NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska visited Latvia on Thursday to attend the Riga Conference and meet senior Latvian and allied officials.
Shekerinska joined Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on a conference panel focused on diplomacy in a changing security environment, NATO informed.
Russia’s war against Ukraine and what NATO described as a campaign of hostile actions against member states had reinforced the alliance’s unity, Shekerinska said.
“We will not be intimidated and we will continue our support to Ukraine,” she added in NATO’s account of the visit.
Latvia was cited as an example of support for Ukraine, with Shekerinska saying the country was dedicating 0.25% of its gross domestic product — a measure of the size of an economy — to backing Kyiv.
Visit to military base and bilateral meetings
Earlier in the day, Shekerinska visited Ādaži Military Base, where she met NATO’s multinational brigade and received a briefing from Major General Ulrich Essemann-Beck, Commander of NATO Multinational Division Headquarters North.
She also pointed to Baltic Air Policing, Baltic Sentry and Eastern Sentry as examples of joint allied responses, with NATO member states committing forces to strengthen security on the alliance’s eastern flank.
During the trip, Shekerinska held bilateral meetings with Latvia’s Defence Minister Raivis Melnis and Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, as well as Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
She also met German Parliamentary State Secretary Sebastian Hartmann and Latvia’s National Security Adviser Ilze Milta.
