The President points to the decisive role / day of the upcoming NATO Summit

The President said in a speech that, looking at the geopolitical situation, Ukraine continues to fight and Russia is becoming increasingly aggressive. « Russia feels like the winner of this war, and in politics, especially in international relations, is sometimes more important not the reality, but its perception. » Those working in the field of strategic communication are well known that the 21st century perception is essential, « Rinkevich said.

He pointed out that Europe and NATO are still trying to realize that the world has changed dramatically, that we are no longer living on the old rules and that defense should be given much higher resources. « And it’s not just about percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), but for real abilities, » the president said.

Rinkēvičs, about the next NATO Summit in the Hague from the point of view of the start -up communication, expressed the hope that this would be a unity summit, where the alliance would be stronger than ever.

In addition to the President expressed the hope that Latvia would be decided to give 5% of GDP to protection. « It will not be easy, there are many other challenges – demography, health care, social security, education, but the government and parliament understand that next year, 5% of GDP defense is a top priority next year, » said Rinkevich.

The President also pointed out that there is not much time to develop his abilities and achieve the capacity of NATO. « We are very hopeful that those countries that are still in debate about 2% of Directing GDP will change their position and make decisions on both increasing funding and developing real capabilities, » Rinkēvičs said.

At the same time, the President emphasized that in addition to hybrid threats, migration used as an instrument of influence, misinformation campaigns, manipulation of social media and attempts to attempt in elections is a new threat – attacks on underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Similarly, artificial intelligence offers tremendous opportunities and risks at the same time.

At the same time, the President emphasized that an important aspect is how we continue to support Ukraine, and how the promises made last year at the NATO Summit in Washington – for air protection, greater ammunition, support for drone strengthening. « These are three things that Ukrainian President (Volodimir) Zelensky emphasized when we met in Vilnius last week, » Rinkevich said.

The President emphasized that the future of Ukraine is not only in the European Union but also in NATO. Rinkēvičs said that we had to find ways to increase support for Ukraine on the battlefield and how to win the information war.

NATO’s NATO Strategic Communication Center of Excellence (« StratCom ») is a multinational, NATO -accredited military organization that works with the aim of improving the strategic communication skills of the Alliance and its partners. The center was founded in 2014.