the Cabinet of Ministers will have a quorum even if only the Prime Minister and at least three other members of the Cabinet attend their meeting. In his turn, the Commander-in-Chief appointed by the President of Latvia shall ensure national defence, when a “small” Cabinet of Ministers will not be able to gather to meetings and to carry out their wartime tasks. The amendments to the Law on Structure of the Cabinet of Ministers stipulate that.
President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis calls for further work on improvement of the national security system.
“We must achieve the necessary amount of national defence spending and strengthen cooperation with our allies. National authorities should look to the latest geopolitical challenges in order to continue timely and efficient improvement of the national response capabilities,” indicated the President of Latvia.