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“Ukraine’s victory will come after recovering its entire territory and restoring its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. Our task is to help Ukraine win, and, without doubt, the outcome of the war relies heavily on our ability to support Ukraine,” said Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, Chair of the Saeima Group for promoting cooperation with the Parliament of Germany, on Wednesday, 19 June, at the Latvian Parliament, meeting with members of the Defence Committee of the German Bundestag.

Together with Raimonds Bergmanis, Chair of the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee, the Deputy Speaker of the Saeima thanked Germany for its significant contribution to strengthening the security of Latvia and the entire region through the Baltic Air Policing mission conducted by the Bundeswehr troops and military aircraft.

Kalniņa-Lukaševica highlighted security and the ability to defend our country as Latvia’s top priorities. The Deputy Speaker of the Saeima underlined that it is primarily our own responsibility, which is why Latvia is boosting defence investments and reinforcing borders with Russia and Belarus together with our Baltic colleagues. We highly appreciate the contribution of Germany and other NATO member states, which also sends a clear message of NATO unity to Russia, expressed Kalniņa-Lukaševica.

Regarding the involvement of society in strengthening defence, MPs discussed volunteering opportunities for citizens in state defence.

MP Bergmanis emphasised the need to strengthen societal resilience against the threat of war as well as other emergency situations. To that end, the Chair of the Defence Committee highlighted the mandatory national defence education course to be introduced in the Latvian school curricula from September 2024.

Parties also discussed the development of the drone coalition initiated by Latvia, both as a form of support for Ukraine and a way to improve the drone capabilities of the National Armed Forces of Latvia. In addition, MPs focused on Rail Baltica as an important regional infrastructure project and the possibility to build on German experience in the development of the project.

Jānis Krastiņš and Atis Švinka, members of the Saeima Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee, also met with the German delegation.

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Saeima Press Service