Honourable Members of Parliaments,
Distinguished guests,

First of all let me warmly welcome all of you to Latvia. I am honoured to be present at the meeting of Political Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, especially here in Riga. We are proud to host an event which gathers Members of Parliaments from all of the transatlantic area.

We meet in a year, when Allies are contemplating a future vision of NATO for the next decade. This process is taking place in the background of changing and unpredictable security environment. I agree to the Chair of the Group of Experts on the new NATO Strategic Concept, the Honorable Madeleine Albright who has stressed, that “between now and 2020, the Alliance will face a new generation of dangers from sources that are geographically and technologically diverse”. Events of the past years have testified that our vulnerabilities go beyond traditional threats and challenges. I would like to name one issue in particular, and it is economy. Due to the current situation in global economy financial constraints put additional pressure on many countries, and influence decision makers.

28 May 2010 Video recording of the NATO PA Press Briefing

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s spring session was launched Friday in Riga, for five days of debate on the changing issues facing the Alliance. 
The discussions between over 320 delegates from 41 countries were expected to be frank, at a time when the Alliance itself is reviewing its Strategic Concept better to face current and future security challenges.
The various committees will be drafting reports and recommendations to submit to NATO on topics ranging from operations in Afghanistan, maritime security, WMD proliferation, concerns about the global economy and environment, to the Alliance ’s renewed relationship with Russia, among others.

Nuclear deterrence “will obviously be an important component of the new Strategic Concept,” according to Assembly Vice-President Sven Mikser (Estonia) just before the opening of the Assembly’s spring session in Riga. 

The Assembly took note of US President Barack Obama’s 2009 call for a nuclear-free world, Mikser said.  There was also “lively debate” among European NATO members regarding the ongoing presence of US nuclear weapons on European soil.

“But in our Assembly, it is quite clear and seems to be a widely shared opinion that nuclear deterrence will remain an important part of the overall NATO deterrent for the time being,” he said. There needs to be “an adequate balance between nuclear and non-nuclear deterrent capabilities”.