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Latvia considers sending more troops to Mali in response to French request

Xinhua, December 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Latvia might send more troops to Mali in response to France's request for military assistance, President Raimonds Vejonis told reporters on Wednesday.

Talking to the press after his weekly meeting with Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma, the president said the country's defense ministry was currently considering the French request for assistance.

"We might increase the presence of our forces on the African continent, possibly in Mali or the Central African Republic (CAR)," the president said.

The priority is Latvian soldiers' presence in the region "so that they are ready to respond to any possible escalation there," Vejonis said.

After the recent series of deadly terror attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, France invoked Article 42 of the Lisbon Treaty which obliges European Union member states to provide assistance to the bloc member experiencing military aggression.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Tuesday that since France's request, Latvia had been considering what kind of support it might provide in the strikes against the Islamic State (IS). Endit