Latvia Eyes Potential Opportunities with the Turkish Defense Industry
Defence Turkey: Could you please provide some key facts about the Ministry of Defense of Latvia? Could you elaborate on the structure, responsibilities and number of personnel working at the Ministry?
Minister PABRIKS: Well, we are situated in our historic Building of War Ministry, which was created just after the First World War in the center of Riga. We have several hundred employees in the Ministry. So for our country, this is enough, and we are a country with Civilian Authority controlling the military. Our Army consists of 5 Brigades, which are one professional brigade and four National Guard brigades which are voluntary. So this is the structure of our Army, and of course, we have Navy and also certain Air Defense.
Defence Turkey: So there is voluntary military service in your country?
Minister PABRIKS: Yes, we have voluntary service for brigades in our National Guard, and one brigade is professional, the Mechanized Brigade.
Defence Turkey: What can you tell us about the national defense policy of Latvia? What is the biggest threat to Latvia and the number one security risk facing the country?
Minister PABRIKS: Well, first and foremost, our duty is to defend the sovereignty and independence of our country. We are a small country. We had a very difficult history. We were invaded by a number of countries, particularly by Russia. We were under Soviet occupation for 50 years, and of course, we are ready to do anything, so this type of history never repeats. This is why we were also very active internationally as a small country already in 1993, and we set our major goal to the join European Union and NATO, we succeeded, and I must say that we are lucky that we succeeded because if we were not now a member of NATO or the European Union, we would share the fate of Ukraine now. It would be guaranteed that Russia would invade us. Now they can't do this because we are a member of NATO, and we are also contributing a lot to International Security and Peace. Because we are always also participating in a number of different international missions. At this moment, one of our largest missions is in Kosovo, where we participate with more than 150 people, and Turkey is also deployed in Kosovo. We are guarding 55 kilometers of the Kosovo-Serbia border, and another section of this border is actually guarded by Turkish soldiers. So we are also allies in the Balkan area. We also participate in other missions because we believe that there will always be more international support for us if we participate internationally actively, and I must say that we also have an extremely good relationship with Turkey. It always has been very good because we support Turkish membership in the European Union. We are looking forward to military cooperation with Turkey, and actually, we very much hope that one day there will also be some smaller or larger Turkish Army deployment in Latvia. At least this is what I invite you to do.
Defence Turkey: You mentioned NATO membership. Shortly after regaining its independence, development of the Latvian defense system was launched and collaboration with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was initiated and the country became a NATO member on March 29th, 2004. What has Latvia gained from NATO Membership? You said that if we weren't in NATO, we would share the fate of Ukraine.
Minister PABRIKS: Of course, it gives us additional security, but it also gave us professionalism to train together with the best kind of military standards. Because we are also deploying our soldiers in different missions where we are training with other countries, how to have a quality army and the preparations for membership in NATO actually helped us to transform the thinking of our armed forces because NATO is the strongest military alliance. Also, because of our capacity, our Army may be small, but it's highly professional and highly motivated. So as far as the size, yes, we cannot compare our size with the Turkish Army, but as far as the motivation and quality of the Latvian soldier, it is equal to any of the best soldiers in other NATO countries. So that's a result of our international cooperation and training.
Defence Turkey: What can you tell us about Latvia's defense budget for 2022? Was it sufficient in 2021? Because since you're a NATO member, NATO has requested its members to allocate almost 2% of their GDP to defense.
Minister PABRIKS: Precisely, it's actually never enough. You know security is never too much. We have already, for a number of years, allocated more than 2% of our GDP for our defense and this year it was 2.3%. But just last week, we passed a Government decision following the Russian aggression into Ukraine that by law, we will increase our defense budget to 2.5% from our GDP. It's still not enough money for us because we are a small country, and 2.5% is still less than one billion Euros. But on the other hand, we are doing what we can, and we are also hoping that we will further develop our military industry with this money, cooperate with such countries as Turkey where we can build something together that may provide our Army with equipment because we do have a number of high-quality things in our country.
We are the first country in Europe that equipped our major military bases with 5G Internet, which helps significantly and contributes to cooperation between the Army and industries which are training on their equipment and learning how to use 5G. Just like in Turkey, we also have high-quality drone production. We do not have such type of drones as Bayraktars, but we have smaller ones which we are selling to other countries. We are also starting to produce military vehicles and other things so, and we would like to expend this. And as the Defense Minister, I announced this year as the year of military industry. So, in fact, we are now acting as a second Ministry of Economics in Latvia. In our case compared to Turkey, in Turkey there is a military industry detached from your Ministry of Defense and it is a separate thing. In our case, the military industry is under us. So we are very much following this, and we also created the Federation of Military Industry. So we are cooperating with our business people, and we very much hope that also Turkey will join more in cooperation with Latvia.
