Statement by H.E. Aivis Ronis, Ambassador of Latvia
House of Representatives International Relations Committee
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
1 May 2002
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, I want to thank you for calling this hearing and for inviting all the Ambassadors of the candidate countries to present their views on the next round of NATO enlargement.
My name is Aivis Ronis, I am the Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia.
I would like to express thanks to the members of the House of Representatives for its support of NATO enlargement over the past decade. As well, for your recent overwhelming vote for the Gerald Solomon Freedom Consolidation Act. The people of Latvia well remember the support of the United States Congress during the fifty years of Soviet occupation. Latvia-s de jure statehood was sustained these many years by the United States policy of non-recognition, and many Congressional resolutions supporting the "Captive Nations". Today, our nations are free.
We are here with barely two months to go before the Riga Summit in July, the last gathering of the NATO candidate countries before the NATO Prague Summit in November. Decisions at Prague are of monumental importance to our future.
I and, as you can see, the other Ambassadors gathered here represent a new generation in our countries. Our generation looks to the future. We are hard at work, every day, building the future to make sure we live in a different Europe than the one forced on our parents. Here in Washington, we have the opportunity to make a difference; that is why we are here representing our countries. The future we are constructing is one in which the values of democracy, rule of law and free markets are entrenched. It is only in such a future that we see a future for our children and ourselves, where our freedom is irreversible and our potential unbounded.
Latvia has made significant progress in the last 12 years since regaining its independence. A new generation has increasingly assumed leadership in our economy, in our political life and in our military forces. We have been reshaping our country, with the result that Latvia-s economic growth has been one of the most impressive in Europe. We are creating the foundations for our economic prosperity, which will be further augmented when we join the European Union in 2004. I hope you come to Riga to see for yourselves.
Our future also includes Latvia-s membership in NATO, an organization that has kept the peace in Europe for over fifty years. If our parents were denied the opportunity to make a choice of how they wanted to live and whom they would befriend, then my generation has that freedom to state openly and unequivocally that we want to be part of a Europe that is whole, free and stable. We see NATO membership as an integral part of that future.
Latvia has taken seriously its aspiration to join NATO. With the introduction of the Membership Action Plan (MAP) process at the 1999 NATO Summit in Washington, Latvia has developed over the past several years our Annual National Program. We will complete the third MAP cycle this year. Latvia-s MAP is not just an annual planning document; it incorporates 8 and 12 year planning cycles. Latvia is committed to the long-term development of our military and defense capabilities, so that our forces will be interoperable, modern and capable of undertaking Article 5 and other obligations in the Alliance.
As an expression of that commitment Latvia-s Parliament has passed legislation that will boost spending on defense to 2% of GDP by next year and will maintain that spending through the year 2008. This will ensure that future reforms and procurement plans will be implemented over the median term. It is worth noting that 68% of Latvia-s citizens support Latvia-s membership in NATO.
For the last several years, in the context of the Partnership for Peace program, Latvia has joined with Lithuania and Estonia to create a peace-keeping force called the Baltic Battalion which has served regularly in western Balkans. Our soldiers have made a real contribution in assisting NATO in its peace-keeping operations there and will continue to do so as long as necessary. Latvia and our Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Lithuania, have close relations in the military field; we not only have the Baltic Battalion, but also a joint Baltic naval squadron, a joint Baltic air surveillance system and a joint Baltic defense college.
We are your allies. The terrible events of September 11 brought home to all of us how vulnerable we all are to acts of terrorism. In response, we strengthened our laws and introduced procedures that will make it harder for terrorists to find a safe haven in Latvia, and we have offered our military forces to the international coalition in Afghanistan as part of "Operation Enduring Freedom".
Latvia has taken seriously its obligations to create a democratic society based on the rule of law, with an open free market economy. We are committed to creating a modern military that can defend Latvia and that will make a contribution to the North Atlantic Alliance.
Lastly, I would like to invite the members of the committee to attend the last of the V-10 international conferences that will be held in Riga on 5-6 July. This will be a celebration of NATO enlargement before the NATO Summit in Prague in November. You are all cordially invited to attend.
Thank You.