Baltic States must be prepared for all scenarios - defense minister

RIGA - The Baltic States should be prepared for all scenarios, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds (Progressives) told LETA in an interview.

"I think we have to be prepared for all scenarios," Spruds said when asked whether he agreed with the opinion of experts who believe that a conventional Russian invasion of the Baltic states is not possible and that the most dangerous is a hybrid threat.

Spruds reminded that Latvia is developing its military capabilities and is moving towards introducing anti-mobility measures at the border. At the same time, it should be remembered that Latvia part of an alliance and the signals given at the Madrid and Vilnius NATO summits have been very strong and unambiguous in order to stop any desire for someone to attempt to gain even one centimeter of Baltic territory.

Hybrid warfare, on the other hand, is already taking place, and it is visible in the form of illegal migration, cyber attacks, disinformation and attacks on critical infrastructure.

"It is clear that the situation in the world is not simple, and this is confirmed by all the events that have taken place so far. We need to be aware that we live in a global environment where there are indeed challenges, we live next to a neighbor that has waged aggression against its neighbor, we live next to a satellite state of the aggressor, Belarus, whose self-proclaimed leadership has essentially been annexed. Of course, we have to take into account that we are living in quite challenging circumstances, both globally and regionally," said Spruds.