Liepaja offers port to NATO

Liepaja Mayor Uldis Sesks is positive towards the possibility of stationing NATO ships at the Port of Liepaja, reports LETA. ''If we have the opportunity to station NATO ships here, this would be good,'' Sesks said in an interview to Rietumu radio.

Sesks also pointed out that the Port of Liepaja is already the headquarters of the Latvian Navy, and thus NATO ships are already docked at the port.

He said that the port has more than enough free territory, which was formerly used for military purposes, adding that the city's economy would also benefit from the stationing of NATO ships.

NATO is currently planning several measures important for the security of the Baltic countries - one more NATO air base, as well as a Baltic port would which would be rebuilt so as to facilitate access for NATO military vessels.

NATO leaders will appraise the best locations for these purposes and these measures are to be implemented by the end of the year, and they may be altered depending on how the situation unfolds.

According to unofficial information, a new air base could be built in Estonia, and one of the ports in Latvia could be upgraded so it could be accessed by NATO military vessels.

Liepaja Port is currently the main base of the Latvian Navy. The port itself served as a naval port during the Czarist and Soviet eras.