US funding for Baltic security remains largely in the US economy - Rinkevics

RIGA - US funding for the security of the Baltic States remains largely in the US economy, President Edgars Rinkevics said on Wednesday after a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity).

The politician stressed that discussions are ongoing on maintaining US military assistance. Diplomats from Latvia and neighboring countries are working on this to understand and clarify which programs should be closed or maintained. The politician called on the participants to remember that there are both US Department of War and US Department of State programs that support the strengthening of defense capabilities.

Rinkevics stressed that a decision still needs to be taken by the US Congress. According to him, Latvia has had the experience that after careful work one or the other decision has been reviewed in more detail.

According to the President, the drone incident in Poland and the situation on the eastern flank will be an additional argument in common work with allies. "It is important to do our own homework in strengthening our defense capabilities sufficiently. Article 3 of the NATO Treaty provides for this. We have done a lot, but we cannot relax," the politician said.

The Prime Minister noted that the US funding is seed money, with the US contributing one part and Latvia contributing a larger part. She also confirmed that political consultations were underway to see whether the US could withdraw the funding already earmarked for Latvia.

"At the moment there are no indications. The plans that have been made can be implemented. [...] We cannot budget for this funding because there has been no decision to allocate it," said Silina.

She stressed that Latvia is moving towards allocating 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to defense and will also use the EU's SAFE instrument, where Latvia could have access to EUR 5.6 billion.

As reported by the Financial Times, in late August Pentagon officials told European diplomats that the US would no longer fund programs to train and equip NATO forces along the Russian border.

The possible change also applies to funding for the Baltic Security Initiative, under which the US provides funding for the Baltic states to buy American weapons, train special forces and receive intelligence support. The final decision on this issue is to be taken by the US Congress.

US support to Latvia is up to USD 100 million per year.