President: Freedom, justice, respect for all people – they are American values, they are European values, they are values of Latvia, which must be preserved and protected jointly.
MIL OSI Translation. Region: Latvia –
Source: President of Latvia in English
"Celebrating the centenary of the Baltic States, we are celebrating independence and our common values - freedom, justice, respect for all people. They are American values, they are European values and they are the values of Latvia. These are our values and we must do our utmost to jointly protect and preserve them, "said President Raimonds Vējonis on September 28, 2018, at the opening of the Riga Conference 2018. "We were trained in the history of our country. That is why, with the restoration of independence in 1991, our main foreign policy was to enter the European Union and NATO. However, the hopes of people who thought that membership in NATO and the European Union would in itself guarantee long-term security was not fulfilled. Although we can feel safe in economic terms, the war in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria has shown that there are still security challenges, "said Raimonds Vējonis. The President said at the opening of the conference:" Today, we live in a world where traditional military risks are aggravated by hybrid threats. Recent elections in some European countries have shown that Western democracies and their core values are at stake. In recent times, there has been a gradual decline in security in Europe as a whole. Several presidents of the United States have also drawn European attention to insufficient defense budgets. As a result, we have found it difficult to find solutions to problems such as conflicts in the vicinity of our regions in the Middle East. From this we can conclude that NATO needs constant attention, especially from the United States. "Raimonds Vejonis acknowledged that the support and understanding provided by the United States partners about the security challenges and geopolitical situation in the Baltic States allows us to feel much more secure today. than two years ago. "On the other hand, when it comes to the European Union, we face a number of serious challenges. However, Britain's withdrawal from the European Union did not cause the collapse of the union, but on the contrary – it was agreed by the Member States of the European Union. Despite the growth of populist and nationalist movements, Europe is still democratic. And we are aware that we need to do more to strengthen our security, "said the President.
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