Latvian troops not to be deployed to Somalia

RIGA- According to Latvian Defense Minister Vinets Veldre troops of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NAF) will not be deployed to Somalia for participation in an anti-piracy mission, for now.

Veldre said that although they are not planning to send troops, Latvia is supporting the international mission financially.

"We are not planning to send ground forces to Somalia, but we could consider this in the future when Latvia has built appropriate ships. At the moment we have no vessels of this class that could be useful there. We have other ships that we need for ourselves," Veldre explained.

Defense Ministry representative Airis Rikveilis told BNS that the ministry had been considering sending a soldier or a military unit to this mission, but said Latvia has serious commitments in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and operations in Kosovo.

The aim of the EU anti-piracy mission is to improve security of shipping off the Somali coast and to put an end to the attacks of pirates. The EU mission Atlanta is to take over the current NATO operation in Somalia in mid-December.

Armed pirates have seized more than 60 ships in the Somali waters this year, which is one of the key maritime routes to the Suez Channel, used to transport about 30 percent of the global oil output.