NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, Mr. Krišjānis Kariņš hold joint press conference following bilateral meeting.
Transcript
Good afternoon. The Secretary General and the Prime Minister will make their short statements and then we have time for a question or two. Secretary General.
Prime Minister Karins, welcome to the NATO Headquarters. It’s a great pleasure to welcome you here to the new NATO headquarters. And also to meet with you and to discuss a wide range of different issues which are of great importance for NATO and for Latvia. We have just discussed the ongoing adaptation of NATO, the need to change NATO as the world is changing. And when NATO leaders meet in London in December, we will boost the readiness of our forces, and work towards fairer burden-sharing in our Alliance. Latvia is a highly valued Ally, making an important contribution to our collective defense. Your forces are training Afghan troops to fight terrorism, you host a multinational battlegroup in your country, and you contribute actively to regional exercises. This week, as we speak, Latvia is leading exercise Silver Arrow, bringing together 3,000 troops from 12 NATO Allies and providing training for one of four battlegroups in the region. Such exercises are part of NATO’s strengthened deterrence and defense in a more unpredictable world. Latvia also leads by example on defense investment. You commit two percent of GDP for defense and you are investing in major equipment. It is important that we continue investing in our defense. To ensure that our service men and women have what they need in order to keep our nations safe. Latvia is part of a strong NATO, where Allies stand shoulder to shoulder. Allied jets keep your skies safe, allied ships keep the Baltic Sea secure, and NATO battlegroups in the region prevent conflict and preserve peace. In Adazi, troops from nine Allies serve alongside Latvian forces. They send a clear message, NATO stands as one. They demonstrate the strength of the transatlantic bond, soldiers from North America and Europe serving together to keep our Alliance safe. This bond guarantees our security and our prosperity, allowing us to live our lives in freedom. So, once again Mister Prime Minister, it has been a great honor and pleasure to meet with you and I’m looking forward to continue to work with you, to continue to adapt and to strengthen our Alliance, our transatlantic partnership.
Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General. A wonderful meeting, very interesting discussion that we had. Latvia is a committed NATO member state. We, from our history, have learned and know very well what it means when you are not prepared and when you are not aligned and when you are trying to go it alone. We are investing two percent of our GDP into defense and the only debate that we’re having in Latvia is how much and how quickly can we increase our defense spending? Our philosophy is very simple. The key to collective defense is when every member can first and foremost take care of itself and that means investing into your own defense. On top of that, we very highly value the enhanced forward presence of the NATO troops, the boots on the ground, the men and women from the nine NATO member states who on a daily basis are in training and in exercises with our men and women in the armed forces participating in the missions abroad is an important aspect that we will also be continuing. We highly value the joint work together with our NATO allies. And going beyond the military investments in our country, we are enacting a comprehensive defense initiative involving also the civil sector down to the family household level where every member of society, every company, knows what their role is in case of an emergency be it a natural disaster or anything else. So, our country highly values the cooperation that we have within NATO. We understand that you have to begin by investing in yourself. We are doing this and will continue to do this. And we’re convinced that if all member states continue in this manner, our Alliance will become stronger as a force for good, as a force of deterrence, to ensure peace, stability, and democracy throughout the world actually.
Thank you very much. I don’t see any questions so this concludes this press point. Thank you very much.