On 26 September, President Edgars Rinkēvičs, met at the Riga Castle with the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, and the Commander of the National Armed Forces, Major General Kaspars Pudāns. The parties discussed the substantive agenda of the NATO Military Committee conference in Riga, the implementation of NATO defence plans, force readiness, and the introduction of new capabilities with particular emphasis on airspace defence along the Alliance’s eastern flank.
“This is the first time that a NATO Military Committee conference of this format is held in Latvia, as well as the first meeting of the Alliance’s senior military leadership since the NATO summit in The Hague this June. NATO’s political decisions are grounded in military assessments of the Alliance’s ability to act in the face of the new threats posed by Russia. We must be ready today to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Delivering on NATO’s capability targets will be a true test of every Ally’s political commitment to substantially increasing defence spending,” emphasised E. Rinkēvičs.
The President of Latvia commended NATO’s enhanced vigilance activity Eastern Sentry, which was launched on 12 September following visits to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and announced by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe together with the NATO Secretary General in response to unmanned aerial vehicles incidents in Poland. “Air defence capabilities must be deployed across the entire eastern flank, and the transformation of the Baltic Air Policing mission into a Baltic Air Defence mission with appropriate rules of engagement must be accelerated,” said President Rinkēvičs.
On 27 September, the President of Latvia will address the commanders of the armed forces of all NATO member states at the opening session of the NATO Military Committee conference. The conference of the Military Committee – NATO’s highest military authority – at the level of Armed Forces Commanders is taking place in Riga from 26 to 27 September. It is chaired by Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, and military assessments of the progress made and the challenges ahead provided by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Alexus G. Grynkewich, and the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), Admiral Pierre Vandier.
