After Trump's re-election as U.S. president, there is no reason to doubt United States' interest in maintaining a strong NATO - Rinkevics

RIGA - After Donald Trump's re-election as president of the United States, there is no reason to doubt the United States' interest in maintaining a strong NATO, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said after a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) on Wednesday.

Latvia is ready to work with the newly elected U.S. president and the new Congress, Rinkevics stressed.

Latvia has traditionally had good relations with both the U.S. Republican and Democratic parties, said Rinkevics, adding that Latvia had already had good cooperation with the Trump administration during Trump's first term as the U.S. president. At the time, Rinkevics was Latvia's foreign minister.

In Rinkevics' opinion, the presidential election in the United States shows that Europe needs to invest much more in defense. 2 percent of GDP is no longer enough, Rinkevics said, emphasizing that defense investment should be 2.5 percent to 3 percent of GDP. Latvia currently spends 3.45 percent of GDP on defense.

According to Rinkevics, when Trump was the U.S. president four years ago, defense spending was one of the main issues advocated by the newly elected presidential administration. The United States will certainly insist on Europe investing more in defense after the last elections, said Rinkevics.

"We are convinced that it is in Europe's interest to have a strong United States, but it is also in the United States' interest to have a strong Europe", Rinkevics said, acknowledging that we will have to step up and invest more in defense by mobilizing military industry.

Latvia will continue to do its utmost to ensure successful political, security and economic relations with the United States, said Rinkevics. It is in our interest that the U.S. presence in the region continues.

Commenting on Ukraine, Rinkevics said that he did not expect any radical U.S. decisions that could harm Ukraine's interests. Europe has already committed a very substantial financial package in both military and non-military support for Ukraine. There is also NATO's decision to commit EUR 40 billion to the cause, Rinkevics underlined.

As reported, Trump on Wednesday announced his victory in the U.S. presidential election.

According to the latest estimates, Trump is just a few votes short of the 270 electoral votes he needs to win, while the Democratic candidate, current Vice-President Kamala Harris, no longer has a chance of defeating him.