On 2 June, President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs took part in the NATO Eastern Flank (Bucharest Nine, B9) Summit with Nordic countries. Summit, which took place in Vilnius (Lithuania), was also attended by NATO’s Secretary General and President of Ukraine. It focused on the forthcoming NATO Summit in Hague at the end of June, as well as range of issues linked to comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine to help country fight against Russian aggression.
In his address to delegates of the plenary session, President Rinkēvičs emphasised the unity between NATO member states and need to further strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence posture. “It is our overall goal to make Alliance stronger and more united. This requires significant increase of defence spending and additional investments into military industry – steps that will promote Alliance’s collective security, and provide support to Ukraine on the other hand. Additional defence funding should go towards specific NATO capability goals,” President of Latvia said.
President Rinkēvičs also underlined the critical importance of extensive strengthening of air defence capabilities, which play immense role in safeguarding of security of the Baltic countries. Long-term support to Ukraine and intensified pressure on Russia also play pivotal role, President added.
President of Latvia also had meeting with newly-appointed President of Romania, Mr Nicușor Dan, on the sidelines of the summit. Meeting focused on Latvia-Romania bilateral relations and forthcoming NATO Summit in Hague. President of Latvia thanked his Romanian counterpart for Romania’s contribution to strengthening of security across the NATO Eastern Flank.
