On Wednesday, January 12, the Minister of the Interior, Māris Kučinskis, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Latvia, Brian Szwarc, in Riga.
The two countries discussed cooperation on domestic security issues, with an emphasis on the geopolitical situation in the region. Attention was paid to the situation on the Latvia-Belarus and Latvia-Russia borders. The Minister pointed out that as long as the current leaders of the two aggressor countries, Russia and Belarus, remain in power, there must be a state of emergency on the border. "As long as Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko are in power, we are living in emergency conditions - there are constant attempts to bring people from various Eastern countries into Latvia, massively spreading false negative stories about Latvia. Transported migrants come in transit, from Moscow via Belarus," said Mr Kučinskis.
The need to help refugees arriving in Latvia from Ukraine fleeing the war was also stressed. "Given the current security situation in the region, in particular hostilities in Ukraine, strengthening domestic security is my top priority as Minister of the Interior. As a neighbouring country of Russia, we probably understand best how Ukrainians feel at the moment," the Minister of the Interior stressed.
Canada was one of the first NATO countries to ratify Latvia's accession to NATO in 2004. On 8 July 2016, the NATO Summit in Warsaw endorsed an agreement on the rotational presence of NATO Allied Forces in the Baltic States and Poland. Since 2017, multinational battalion-sized battle groups have been deployed in Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Lithuania. Canada is the lead country of the Battle Group established in Latvia. Canada, as the lead country of the NATO Battle Group (eFP) in Latvia, provides the largest contingent of 540 troops. The Canadian Armed Forces also participate in exercises with the Latvian Armed Forces and provide personnel to the NATO Force Integration Unit Latvia. On 7 February 2018, Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of Canada as Represented by the Department of National Defence of Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces on Enhanced Defence Partnership and Security Cooperation, was signed and entered into force on 27 April 2018. The Memorandum is more commonly known as the Agreement providing for the stay of Canadian Forces and dependants in Latvia.
Prepared by:
Andrejs Vaivars
Advisor to the Minister for the Interior
Phone: +371 67829685
E-mail: andrejs.vaivars@iem.gov.lv