Today the meeting was organized also to discuss the security situation in our region and further implementation of the decisions made at the NATO Summit in Warsaw.
The visit of the US Vice President takes place on the day also being very significant for the Baltic States, id est, August 23. This is the day, when spheres of influence in Europe were divided in 1940 resulting in the occupation of the Baltic States.
The 23rd of August 1939 and subsequent events demonstrate clearly that the security of the Baltic States must be considered as a whole and is closely related to global security challenges.
Having learnt their lesson from the history of the previous century, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania have strengthened their mutual co-operation in security and defence since the restoration of their independence. Latvia and the Baltic States are Member States of NATO and the European Union and contribute to security of Euro-Atlantic space for more than 10 years. The United States were and are our strategic partner in security and defence in both bilateral and multilateral allied cooperation.
NATO membership is a privilege and responsibility at the same time. I would like to emphasize that this visit is a great opportunity for the United States to check the serious attitude of the Baltic States towards their obligations in NATO and their security. Latvia has already increased its budgetary spending on defence significantly, and we have committed to achieve the defence budget of 2% of GDP by 2018. On behalf of Latvia, I stressed the commitment of our country to meet all the obligations of the hosting country for the Allied presence in the territory of Latvia in full.
Unfortunately, the Euro-Atlantic community is facing many challenges nowadays. It shows that we must think about our security all the time and this task can never be considered as complete.
Russia has violated the order based on the internationally binding rules and it continues to ignore them. Crimea is still illegally annexed and destabilization of East Ukraine is alarming evidence that Russia wishes to see Europe divided into spheres of influence once again.
We also seeing a sharp increase in violent extremism in the south. The so-called Islamic State poses a threat not only to a wide region of Middle East and North Africa, but also to the Member States of the Alliance.
Given these challenges, the focus made at the NATO Summit in Warsaw on deterrence and collective defence is of paramount importance.
The US role in security of the Baltic States and Europe is indispensable. Today I expressed my gratitude to Mr. Biden both for his personal contribution to the Baltic States in joining the NATO, while he was the US senator, and for constant support of the United States to the Baltic States in strengthening their security in general. Presence of the US troops and military equipment in the Baltic States has extremely important symbolic and practical significance. The presence of the US troops in Latvia, bilateral cooperation, and military exercises improve mutual co-operation capabilities of American and Latvian soldiers. We are strengthening both individual and collective defence on entire territory of NATO space and especially in the Baltic region in that way.
Unfortunately, the threats are becoming both broader and more varied. An important decision was made at the NATO Summit to apply Article 5 in the event of hybrid threat. Cyberspace was also recognized as a component of security space.
I am pleased about the US readiness to deepen cooperation with the Baltic States in a broader understanding of security, including land, air and maritime defence, border security, cyber security, energy security and resilience against various threats, and strengthening readiness of our state bodies for a coordinated and effective action in these areas at both national and regional level.
During the meeting with the US Vice President, we also discussed the construction of Nord Stream II and its impact on the region and our partners. In our opinion, this project does not comply with the objectives of EU Energy Union and has a negative impact on the Member States of European Energy Community, particularly Ukraine.
Regarding bilateral relations, I would like to emphasize that cooperation between Latvia and the United States includes not only security. American businesspersons are working successfully in Latvia, who have kept confidence in Latvia and have expanded their business in spite of the economic and geopolitical changes in recent years. I am confident that more and more American entrepreneurs will be in Latvia and the Baltic States in the future and that our economic links will become increasingly close.
To conclude, I would like to stress once again that the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden in Latvia reaffirms the existing strategic alliance among the Baltic States and the United States of America. Responding to the increasingly unpredictable security situation in the world, we express our shared commitment to deepen our cooperation in order to strengthen security and stability in our region.