Defence Turkey: Russia's attack on Ukraine sent shockwaves through the Baltic countries. Once ruled from Moscow, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been members of both NATO and the European Union since 2004. As a Minister of Defense of Latvia, how do you evaluate Russia’s attack on Ukraine? Can you elaborate on the potential effects of this war on Baltic countries? Do you think NATO and the US reacted adequately to Russia’s attack on Ukraine?
Minister PABRIKS: First of all, this is unprecedented aggression with civilian sufferings, and there is no legitimacy for such type of aggression against Ukraine. Russians are wrong in this case. Secondly, We were not shocked in the Baltics because we had been warning our Western partners for decades. Russia is going in the wrong direction, so, unfortunately, our predictions were correct. So, on the one hand, we can say yes, we told you this for a long time, but we have no pleasure from that because you know that means that we predicted the disaster. This is what we predicted. There is certain anxiety among some parts of our population, of course, because we are a border country, but on the other hand, we are not scared. First of all, our armies, even if we are small, we are ready to defend our country. For instance, when Russians invaded Ukraine during the first ten days, the National Guard was joined by the same number of people who joined during the whole last year. So people thought, Ok, if Russians are attacking Ukraine and are willing to try our borders, we join the National Guard. So there is high motivation for people to defend their country. But we don't feel insecure in a sense because we are also in alliance with NATO, and I can tell you I was up on the 24th of February when the Russians attacked Ukraine before 4:00 o'clock in the night. Four hours later, we had American troops landing in Latvia. So that simply shows the solidarity among NATO nations is not on paper. This is a real thing, and so from that perspective, I think it would be a grave mistake if somebody tried to cross our border.
Defence Turkey: You know, according to the Russian Army's progress, many believe that the next will be Moldova because there is a Russian population in the border region. So after Ukraine, many have claimed that Russia would not stop and would do its best to expand as much as possible, but since you are a NATO member, would Putin dare to take such an action?
Minister PABRIKS: That would mean a NATO war with Russia. Russians must understand this. However, I would like to say that it is a huge mistake for Moscow because now, in fact, in this invasion, Russians from Russia are killing Russians in Ukraine. They are bombing civilians, and this will be a painful relationship for the next generations between Ukraine and Russia. But as you mentioned, Russians would like to go, and Putin would like to go further. But look, I mean, many predicted that Ukraine would fall in the first three days, but it is now two weeks, and Ukrainians are fighting. They are not prepared; they are not trained. The Russian Army is a large army, and this is why they are slowly proceeding. But they are also proceeding because they are simply terrorizing the civilian population, just like in Syria. The same Russian bombers which dropped bombs on civilian Syrians are now dropping bombs on Ukrainians. Also, there is a provisioning issue. What we saw was that the Russian soldiers were given food which is five years out of date. I mean, this is a Soviet Army in makeup. They're just large, and they have nuclear bombs. If there are responsible leaders in Moscow for such a large country, they should not threaten anybody with nuclear or chemical weapons because Russia is not the only country with nuclear weapons, and nobody will win a nuclear war. So now they're simply trying to intimidate Western populations, but you know if somebody is pushing you, you should look into their eyes; you should not retreat. Now, Europe, NATO, the European Union, and the Transatlantic Alliance cannot retreat anymore. Because we were retreating in Georgia, we did not give any kind of strong resistance and reaction to the invasion. We did not react enough in Crimea, not this time, not this time.
Defence Turkey: Latvia supports Ukraine and its efforts to protect their country. What can you tell us about Latvia’s military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war in order to strengthen the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the ability to protect its population from Russian aggression?
Minister PABRIKS: First of all, Latvia is in huge solidarity with ordinary Ukrainian people. So we opened our houses and homes for Ukrainian refugees. People are coming to Latvia for safety. We have been giving 500 to 600 tons of humanitarian assistance. We have been giving military assistance, anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft weapons, individual equipment, a lot of things because we believe that Ukrainians have a right to defend their families and their freedom. So, of course, as much as we can, we'll support it.
