This topic was addressed this week by the program “de facto”, also talking about plans to strengthen Latvia’s border for military purposes and a significant increase in the numerical composition of the NBS.
So far, there are no sure answers whether Hamas planned and carried out the massacre alone. Iran has been the organization’s main sponsor for years, but US intelligence reports show that even Iran’s leaders were surprised by the invasion of Israel. There is also no clear answer as to what role Russia, which maintains diplomatic relations with Hamas terrorists, played.
“Undoubtedly, all this works in the interests of Russia. And the more this war can be fueled (..), the more it will divert attention from Ukraine and the more dangerous it is for Ukraine and the entire Eastern Front of NATO,” says Jānis Kažociņš, former director of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Both experts and decision makers are discussing how the conflict in Israel will affect the course of the war in Ukraine. This week, members of the National Security Commission of the Saeima heard the vision of the special services.
The chairman of the commission, Ainars Latkovskis (JV), says that the direct threat to Latvia from the war in Israel “is very low”, but it is important because of the role of Russia and the war in Ukraine. “What appears in the analysts’ report is, of course, a tense international situation and a diversion of attention from the war in Ukraine in Russia’s interests,” says Latkovsky.
Even before the latest terrorist attacks in Israel, partisan disputes in the US Congress over the national budget also slowed down a multibillion-dollar aid program for Ukraine. If there is now a great deal of consensus in the US parliament about the need to support Israel, then, for example, there is noticeable skepticism about the ideas of tying together aid to Israel and Ukraine.
“One part of the Republican party does not want to understand that support for Israel and support for Ukraine are basically the same thing – against this axis that is formed through Russia-Iran, on Hezbollah, on “Hamas”. It is supported by North Korea, and China just watches from the sidelines, maybe helping a little invisibly. But all of that has to be taken into account as one common threat,” Kažociņš believes.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds (P), who this week attended both the NATO meeting in Brussels and the so-called Ramstein Group in support of Ukraine, has returned with the confidence that all kinds of aid to Ukraine will not decrease, not even because of US domestic policy.
“Yes, during the pre-election campaign, different details, different accents, different statements may appear, but if we look at the works, then the works so far have been such that the USA played a very important role. And all these Rammstein formats – they are already actually led by the USA,” notes the minister.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO countries have realized how important it is to protect the territory, starting with the border. At the beginning of October, the Saeima approved the National Defense concept, which, among other things, provides for increasing the numerical composition of the army to 61 thousand soldiers, half of whom would be in peacetime service and half – in reserve.
This is a very significant increase. As Spruds told the program, currently, adding up professionals, national guardsmen, conscripts to the National Defense Service and reservists, the composition of the army would exceed 20,000. To reach the planned 61 thousand soldiers, an increase would be needed in all categories.
“A very big accent has really been placed on the National Defense Service. If right now we are talking about 300 who joined voluntarily, then next year we are talking about 600. These will be both volunteers and the possibility that there will be those who will be drafted. Then for 2027, 2028, we are already talking about four thousand,” says the minister.
In parallel with the construction of the fence and surveillance systems of the eastern border of Latvia, work has also begun on strengthening the border from a military point of view. The previous Minister of Defense Ināra Mūrniece (NA) revealed at the beginning of September that the need for various concrete and metal structures, as well as anti-tank mines, is being identified.
Several sources “de facto” confirmed that the mines would not be continuously located near the border, but would be deployed according to plan when X hour approached.
When it comes to the military strengthening of the border, Spruds does not want to open the curtain too much: “There are short-term and long-term plans that must be done so that we strengthen the border not only in terms of preventing illegal migration, but also so that we really strengthen the territory of Latvia as both the EU and NATO they would be ready to defend the external border from the first centimeter.”
As the program notes, the plans have yet to stand the test of reality. For example, construction of the fence on the eastern border has been very slow so far.
2023-10-15 19:31:00
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