On Monday January 24th, Defence Minister Jana Černochová hosted Minister of Defence of Latvia Artis Pabriks. The Ministers discussed the current security situation, bilateral cooperation as well as defence industry cooperation.
The meeting’s agenda was primarily focused on expanding the cooperation between the two countries with specific emphasis on defence and defence industrial cooperation and mutual support to activities of both nations in NATO and EU programmes.
Minister Černochová highlighted the intensive cooperation and underscored the Czech deployment in NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia. “That mission bears a great significance especially from the perspective of the current security situation and as a practical demonstration of NATO’s solidarity and unity. I would also like to highly value the host nation support we receive in the eFP, where the Czech Armed Forces service personnel have served from 2018. It is a unique opportunity for Czech servicemembers to gain experience in multinational environments,“ Minister Černochová said in appreciation of this ideal training opportunity for units and on strengthening the development of new capabilities of the host nation in the NATO framework. Common exercises and multinational military projects will continue in the years ahead and both countries seek to continue deepening activities.
Options to deepen both defence and defence industrial cooperation were discussed too. In 2015, Latvia acquired the VERA-NG passive surveillance system from ERA Pardubice and the Czech side offered further assistance on its expansion. By the same token, Minister Černochová expressed the intention to identify additional opportunities for cooperation, especially in the domain of electronic warfare, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence, and in the domain of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies.
The Ministers also covered the current situation in Ukraine and on Latvian-Byelorussian border, as well as national resilience, public awareness and the reserve system.
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