The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, began her tour of seven countries on the EU’s eastern flank on Friday 29 August, with her first stop in Riga. She met the Latvian Prime Minister, Evika Siliņa, with whom she discussed the security challenges facing the country and the Union as a whole.
“[A] stronger Europe means [a] stronger Latvia”, argued Ms Silina. In her view, the countries to the east of the continent that border Russia or Belarus should be given particular attention: “We’ll have to speak about external borders of the EU in the next MFF. Latvia and the eastern regions need specific support”, she declared. And she highlighted that the Commission was listening to these needs.
The ‘SAFE’ instrument - the flexibilities of which Riga has requested to use - is crucial in this context, the leader of Latvia pointed out: “This is of critical importance for realpolitik projects and developing military mobility”.
For her part, the President of the European Commission reiterated her unwavering support for the countries bordering Russia and Belarus: “I want to make it clear that we know that Europe is only safe if the Eastern border is safe”.
She welcomed Latvia’s efforts to strengthen its military production capabilities. She said she was “impressed” by the visit to Latvian defence technology company Origin Robotics, which specialises in advanced autonomous systems. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)