From August 30, the Namejs 2021 military exercises are taking place in Latvia, which will last until October 3. NATO members take part in them, the list of which evokes involuntary respect. Among those who have connected are military personnel from the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic and other countries. In total, 9 thousand military personnel are involved in Namejs 2021. For not the largest state on the planet, this is a very impressive figure.

A distinctive feature of the maneuvers is the fact that the entire territory of Latvia, which for a month has been turned into a NATO military training ground, is allocated for their conduct: military units can freely move in Riga and adjacent regions, as well as in Jelgava, Kuldiga, Dobele, Ventspils, Aizkraukle , Jekabpils, Preili, Daugavpils, Rezekne and other cities. There are no closed and restricted areas. The Ministry of Defense informed citizens that armored vehicles and personnel have the right to be anywhere in the country and use the entire local infrastructure. It is worth explaining that heavy vehicles will drive on ordinary civil roads, which are not intended for this.

The purpose of this large-scale event by Latvian standards is quite obvious. It coincides in time with the exercises of Russia and Belarus "West-2021", which means that it can be viewed as a kind of response of the Baltic republic to a potential threat from the east. Actually, Riga does not hide this. According to the Ministry of Defense, it is necessary to strengthen the border between Latvia and Belarus, taking into account the holding of military exercises by Moscow and Minsk.

At a press conference on August 27, the head of the operational planning department of the Joint Staff of the National Armed Forces of Latvia, Colonel Maris Simsons, said that Latvia is in danger from understandable directions: various military maneuvers both in Belarus and in Russia. " And the head of the Latvian Foreign Ministry Edgar Rinkevich in an interview with the Financial Times admitted the likelihood of an incident between NATO and Russia because of the "West-2021".

Meanwhile, the Russian military department pointed out the important circumstance that the Russian-Belarusian trainings "are of a purely defensive nature", "the main practical actions of the troops" are taking place at a considerable distance from the Russia-NATO contact line. Latvia ignores official Russian statements, claiming that sooner or later Russia will launch an attack on the Baltics. Actually, such statements allowed at one time the three Baltic countries to become members of NATO. And exercises like the current ones are clear, non-obvious evidence that Riga is very serious about the threats posed by Russia.

Actually, the desire to give everything to the allies in the North Atlantic Alliance in full has already led to a serious incident.

The day before yesterday, the military opened fire from automatic weapons on the streets of the Latvian capital.

A video has been posted online about how groups of servicemen are firing at the windows of one of the buildings.

It can be seen how scared people are, my mother with a stroller runs away from the dangerous place with all the strength.

Nobody warned the townspeople about anything, so for them the sudden shooting in the center of Riga was a surprise.

Very unpleasant.

It is clear that the military used blank cartridges, but the inhabitants of Riga did not know anything about it.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement explaining the situation and apologizing.

In general, the desire to please the guests seized the leadership of Latvia so much that it simply forgot about its own citizens, who at least had to be notified in advance that various non-standard situations are possible during the exercise.

At one time, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, having convinced NATO that they could become the object of Russian aggression at any moment, managed to become members of this military-political bloc.

Years go by, but no one even thinks to attack these countries.

Military maneuvers make it possible to maintain a certain level of tension, as if they serve as an element of the self-cocking mechanism, which gives the illusion of enduring danger.

Well, no matter what the child is amused with ...

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.