Latvia’s security situation has not improved and has become more complex, President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview on TV24, Rinkevics warned that Russia was becoming more unpredictable and that Latvia must be prepared to respond to various kinds of Russian provocations. At the same time, he noted that the threat posed by drone incursions affected NATO’s entire eastern flank. State institutions, municipalities, and residents must understand that as long as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, the threat will continue, Rinkevics said. Earlier, municipal leaders in Latvia’s eastern Latgale region demanded that the state establish a clear mechanism for dealing with drone threats, LETA reported. Repeated drone alerts have led to a sharp decline in tourism in the region, LSM reports.
Meanwhile, Latvia’s new defence minister, Raivis Melnis, insisted that drones entering Latvian airspace must be intercepted and shot down, LETA reported. However, Latvia first needs to develop a broader network of surveillance, detection, and interception capabilities to do so effectively, he said in an interview with TV3. Earlier, Kaspars Pudans, commander of the Latvian National Armed Forces, said that Latvia needed additional radars, more powerful acoustic detection systems, and other new technical solutions to improve air defence capabilities, LSM reported. Currently, Latvia’s air defence units mainly protected larger cities and critical infrastructure, he explained. At the same time, Pudans warned that more drone incidents were possible. Also, he stressed that the parameters of each incident were different.