According to the president of Latvia, European nations should “absolutely” implement conscription.

The president of Latvia acknowledged that Europe was “quite weak” militarily and urged other European nations to “absolutely” implement conscription.

In light of the “ups and downs” in ties with the United States, Edgars Rinkevics stated on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that European nations have to boost their defense budgets.

In 2023, Latvia implemented male conscription and increased defense spending to 4% of GDP.

“Seeing what is happening in the world, the decision that we took – many other European countries need to follow that,” said Rinkevics.

“Many individuals are a little anxious. The news is being followed by many. Strong assurances are obviously one thing, but other European governments must also ensure that we all get stronger.

However, Mr. Rinkevics stated that he thinks the US and Europe “understand the risks and the threats” of NATO’s future.

“An assault on one NATO member entails an assault on all other NATO members, including European and non-European. I believe that everyone is aware that NATO will cease to exist if article five is not fulfilled.

In addition to referring to Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania as the “litmus test of NATO,” Mr. Rinkevics also demanded that “the overall presence” be increased on the nations’ borders with Russia in light of “increasing risks.”

“statements are no longer the only thing that matter; how those statements are carried out is as crucial. The phrase is OK with me, but we also need some action,” he stated.

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Mr. Rinkevics maintained that Latvia’s collaboration with the US is “good” despite the US’s recent shift in long-standing policy toward Russia and Ukraine, adding that “we do see the need also to apply equal pressure vis-a-vis Russia when it comes to the peace talks in Ukraine.”

“I do think the United States is right to ask for more defense spending for NATO European allies,” he stated. However, I also think that we need to try to communicate our position to the United States in a diplomatic manner.

“We have a lot of attention on the US. Unfortunately, we don’t talk about what we Europeans should do very often.

“We all know that we lack military capability, but we also know that we must increase it. Therefore, my current recommendation would be to focus on our own mission of increasing defense expenditures, even though I do perceive some disagreements with the United States over how to handle Ukraine.”

Situated on NATO’s eastern frontier against Russia, the three Baltic nations are among the highest NATO defense expenditures as a proportion of GDP.