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Lithuania, Latvia to enforce defense cooperation: ministers

Xinhua, July 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lithuania and Latvia plan to increase bilateral cooperation on regional security issues, the two countries' ministers of defense said Wednesday.

Minister of National Defense of Lithuania Juozas Olekas met with new Latvian counterpart Raimonds Bergmanis to discuss Baltic cooperation, assistance to Ukraine and other issues.

"We must combine our efforts of strengthening national defense of our countries and common defense of the Alliance (NATO) in our region through development of regional cooperation and also by rendering assistance to Ukraine," Olekas was quoted as saying in a statement.

Development of a joint mid-range air-defense system, closer cooperation in pooling military training capabilities, countering hybrid threats, stepping up cooperation with Poland and the Nordic countries were underscored as areas calling for particular attention.

The two ministers agreed to focus more on the coordination of Latvian and Lithuanian forces on the borderline and on developing simpler border crossing procedures for allied forces.

The two met shortly after the two countries' presidents, Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania and Raimonds Vejonis of Latvia, confirmed both countries were considering a joint purchase of air defense systems. Other NATO allies, Poland and Estonia, are to be invited to join the purchase, the heads of states said, local website vz.lt reported.

Prior to becoming Latvia's president, Vejonis was the country's defense minister. Endit