Statement
by
Mr. Girts Valdis Kristovskis,
Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
at the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
in Defence Ministers session
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Dear Colleagues, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Firstly, can I thank Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld for the excellent
insight into the recent campaign in Afganistan and congratulate him on
the success achieved so far.
The outrageous events of the 11th of September in the United States were
attacks on democracy - on all the democracies represented around this
EAPC table.
The initial response by Latvia's Government was to speedily set up a
High Level Task Force led by the Prime Minister. It produced an Action
Plan within a couple of weeks aimed at ensuring that Latvia's territory,
banking system or any other assets can not be used by terrorists.
After NATO invoked article 5 of the Washington Treaty we stated that
Latvia's place is within the coalition among NATO member countries.
In addition Latvia's Government is looking favourably at a request by
a member state of the Alliance regarding possible participation with them
in a Peace support operation in Afganistan itself.
Latvia is mindful of the fact that Allied forces providing peace support
in the Balkans may need to be moved elsewhere. For this reason, Latvia
is prepared to double its modest participation in operations in the Balkans.
Amongst our main tasks in 2002, besides the preparation for the 4th MAP
cycle, will be the implementation of a new Force structure. We were very
grateful for the advice and assistance which resulted in the review of
our Force Structure with the Allies. Within this process we will focus
on the further development of our Host Nation Support (HNS) system, our
mobilisation system as well as our Command, Control and Communications
(C3) system. Given that the costings of the new Force Structure are resource
based, it has been of particular importance that Latvia's Government raised
defence spending by over 60% for next year, to reach 1.75% of GDP.
Military interoperability with the Alliance will remain our priority
both before and after the Prague Summit. We attach particular importance
to the connection of the Baltic Air Surveillance System, BALTNET, to the
NATO system. Interoperability of Air Space is fundamental both to our
own sovereignty and interoperability. We are grateful for the support
being provided by the Defence Support Division on these matters.
Mr. Chairman, Colleagues!
These two crucial challenges - the fight against terrorism
and our
continuing integration towards the Alliance -will both have
to be
confronted during the coming years. Our agenda, together with
Allies and
Partners is clear. Latvia will continue to tackle it with determination
and
resolve.
Thank you.
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