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Latvia should keep promises on defense budget increase: president

Xinhua, August 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Latvia should keep its promise given to NATO to increase its defense expenditure to 2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), said Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis after his meeting with Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma on Wednesday, Baltic News Service reported.

Commenting on the reports that defense budget next year might be increased by some 59 million euros, the president said that figures can change during the budget formation process.

"Figures will change every day until an agreement on budget revenues and expenditures is reached. What is important is that an agreement has been reached that the four priority sectors - defense, internal security, healthcare and education -will receive additional allocations," said Vejonis who was Defense Minister before he was elected President this summer.

"Our promise to NATO partners is that we should achieve 2 percent of the GDP for defense. The government is heading towards this goal," he said.

Prime Minister Straujuma told the press that the budget figures that have been announced are not final.

The Latvian Defense Ministry hopes that next year its budget will be increased by 68 million euros, Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis said earlier.

"We are requesting additional 68 million euros, but we do not know whether this whole sum will be allocated. The situation is complicated. The allies are watching how we tackle these things," he said.

Latvia's defense sector budget for 2015 is 254 million euros which accounts for 1 percent of GDP.

Latvia plans to increase defense sector's budget to 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2018. Endit