Madrid, Spain 4 June 2003

Latvia's democratic transformation and contribution to stability in the Euro-Atlantic area Intervention of Mr. Mãris Riekstinš, State Secretary, MFA of Latvia at the EAPC Ministerial meeting, 4 June 2003, Madrid Receiving the invitation to join NATO at Prague last year and finalizing negotiations with the EU at Copenhagen a few weeks later were events that placed seals of approval on Latvia's transformation from a Soviet occupied state to a democratic country. This approval brings with it an increased sense of responsibility. What lessons can our Council draw from Latvia's experience? Let me mention three: The need to keep in mind an awareness about the value of your own experience; Pooling resources increases added value; Clearly defined standards set from outside help push reforms internally; Awareness of the value of experience Latvia's experience in moving from being subjected to tyranny, to taking on board restored freedom is not unique. Our experience helped to explain and justify the Government's position about supporting military action against Saddam Husseins- totalitarian regime. Seeing the need and grasping the opportunity to pass this experience on to others is not necessarily something that takes place automatically. In the case of Iraq however, we recognized the need and will use the opportunity. We have already participated in Baghdad in the recent conference addressing the needs to renew the country. We have pledged our assistance by allocating funding (some 100,000$) to facilitate the development of democracy and the creation of a civil administration. Our experts will be brought in for these purposes. We consider that during the past decade we have successfully moved out of a totalitarian system into a well functioning democracy which has a healthy non Governmental sector, ways of peacefully addressing sensitive ethnic questions and a functioning rule of law. We started from zero and precisely because of that consider that our experience will be of specific interest to Iraq. Latvia also understands the magnitude of the task facing the international community led by the occupying powers. Our commitments will be needed for the long haul, not just the short term. Apart from the civilian side, we have also become aware of the value of our specific, albeit modest, military contribution. We never considered that having so much unexploded ordnance on our territory and in the Baltic Sea would be an asset. But it has enabled us to successfully develop our specialization in mine clearance to such an extent that it even led General Ralston to publicly refer to Latvian expertise as being on a world class level Pooling resources Latvia has been privileged to be part of a group of three countries with similar foreign, defense and security policy aims that has enabled close cooperation ties to develop with substantial support, advice and assistance from outside. This now means that successful Baltic defense cooperation is an asset that can be shared with other willing partners. The long list of Baltic cooperation projects - peace keeping battalion, naval squadron, Defense College, Diving School, to mention just a few - provides unique examples of how scarce resources can be spread and used to their maximum effect. Because all 3 countries built up armed forces from scratch rather than focusing on the challenges of downsizing, our cooperation model cannot necessarily be applied across the board. But the principles surrounding pooling of resources surely provides lessons beyond the Baltic borders. External standards impact on internal reforms The carrot of" NATO membership combined with the stick of the Membership Action Plan helped bolster essential reforms within Latvia. The standards were high, but achievable. As we transit from invitee to member, we have continued to benefit from frank and sound advice, which guides our ongoing reforms. In Latvia's case, the arrival of a new Government just before the Prague Summit has meant that some areas of reform have dovetailed with the specific aims of the new Government. For example, die newly created portfolio of Minister for Social Integration ensures that social integration questions remain as a priority. Latvia has been particularly pleased to note that the positive progress made in this area has been acknowledged by the Alliance taking a robust line when it comes to unjustified criticism about policies pursued by Latvia. Moreover the changing threats faced by all of our countries around this table have also impacted on Latvia's military and defense planning. The movement away from the doctrine of total territorial defense towards the need to develop rapidly deploy-able combat forces ready to move to that part of the world where the threat arises demands flexibility in our approach to planning. Developing capabilities for deployment in places away from the Alliance's traditional area of operations such as Afghanistan or Iraq has in Latvia already turned from theory into reality. Secretary General, Colleagues! Latvia has no intention of closing the book of valuable experience mat we have gained during [he last decade of reestablishing democracy in our country. We look forward to continuing to share this not only with partners around this table, but also further afield. In this way we trust that we can continue to offer our contribution to facing the threats to security and stability posed in today's uncertain world.