Latvian Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks announced the readiness of the country's armed forces to repulse Russian troops in the event of an allegedly possible invasion. This was stated by the head of the department, answering questions from students of Vidzeme higher school in Valmiera (a city in the center of the republic).

“What will we do if“ green men ”appear somewhere in Latvia? My answer is that we are a small society, we know these “fruits”! We just throw them out and neutralize them. This will be the state power that we exercise, ”Baltijas Balss quoted Pabriks as saying.

According to the Minister of Defense, Latvia will not allow a repeat of the events of 80 years ago. We are talking about the introduction of units of the Red Army in the country in October-November 1939. Soviet units operated under the Mutual Assistance Treaty. The Latvian authorities did not offer resistance, but after the collapse of the USSR, Moscow’s policies were officially recognized as “occupation”.

Moscow repeatedly denied statements by politicians of the Baltic states about allegedly possible Russian aggression. Thus, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov in April 2018, following the results of negotiations between Vladimir Putin and the Estonian leader Kersti Kaljulaid, noted that the fears of the Baltic countries are absolutely unfounded.

“They are skillfully fueled by NATO military leaders and overseas politicians,” Peskov emphasized.

Vladimir Putin himself had previously called such speculation "complete nonsense."

“Listen, I think that all sane people who are really involved in politics understand that referring to threats from Russia regarding, say, the Baltic states is complete nonsense ... Do you really assume that we are going to conquer the Baltic states using nuclear weapons or what? What kind of nonsense? ”Putin said in an interview with Bloomberg in 2016.

As RT colonel Mikhail Khodarenok explained to RT, the state and military tradition of Latvia is based on the ideology of confrontation with Russia. Under this concept, the country's history and modern military-political propaganda, which is present in statements by officials and the media, are “adjusted”.

“Latvia, like Ukraine, is actively creating an alternative story where any events related to the“ occupation ”or battles with Russian and Soviet troops are extolled. At the same time, a parallel with modernity is necessarily drawn. Thus, the idea of ​​an allegedly inevitable repetition of the aggression of the eastern neighbor is laid in the minds of citizens, ”said Khodarenok.

Comprehensive defense

Artis Pabriks gained fame thanks to his anti-Soviet initiatives. In May, he promised to find a way to ban the country's military from celebrating May 9 Victory Day. In September, the minister called the Waffen SS division legionnaires "the pride of the Latvian people and state."

In addition, Pabriks has repeatedly made high-profile statements about the country's increased defense potential in recent years. One of the most important forces of "containment", the Minister of Defense considers the Northern Division of NATO. In March, the headquarters of the compound was inaugurated in the city of Adazi. The formation included units of the Armed Forces of Latvia, Estonia and Denmark.

  • Latvian Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks
  • globallookpress.com
  • © Monika Skolimowska / dpa

According to Pabriks, in the case of “Russian aggression”, NATO forces can defend the country. Today in Latvia there is a multinational contingent numbering about 1.4 thousand people. Military men from Canada, Albania, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain serve on a rotational basis in it.

Currently, Latvia is discussing the adoption of a new concept of national defense. On November 6, a discussion of the main points of the future document is planned at the Latvian Agricultural University in Jelgava. The agenda includes increasing the military budget and mobilizing citizens to “protect” the country.

The current national defense concept of Latvia states that Russia is supposedly ready to use force methods to solve foreign policy problems. In addition, it claims that Moscow allegedly purposefully strengthens the military infrastructure on the border with Latvia and is trying to influence the security of the republic through propaganda, psychological influence, “supporting agents of influence and encouraging public discontent”, cyberattacks, and various economic manipulations.

The defense capabilities of Latvia, according to Pabriks, can be enhanced through the implementation of the principle of the so-called comprehensive state defense. Its essence lies in the fact that the responsibility for the military security of the republic is passed on to the shoulders of every citizen. According to the Minister of Defense, we are talking about "preparing people and their thinking for different crisis situations."

The principle will be implemented in the next three to four years. In practice, it will allow the Ministry of Defense of Latvia to involve the civilian population in the performance of tasks inherent in military personnel. The department is also going to use the resources of private organizations for the needs of the army.

“What is happening now in the heads of the Latvian leadership is a consequence of terry Russophobia and militaristic hysteria, the surge of which began in 2014 and still does not end there. Society is accustomed to how scary and dangerous it is to live when there is a huge state nearby, which also possesses nuclear weapons, ”said Alexey Leonkov, commercial director of Arsenal of the Fatherland, in an interview with RT.

"The image of the enemy"

After 2014, Riga pursues a course to increase the number of militias ("Zemessardze"), reservists and regular units. According to experts interviewed by RT, Latvia has a small cadre of armed forces (several battalions) and expects to attract basic human resources in the threatened period.

The increase in the number of regular units in Riga is hindered by a lack of finance. In recent years, Latvia has consistently increased its military budget. In 2018, defense spending for the first time reached the NATO standard, which is 2% of GDP. Nevertheless, the country's Ministry of Defense continues to complain about the cash deficit.

In the ranking of military power Global Firepower Latvia is located in 105th place. Of the neighboring states, only Estonia (112th) is located below. The total number of military personnel of the republic is approximately 13.3 thousand people. At the same time, Latvia does not have combat aircraft, tanks or ships equipped with missile weapons.

  • Latvian reservists
  • © Ministry of Defense of Latvia

Despite such modest military resources, Pabriks does not doubt the army’s ability to repel the mythical “Russian aggression”. For example, in August in an interview with the local newspaper Diena, he promised that the republic’s armed forces would “crush” Russian troops “to the root”.

Mikhail Khodarenok believes that such a loud statement can only be made by a person who is “in a state of severe overexcitation.” According to him, in reality, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Latvia realizes the absurdity of the scenario of the Russian attack on the Baltic states and “deliberately foment militaristic and Russophobic sentiments”.

“Probably, the Minister of Defense of Latvia is not always in an adequate emotional state, although I have no doubt that he himself perfectly understands the senselessness of the fears associated with the mythical Russian threat. His words about the inevitable defeat of the so-called green men are a shaking of the air. The Latvian army is in such a state that one simply cannot seriously talk about its combat capabilities, ”Khodarenok said.

Aleksei Leonkov believes that the Russophobic rhetoric of the Latvian Ministry of Defense is aimed at substantiating requests for Western states to provide financial and military assistance. According to the expert, the Baltic country expects to become a "subsidized" republic within the Euro-Atlantic structures.

“Without the image of the enemy on the eastern borders of the alliance, Latvia and other Western satellites would be deprived of the opportunity to beg for money from their own people and“ elders ”for NATO. Moscow is forced to periodically remind the Baltic neighbors that they behave more calmly. Of course, our military is tracking the maneuvers of NATO forces, but the increased military activity of the Russian Federation is retaliatory and purely defensive, ”Leonkov summed up.