Joint press point

by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, Māris Kučinskis - Secretary General's opening remarks

  • 17 Mar. 2016 -
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  • Mis à jour le: 17 Mar. 2016 17:56

(As delivered)

Joint press point with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Latvia, Maris Kucinskis

Prime Minister Kučinskis, very much welcome to NATO headquarters. It is a great pleasure to have you here and to meet with you here at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

And let me also congratulate you on your appointment as Prime Minister, I’m looking forward to cooperate with you in your new capacity.

You are taking office at a challenging time for European security.

And NATO is adapting to keep all Allies safe.

Latvia is strongly committed to NATO.

And NATO is strongly committed to Latvia.

You contribute to NATO in many different ways. You contribute to our Response Force. And to our exercises on land, at sea and in the air.

Your troops help make a difference in Afghanistan.

And you provide strong support for our partner Ukraine, both politically and practically.

You, Latvia, host one of our new Force Integration Units in Riga.

This small headquarters will play a key role in planning and exercising.

And to help ensure that our forces can deploy quickly, if needed.

We recently decided to enhance our forward presence in the eastern part of our Alliance.

We also agreed that this presence will be multinational.

This sends a very clear signal. An attack on any Ally will be met not just by national forces, but by all Allies.

Our military authorities will provide advice on the size and composition in the coming weeks.

These decisions mean that there will be more NATO in Latvia than ever before. 

In July, we will meet again at the Warsaw Summit.

The decisions we take there will ensure that our Alliance is even stronger and more flexible, to adapt to threats from any direction.

But what will never change is our steadfast determination to keep our people safe. 

So Prime Minister, once again welcome to NATO headquarters, I’m looking forward to our cooperation.

Please.