On 19–20 January 2023, the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, took part in the Snow Meeting, an annual international meeting of experts in foreign affairs and security policy held in Lithuania.
At the meeting, the foreign ministers of NATO and EU Member States, diplomats, and security policy experts discussed current issues in security and foreign policy. This year’s event focused on the challenges posed by Russia’s war on Ukraine, the strengthening of transatlantic cooperation, as well as preparations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
The Latvian Foreign Minister underlined that the present moment must be used to boost NATO’s collective defence. Edgars Rinkēvičs pointed out that the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius has to deliver on a number of key tasks, which include making real progress in the strengthening NATO’s eastern flank.
In order to strengthen deterrence and defence capabilities, it is of special importance for Latvia that the Canadian-led enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Latvia is scaled up to a combat-ready brigade size unit. The Minister also expressed support for a decision to set the minimum defence expenditure for NATO member states at 2% of their GDP. Edgars Rinkēvičs also expressed the hope that Finland and Sweden would take part in the Vilnius Summit as full-fledged members of NATO.
The Snow Meeting, an international event for foreign affairs and security policy experts, was held for the sixteenth time.
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania