On 2 June 2025, President Edgars Rinkēvičs participated in the NATO Eastern Flank Summit, also known as the Bucharest Nine (B9) and Nordic Summit, in Vilnius. In the presence of the NATO Secretary General and the President of Ukraine, preparations for the NATO Summit in The Hague, which will take place at the end of June, were discussed, as well as issues related to providing comprehensive support to Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. Ambassador Solveiga Silkalna participated in the Latvian delegation.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs emphasized the importance of NATO unity, as well as strengthening NATO's deterrence and defense policy, stressing that "It is our overall goal to make Alliance stronger and more united. This requires significant increase of defence spending and additional investments into military industry – steps that will promote Alliance’s collective security, and provide support to Ukraine on the other hand. Additional defence funding should go towards specific NATO capability goals".
President also visited Latvian Embassy and met with Embassy staff.
More about the President's visit: https://www.president.lv/en/article/president-latvia-defence-spending-increase-imminent-focus-must-be-specific-nato-capability-development-goals
Photo: Dāvis Doršs, Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Latvia