Defence Turkey: What can you tell us about Latvia’s approach to Turkey in terms of defense industrial cooperation? Does the Ministry of Defense of Latvia have a set target for activities with Turkey? What do you think could be done to increase the level of this cooperation? What is your forecast for the future?
Minister PABRIKS: The forecast for the future is a good friendship that will be even deeper because we have no problems between Latvia and Turkey. We have a perfect relationship. We simply want to deepen it with every meeting and visit. We are also supporting Turkish membership in the European Union if Turkey decides so. We always have trusted Turkey as it is in NATO, and we believe that we should integrate closer the Latvian military industry and Turkish military industry because you have a number of interesting products which we could buy and develop also in Latvia. We are looking for Turkish investors in our country because we need to shorten logistic lines provisions for the Army which means we cannot only buy abroad. We need cooperation with countries that can also provide some deliveries in Latvia either with repairment or production. And here we see, Turkey is a very, very good partner for us. Because you have very good industrial products, such as air-defense and vehicles of many types.
Defence Turkey: What can Latvia do for Turkey, and what could Turkey do for Latvia in the defense sphere?
Minister PABRIKS: First of all, if you are a NATO member, then cooperation and training together are always positive because that increases quality, mutual understanding, and operational capabilities. I also believe that it would be positive for Turkey, maybe to station some kind of troops in Latvia just like other countries do because we now have ten countries represented on Latvian soil. These are not large detachments, but they also improve our cooperation and economy. Understanding between countries also improves because these soldiers are diplomats as well. Because people see them doing something, it is a safe place, a beautiful place for them to stay. So I believe we can have common military cooperation, industrial cooperation, political cooperation and of course also our people like the warmth of Antalya, which is not here now, if you have too hot summers, summer is also very good in the Baltic Sea. So Turkish people are always welcome.
Defence Turkey: You previously paid a visit to BAYKAR SAVUNMA’s National UAV R&D and Production Center in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2021 and got a briefing on BAYRAKTAR TB2 Armed UAVs which have accumulated over 400,000 flight hours so far and have secured 19 export contracts. Does Latvia have a plan to procure BAYRAKTAR TB2 Armed UAVs from Turkey? If yes can you elaborate on this procurement?
Minister PABRIKS: I can't give a schedule at this moment, we continue to be interested, but this is a question about certain details. Technological details, financial details and one of the things which would very much assist in understanding the necessity of this product for our military would be let's say temporary stationing or trying this equipment on our soil because we would like to see how it flies in our area.
Defence Turkey: Poland is also acquiring Bayraktars; maybe a flight demonstration can be performed?
Minister PABRIKS: We would be happy if they came not from Poland but from Turkey.
Defence Turkey: Have you voiced such a request officially to Turkish authorities?
Minister PABRIKS: Yes, we have a discussion on that; it is ongoing.
Defence Turkey: Latvia and the two other Baltic states of Estonia and Lithuania are continuing to build up a deterrent capacity and viable combat capabilities against possible future Russian military interference in the Baltic region of Europe. In addition to Latvia, Lithuania also declared its interest in purchasing Armed UAVs from Turkey. Is there any plan to establish a joint Armed UAV network?
Minister PABRIKS: It's possible because we cooperate quite well between all three countries. Of course, there is always, I mean, we are independent countries, so it's not always easy to overcome certain differences about planning because this is a more bureaucratic, political problem. We are also seeing that all three Baltic countries have one operational area. So far our troops it should be easy to cross each other's borders and help each other. So from that perspective, this is also one of the possibilities we can look at.
Defence Turkey: Because joint operation and joint training will increase the performance and efficiency of such equipment?
Minister PABRIKS: Yes, it could be so, because we also have a common air control system. So this also could be one of the possibilities where maybe Turkey could join with some of their expertise. I would encourage it in any case.
Defence Turkey: What projects do you have on the modernization of military equipment? Can you list Latvia's most important procurement programs and the envisaged time frame of realization?
Minister PABRIKS: Yes, we are interested in air defense systems. We are interested in armored vehicles. The number of companies, including OTOKAR Company, which we visited previously and especially for TULPAR, which I found very interesting. We are also interested in the heavy truck industry.
Defence Turkey: In the case of air defense, did you meet with ASELSAN and ROKETSAN for HISAR Systems?
Minister PABRIKS: I was not introduced yet. I hope that during these days I get more information on that.
Defence Turkey: Dear Minister, thank you for sparing your valuable time for our readers
