On Saturday, 29 May, during the committee discussions, Mrs. Vaira Paegle, Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Mr. Dzintars Rasnačs, Deputy Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO PA, emphasised the importance of economic security for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

During the meeting of the Political Committee, Mrs. Vaira Paegle indicated that NATO’s new Strategic Concept should not be regarded as a document which will completely resolve all security issues. “The Alliance is as strong as each of its member states”, said Mrs. V. Paegle. She also stated that hasty decisions by member states can significantly influence the collective security system.

Mrs. V. Paegle asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to take into account the negative experience of the European Union regarding its inability to ensure that member states observe fiscal discipline. She also asked NATO to carefully assess each member state’s contribution to the collective security system and how much funding it allocates to defence. “The economic crisis has made us weaker, and currently only six NATO member states are allocating the mandatory two per cent of GDP to the military sector”, pointed out Mrs. V. Paegle. She emphasised that such a situation could affect the whole Alliance.

The Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO PA also mentioned that even if we are in a financially difficult situation, we cannot seek easy solutions and choose strategically insecure investments. “It may place us under the economic and political influence of countries hostile to Latvia, thus threatening the economic sovereignty of our country,” said Mrs. V. Paegle.

Mrs. Vaira Paegle also called on the Parliamentary Assembly to define its position with regard to selling high-tech military equipment to third countries. According to Mrs. Vaira Paegle, NATO has to formulate a clear-cut policy with regard to selling its military equipment to third countries. Such decisions may affect the security of other NATO member states, but we all have the right to feel equally secure.

Mr. Dzintars Rasnačs, Deputy Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO PA, today participated in the Economic and Security Committee’s meeting at which the impact of the financial crisis on the European and global economics was discussed.

„The opinion that certain parallels can be drawn between the solutions to the crisis in Latvia and in Greece was voiced during today’s Committee meeting; however, the differences are rather significant,” said Mr. Dz. Rasnačs. According to him, in Latvia people did not start riots; instead, they chose to use legal instruments and protected their rights by applying to the Constitutional Court. Therefore, the question arises whether the Greeks are able to use any legal tools in protesting against the austerity measures introduced by the government.

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