Statement

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a real honor for me to be here today to reaffirm that NATO’s solidarity and commitment to collective defence is rock steady. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has reinforced solidarity among the Allies and shown our solid commitment to maintain peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area is stronger than ever. Article 5 is not negotiable: an attack against Latvia or any other Allied country will be considered an attack against all. Soldiers, ships and aircraft from many NATO nations are currently deployed in the region to show that NATO is not only talking but taking concrete action.

I want to start by taking this opportunity to commend Latvia for its commitment to NATO operations. Since 2003, Latvia has been supporting the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and actively contributing to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces. We appreciate your valuable efforts and honor the memory of the Latvian soldiers who lost their lives while serving with us in Afghanistan.

Your contribution to the NATO Response Force is also highly valued, particularly in the maritime domain. Latvia has participated in many NATO exercises and hosted Steadfast Jazz 2013, which successfully trained around 6,000 personnel from 28 NATO member nations as well as three-partner nations (Sweden, Finland and Ukraine) in a combined multinational setting. There is no doubt that your commitment to this Alliance is solid.

Latvia made a free and sovereign choice ten years ago and it chose peace, stability and independence. Our job is to preserve this stability and do all necessary to defend our Allies. On 16 of April, the North Atlantic Council agreed on further military measures to reinforce our collective defence and demonstrate the strength of Allied solidarity. Just to mention a few – we are tripling our Air Policing posture in the Baltic region with Allied aircraft from the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Poland. NATO has also taken steps to enhance situational awareness by deploying allied warships to the Baltic Sea and with daily AWACS surveillance missions over Poland and Romania. In addition, soldiers from individual Allied countries and units from NATO Standing Reaction Forces will train and exercise together in the region, in order to enhance readiness and show their commitment.

For example, the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 will remain in the Baltic Sea and execute two major exercises. From 12 to 22 May, it will take part in the large NATO maritime exercise OPEN SPIRIT, with participation of almost 30 warships. The exercise is hosted by Latvia and provides an excellent opportunity to train common NATO doctrine, the ability to work together, which is the real strength of the alliance.

The Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 will also participate in Exercise BALTOPS, a Partnership for Peace activity with participation of a large number of NATO Allies and partner warships.

In the long term, NATO will have to review our military posture and readiness in the light of this new strategic situation. It is too early to draw detailed conclusions, but we will have to discuss this as we prepare for the Wales NATO Summit in September.

Thank you.