The President of Latvia warned of a possible new escalation by Russia against NATO
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs stated that he does not rule out the possibility of further escalation by Russia against NATO countries. At the same time, in his view, Moscow currently lacks sufficient resources for a full-scale attack on the Alliance, but the allies must be prepared for any turn of events.
“We must be prepared. We cannot rule out any possibilities. But I would say that we should not be afraid. We simply need to send a very, very short and clear message: if Russia challenges NATO, the Alliance will respond appropriately,” said Rinkevičs.
He added that, as of today, Russia does not have the military forces to carry out a full-scale invasion of any NATO country. The Latvian president also emphasized that Europe’s security is closely linked to Ukraine, since achieving stable peace is impossible without the European continent. And Ukraine’s integration into the EU is in the direct security interest of the Union itself.
“You have money, but you also need weapons, missiles, and equipment that you can purchase with that money. And here we see that we have some problems with the defense industry,” he explained.
Rinkēvičs also assessed Europe’s chances of defending itself on its own if the U.S. reduces the number of its troops. According to him, European countries would need a lot of time and money to build up their armies and acquire equipment to reach the U.S. level of defense.
“I would say that today the United States is indispensable to Europe’s defense and to making NATO a successful alliance,” the Latvian president concluded.
The Latvian leader made these remarks in an interview with Deutsche Welle.
Latvia, together with Ukraine, will build a drone manufacturing plant near the border with Russia.
The Latvian Ministry of Defense will soon deploy additional air defense systems to strengthen the protection of the country’s eastern border.
Latvia also intends to continue enhanced border controls along its eastern border.
