On 6 June 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision on the allocation of funding for contributions to NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine in the amount of EUR 2 million in 2023, and approved matching contributions in the two following years.
The NATO Comprehensive Assistance Package was established in 2016 to provide centralised non-lethal support to strengthen the resilience of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, facilitate the defence reform process and bring Ukraine closer to NATO standards. In response to Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO Heads of State and Government agreed at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid on the need to significantly expand NATO's non-lethal support, adapting it to the context of active war.
The decision adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers foresees that Latvia will make annual national grant contributions to the Comprehensive Assistance Package of EUR 2 million over a three-year period from 2023 to 2025. The funding for the contributions is provided through a transfer of appropriations from the programme “Financing of Measures to Strengthen National Security” under the budget line “74th Annual State Budget Implementation Process”, based on Section 66 of the Law on the State Budget for 2023 and Budget Framework for 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Given the acute needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in countering Russian aggression, ensuring sufficient funding for the Comprehensive Assistance Package is one of the priorities of the forthcoming NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Vilnius in July. NATO allies have provided unprecedented support to Ukraine and are committed to sustaining it for as long as necessary.
Latvia's military support to Ukraine, including the latest military aid package to Ukraine consisting of Stinger air defence systems, has exceeded 1% of the country's gross domestic product. Latvia is actively training Ukrainian soldiers through the EUMAM Ukraine, training Ukrainian soldiers bilaterally, as well as through a training programme for junior officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Latvia in cooperation with Canada. By the end of the year, Latvia is expected to have trained nearly 3000 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.