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The first session of the NATO summit, in which national leaders discussed the development of the Alliance's new defense capabilities, took place in a positive and constructive manner, approving all previous important decisions for the protection of the Baltic States. The debate on the financing of the member states of the defense has taken place seriously, but "in the closed space, the discussion of the dramatic element was not as serious as in the past. 39, public space. " "This summit will not end the debate on the defense budget, we must invest more to ensure the capacity building of NATO and the European Union (EU), because all these issues are in the interest of Latvian security, "said the minister.
Rinkēvičs said that he had warned repeatedly increase funding for the defense of Latvia, but political discussions have not yet taken place.
"Certainly someone will say that accountants have fulfilled their commitment, so now we should think about redirecting funding to other areas." According to him, discussions on increasing the budget of Latvian defense should start with the decision on the state budget for next year, but that does not mean that the defense budget should already be increased.the next two years
"C & Is the year of elections where we hear a lot of promises and criticism, but the increase in the defense budget is a serious matter. If in 2015 we had not decided to reach the defense budget of 2% of GDP in 2018, but only in 2020, Latvia would not feel as good at the current peak of the year. NATO, "added the Minister of Foreign Affairs, NATO Summit, focused on five areas, including deterrence, relations with the European Union and Russia
The summit of the NATO is taking place at a time when concerns about hybrid war activities and cyberattacks are increasing
President Raimonds Vējonis, Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs, Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis (ZZS) and the commander of the army corps general Leonidas Kalniņš.
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