Saeima approves the new National Defence Concept
On Thursday, 5 October, the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia, Saeima, approved the new National Defence Concept proposed by the Ministry of Defence. Concept describes fundamental strategic elements of Latvia’s military defence, various priorities and activities for peacetime, national security threat and wartime scenarios.
National Defence Concept (NDC) focuses on two key strategic areas of national defence – stronger defence and deterrence capabilities, and stronger resilience, capacity and will to defend Latvia.
National defence and independence of Latvia is the common concern of the whole society, thus NDC specifies national defence responsibilities on the individual, community, local and national government level, emphasising the significance of leadership and self-organising or the culture of preparedness.
Preparedness relies on each individual’s personal engagement, leadership and accountability. Concept urges everyone to learn and further develop skills and competences that are required to protect yourself, your family, community and state against disasters or war.
On the collective level, communities, companies, local and state institutions must get ready to manage and respond to any crisis. This requires training on broad range of subjects, with state, local, private and non-governmental actors coming together.
According to the Concept, National Armed Forces are responsible for defending every inch of Latvian soil and the people of Latvia with all necessary and available means to stop potential aggressor from moving deeper into territory of Latvia and gaining advantage. Continuous development of defence capabilities, greater fire power and range are vital for National Armed Forces to achieve this goal and limit aggressor’s opportunities in air, on sea or land. National Armed Forces will also continue to upgrade air defence systems, coastal defence, long-range rocket artillery and unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities and introduce new armoured infantry fighting vehicles.
Concept also prioritises the goal of achieving greater number of well-trained and combat-ready troops. National Armed Forces will strive to create a peacetime force of 31,000 troops and general reserve of 30,000 troops.
Introduction of the state defence service this year is crucial for reaching the above size of the army. State defence service will help achieve the necessary size of the army, develop highly trained reserve units, as well as contribute to the emerging culture of preparedness in the society.
National Guard, National Guard Cadet Force, reserve training and national defence classes will continue to complement the state defence service and ensure public participation, as well as individual preparedness for potential crisis or war. Concept also makes national defence classes mandatory from 2024/2025 academic year across all Latvian secondary schools.
NATO’s forward defence concept must be developed further and implemented in practice to give Latvia the resources it needs to deter attacks from potential aggressors or defend every inch of the Latvian soil. NATO’s forward defence concept envisages bigger military presence of NATO in Latvia, which should reach the size of a fully equipped brigade-size allied combat force in the long run. Brigade should be able to join National Armed Forces and defend Latvia at all times. Deeper strategic partnerships with like-minded countries will remain a strong factor in Latvia’s deterrence and defence policy.
NDC goals, such as functioning state defence service, stronger NAF reserve force and combat capabilities, will require additional defence investments. According to plans, national defence spending should reach 3% of the GDP by 2027 or earlier.
Concept is largely based on lessons learned from the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. They suggest that even temporary loss of control over an area after an attack can lead to enormous civilian casualties and complete destruction of civilian and critical infrastructure. NDC particularly highlights the need to develop NAF and NATO collective defence capabilities in a manner that allows to completely cover the whole territory of Latvia as much as possible.
National Defence Concept is a military policy document based on military threat analysis. It feeds into national defence policy, national defence policy and operational programmes, and investment planning. It defines the future structure of National Armed Forces and how public bodies and services, local governments, legal and private entities should react to incidents during peacetime or in case of national threats or war.
Information prepared by:
MoD Military Public Affairs Department
Media Relations Section
Phone: 67335393
E-mail: prese@mod.gov.lv