“The situation was much more dramatic than we remember. Objections from the Russian side were intense all the time, and from our side it was necessary to convince all the time that international law guarantees us freedom of choice. It should be noted that NATO’s military specialists at that time assessed the defendability of the Baltic states. And at that time, in our understanding and achieved abilities, we could not count on our own strength,” said Įrts Valdis Kristovskis, Member of the Saeima (JV), Minister of Defense (1998-2004) in the TV24 program “Dienas personality ar Velta Puriņa”, recalling the time before joining NATO. .
“The hardest thing was initially the financial issue. It was extremely difficult to convince that two percent of GDP was achievable for us. Sometimes the Prime Ministers were very skeptical because they had to take into account the requirements of other sectors as well. We had to go from 0.67% to 2%. If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be able to do certain things – training, equipment, weaponry. It should be remembered that it was essential to learn to “speak the language of NATO”, that is, to participate in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. It would not be possible without funding,” says G. V. Kristovskis.
G. V. Kristovskis says that at that time the NATO organization itself was not ready to fully guarantee our security. To some extent, it is only thanks to Russia’s weakness that we have been able to increase our defense capabilities in the last twenty years. After Russia’s full-scale invasion, it has become clear to politicians that more resources are needed for defense, but this has not always been the case.
In the program “Personality of the Day with Velta Puriņa” every weekday morning at At 9.30, presidents, ministers, industry specialists and commentators visit to talk about current events in politics and society.
Tags: Minister Defense Kristovskis reveals main obstacles NATO
