On Thursday, March 17, in Brussels, Māris Kučinskis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, met Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO. Māris Kučinskis emphasised that NATO is the cornerstone of Latvia's security. During the meeting the Latvian Prime Minister also invited the Secretary General of NATO to visit Latvia.
The sides discussed the security situation in the Baltic region and preparation for the 2016 Warsaw Summit in July. During the meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, the Prime Minister noted that for Latvia it is essential that decisions on long-term presence of NATO forces in the Baltic region are adopted during the Warsaw Summit.
The Secretary General of NATO acknowledged Latvia’s commitment to increase its defence budget up to 2% of the GDP by 2018. Currently this figure amounts to as much as 1.4 % of the GDP.
Jens Stoltenberg and Māris Kučinskis discussed the necessity to strengthen EU-NATO cooperation, especially in fighting hybrid threats. Latvia expects that the Warsaw Summit would underline the applicability of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty not only to conventional attacks but also to elements of a hybrid war.
The sides shared the view that closer cooperation of NATO with Finland and Sweden is another important element of strengthening security of the region.
As reported, this week Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis is visiting Brussels in order to participate in the meeting of the European Council and to meet Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO.
AUDIO of the press conference.
Andrejs Vaivars
Press Secretary to the Prime Minister
Phone: 29228678
E-mail: Andrejs.Vaivars@mk.gov.lv