Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

It is a great pleasure to be in Latvia and to meet you, Prime Minister.

I would like to thank you for hosting Steadfast Jazz along with Poland. This is NATO’s most significant exercise in nearly a decade. And let me thank you personally, your troops, and the people of Latvia for your commitment to our collective security.

This exercise is about making sure that the NATO Response Force remains able to defend any Ally and deal with any threat - all at short notice. This exercise demonstrates NATO’s commitment to its core mission: to safeguard security across the Alliance

Latvia is a strong and reliable member of NATO. We are grateful for your participation in our ISAF mission. Your troops are making an important contribution to the stability of Afghanistan, where you train the Afghan National Security Forces. Your soldiers are making a difference. Your efforts are of great value to the success of our mission

Latvia is also making a valuable contribution to building NATO’s capabilities through multinational cooperation – what we call Smart Defence. You have already signed up to several multinational projects, including the Alliance Ground Surveillance programme. This programme will help fill a critical gap in our capabilities and allow our commanders to have a full picture of what is happening on the ground, around the clock.

Next year we will meet in the United Kingdom for a summit which will shape the NATO of the future. An Alliance which is equipped to deal with the full range of modern threats. And an Alliance that is engaged with partners who share our commitment to security. I look forward to Latvia’s support as we prepare for this summit.

And I look forward to continuing to work with you in the busy months to come.