NATO talk

In the aftermath of the NATO candidate countries' summit in Riga, The Baltic Times asked some people on the street what they thought about Latvia's joining NATO. (Photos by Philip Birzulis)

Ojars, pensioner

"Yes. At the moment we don' t have any other security guarantees."

Alla, student

"I think not. It will cost a lot of money and it will mean a lot of complications for our country. I think there will be a big crisis."

Andrejs, economist

"Yes. We are in a situation where certain security guarantees are necessary. Of course, the situation in the world now is not the same as it was, but collective security is still required."

Ralfs, studies and works

"I can't formulate my opinion because there is too little information. What I am most interested in is how much money Latvia will have to invest - for me as a taxpayer this is the first question - and what the direct benefits will be. So it's hard to say yes or no."

Austra,

flower seller

"No. We will be dependent on something, we won't be independent. Just like in communist times."

Kristaps,

unemployed

"Of course. We will be secure, we will have nice soldiers, nice navy ships, flags."

Andra, works in private business

"We will be more secure, we will probably have fewer links to Russia, we will be closer to the West."