Latvian minister: ‘No space and place for complacency’ over defence

Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds told Euronews he is confident that the EU can deter Russia today and in the years to come, but warned that the necessary investments must be made “right now”.

“Russia is an aggressive country, this is an existential threat to all of us, and investments of course, must be made right now,” he told Euronews on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Asked if Europe could successfully ramp up its defence before the end of the decade, when intelligence services have warned Russia could have the means to attack a European NATO ally, he said: “Yes, I believe so.”

“I think the important part is to be ready in that any aggressiveness from Russia can just come now and we have to be resilient and we have to build. Of course, it’s an ongoing process.”

“And let’s not underestimate who we are, let’s not underestimate what we have done. But also, of course, there is no space and place for complacency,” he said. 

He said the EU must expand its defence industry base and build up its capabilities.

EU nations don’t yet agree on financing options

EU leaders are expected to approve measures to boost joint defence spending at a summit in late June, following the release on 19 March by the Commission of a White Paper on Defence in which the EU’s executive should outline the options it sees as most viable to boost financing and the capabilities the bloc needs more urgently. 

“We have to understand that the investment in the military is absolutely crucial for all of us. And here, unfortunately, I see sometimes diversity among European nations,” Spruds said. 

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday in Munich that she will propose to activate the escape clause in the bloc’s fiscal rules to allow member states to “substantially” increase their defence expenditures. But the measure requires unanimity from member states to be approved. 

Other options that the EU is looking into include an expansion of the European Investment Bank’s mandate to allow more investments in defence and for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) rules to be loosened so that private banks can also pour more money into the sector. 

More controversially, some member states have also called for the issuing of co-called Eurobonds – an instrument inaugurated during the pandemic to raise money to support COVID-stricken economies – to fund joint defence projects, and for EU funds to be primarily used to buy from and therefore support European manufacturers. Baltic countries are generally positive towards the former but reticent on the latter proposal.

Air defence, ammunition, drones

For Spruds, joint EU funding should be used to boost air defence – for which systems can have billion euro price tags – as well as more “practical things like ammunition”. 

The EU infamously failed to fulfill its pledge to deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine in the year ending in March 2024. Ammunition production initiatives since then are going in the right direction, Spruds told Euronews, and Latvia “expect(s) it to take place on a much wider scale also in the future”.

But EU funds should also fund innovation in defence, and close the funding gap with the US, including the development of new drone capabilities, where the bloc can get an edge thanks to the experiences and know-how gathered by Ukrainians on the battlefield, Spruds said. 

Latvia and the UK are co-leading a drone coalition that gathers 17 countries and donations of around €2 billion and which provides aerial unmanned devices to Ukraine, with the Baltic country also providing testing grounds. 

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“Last year we made big steps, considerable steps in building up our drone army,” Spruds told Euronews. “But we have to make the next steps, which include land drones, and also drones in the sea.”

“What we have experienced in recent months, in recent years, once more underlines that the technologies can be very helpful, very valuable and very efficient also in helping protect critical infrastructure objects in places where it’s sometimes difficult to arrive quickly,” he said.

Latvia will host a drone summit on 28 May.