Gallery
“The Hague Summit will be crucial for long-term peace. This requires decisiveness and political will. The mathematics are clear: we need a 5% investment to safeguard the other 95% of our prosperity and democracy,” said Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) summit in Belgium, calling for defence spending to be increased as soon as possible.
“Since its foundation, NATO has been an alliance of values and security. That is why, more than ever before, we, the Allies, must mobilise to defend our democratic values and our security. We must grow stronger and be open to welcoming into our community new countries with a shared system of values and a substantial contribution to collective defence,” said Mieriņa.
The Speaker of the Saeima called for strengthening our military industry, emphasising that we must significantly increase production volume, while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The allies must work together to remove any unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles to the development of the industry, said Mieriņa.
“Russia is the greatest long-term threat to us all. Russia’s aim is to destroy Ukrainian statehood and rebuild its illusory empire. This is a direct threat to both our physical security and our value system. We must not let this happen!” underlined the Speaker, stressing that even under the guise of peace talks, the aggressor is immorally continuing to bomb Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure.
“Latvia will continue its unwavering support for Ukraine, allocating at least 0.25% of its GDP to military aid. We support Ukraine’s membership of NATO and the EU. This would serve as the strongest security guarantee for Ukraine in the long term,” noted Mieriņa.
The NATO PA was established in 1955, and this year marks the 70th anniversary of the consultative interparliamentary organisation that brings together parliamentarians from the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Parliamentary Assembly forms an important link between NATO and the parliaments of member states, strengthening political dialogue and promoting public support for the Alliance’s policies.
During the visit to Belgium, the Speaker of the Saeima is accompanied by Raimonds Bergmanis, Chair of the Saeima Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee and Head of the Latvian Delegation to the NATO PA.
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/albums/72177720326980011
Disclaimer and copyright: www.saeima.lv/en/copyright
Saeima Press Service
