There is urgent need to reinforce drone defense on eastern border - National Security Council

RIGA - Latvia urgently needs to modernize its defense on its eastern border, especially by developing its anti-drone capabilities, Ainars Latkovskis (New Unity), chairman of the Saeima National Security Committee, told reporters on Thursday.

He pointed out that following the incident at the eastern border, detailed information on the course of events had been obtained from the responsible institutions, including the National Armed Forces, the State Police and the State Fire and Rescue Service.

Latkovskis stressed that Latvia has already started to purchase anti-tank systems and train personnel, but the full implementation of these capabilities will take time. Currently, the systems at the disposal of the National Armed Forces are mostly designed to combat low-flying objects, not drones specifically.

The politician also stressed that Latvia needs to develop electromagnetic warfare capabilities, but that the country is still at an early stage in this area. He admitted that the equipment at the disposal of the National Armed Forces is mostly not the latest, and modern systems have only recently started to enter Latvia.

At the same time, Latkovskis stressed that the National Armed Forces are doing their best with the available resources, but it is necessary to take faster decisions on strengthening defense.

He pointed out that shooting down drones is possible, but it is complicated by both technical and security considerations, including restrictions on operation over populated areas to avoid additional risks to the population.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing in cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities and several theories are being assessed.

Latkovskis also acknowledged that the communication with the public during the incident was not sufficiently prompt and these aspects will be further assessed.

Commenting on political accountability, he noted that the political leadership of the defense is expected to take decisions more quickly, while pointing to the turnover of personnel in the sector, which may affect the decision-making process.

As reported, several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, flew into Latvian airspace from Russia in the early hours of Thursday, and at least one of them crashed in Rezekne, damaging an oil storage facility.