If necessary, it will be possible to send more than 40,000 soldiers to Latvia in a short time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed after a meeting with President Egil Levits.
Speaking about whether the North Atlantic Alliance is ready to consider increasing its presence in Latvia, given the events of recent weeks and growing tensions on the external border of the European Union, Stoltenberg stressed that NATO has significantly increased its presence in recent years due to Russia's aggressive attitude towards Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as further provocations by Russia aimed at destabilizing the situation in eastern Ukraine and supporting separatists in the Donbass region.
"We are consistently implementing the most extensive expansion of the common defense system since the Cold War. Combat groups are deployed in the Baltic States and Poland. We have strengthened our presence both at sea and in the air. We are also working closely with the allies in the field of training, which is aimed at preventing any threat to the allies, especially on the eastern flank of the alliance - in the Baltic region," the NATO Secretary General explained.
He also stressed that in order to prevent any confrontation, the need to activate and change the presence is constantly being analyzed. Stoltenberg noted that NATO will ensure the presence of allied troops in the Baltic region in order to prevent further aggravation of the situation on the border of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
The NATO Secretary General said that specialists will be sent to Lithuania and other countries to help deal with the situation on the external borders of the EU and with migrants. He also recalled that together with the President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen, he visited not only Latvia, but also Lithuania to show that both NATO and the EC are united in the fight against the hybrid attack directed by Belarus against the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.
