Both Latvia’s Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks and Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins suggest gradually increasing the country’s defense budget to 2.5% of GDP.
During the annual foreign affairs debates in the Saeima, Pabriks said that in addition to relying on Article 5 of NATO Treaty, Latvia should follow Finland’s example, develop its armed forces and be prepared to any surprises. This means joint readiness from the state and society in the event of a threat, said the politician.
Pabriks said he had proposed to his colleagues in the government, the PM and President Egils Levits’s bureau, an increase of the defense budget in the coming years. Estonia has already made a similar step, and Lithuania is currently engaged in discussions about this, said the politician.
The Minister of Defense believes in the next three years Latvia needs to make the defense budget reach 2.5% of GDP. Pabriks invited Saeima speaker Inara Murniece and President Egils Levits to support this initiative.
The politician stressed that once challenges reached Latvia’s border, it would be too late to increase the defense budget. This step needs to be taken to develop the defense sector and supply chains, which would be useful in times of crisis and war, said Pabriks.
Latvian PM said during debates that currently Latvia invested 2.3% of its GDP into defense. He added that it was necessary to further increase investments so that the amount of financing reached 2.5% of GDP.
“We will work on this topic. We will enhance our defensive capabilities. By strengthening ourselves we also strengthen NATO. It is a basic principle of the alliance’s defense system – take care of yourself and others will help you. We took care and would keep taking care of our defenses, like it turned out with the Latvian-Belarusian border, which we managed to defend on our own,” said the PM.
Karins said that in regards to Latvia’s cooperation with NATO partners there were plans set aside for all possible situations. (BNN/Business World Magazine)
