00:00I'd like to begin with some domestic news within Latvia that is related to the war in Ukraine.
00:04You've had these two drones that went into Latvian airspace that crashed.
00:08The defense minister has resigned yesterday.
00:10What needs to be done in order to improve drone security for Latvia in the wake of this sort of
00:18incident?
00:19Well, thanks for the question.
00:21The point was that those were indeed Ukrainian drones that were targeted at similar to objects in Russia.
00:28Yesterday, Ukraine's foreign minister, Andriy Sibiha, confirmed it and also confirmed that it was Russian electronic warfare that directed them
00:39towards Latvia.
00:40So the reason for all this is Russia's war in Ukraine, Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
00:46And that should stop and the drones will stop with that.
00:50And in seeking more sort of in order to better be able to prevent this from happening, because if there
00:55was, of course, an invasion, you'd have to have sort of readiness for any kind of potential drone incursions.
00:59Will you be asking for more help from NATO allies to make a more robust drone defense for Latvia?
01:05Would the Ukrainians be deployed, who are obviously experts in this field as well?
01:08We had the first Russian Shahid falling in Latvia in September 24.
01:13So after that, we've been building up the capacity, the radars, the acoustic systems and so on and so forth.
01:20And it's always a hard choice how to deal with the drones flying above civilian cities.
01:27You know, we had NATO's fighters up in the sky.
01:31We had our armed force ready to take them down.
01:34And then at the end, they fell.
01:37They actually fell into a civilian object next to a fuel tank.
01:43So lucky nothing happened of major significance.
01:48So it is a big challenge, I think, for all of us, both to identify them.
01:53Shahids are easier.
01:54They are very particular.
01:55These were Ukrainian drones that were disabled by Russia.
01:59So it's a tough choice.
02:02So we will be working with the Ukrainian colleagues.
02:05We will be working with the Allies.
02:06I thank the Allied jets who took office, as I said, and were ready to protect.
02:12And thinking about the sort of path forward in Ukraine, there's a few things that have changed.
02:16It seems that Ukraine has gained some momentum on the battlefield.
02:18As of this weekend, you no longer have Viktor Orban as prime minister of Hungary.
02:23A completely different regime enabling things at the European level.
02:26What do you see as the path forward?
02:28What is possible today that was not possible a month ago?
02:31Several things in Rome.
02:34One is strengthening our own security and defence, which is the first pillar for anybody being serious about their own
02:42security.
02:43So Latvia has enshrined in law 5% of GDP for defence.
02:47So that is now granted by law.
02:51So we will fulfil that.
02:53And we invite all the others who also have committed to reach 5% before 2035 to actually do that.
03:00Because from that, of course, that allocation allows the industry to flourish, allows the cross-border cooperation among the industries
03:09in Europe and elsewhere.
03:10And that's what the U.S. also expects from us within the NATO.
03:13And another dimension would potentially be more sanctions on the Russians, particularly the shadow fleet.
03:17We're talking potentially about a full ban on maritime services.
03:21Do you think that that now is a realistic possibility?
03:23And, of course, a lot of this crude oil is going through the Baltic Sea.
03:27Is that something that there is more appetite to take a harder line on from the European perspective?
03:31And what kind of help would be required?
03:32Yes, the next sanctions package we are already working on, 21st, and there are lots of sort of steps that
03:39can be done that were prevented by a number of countries.
03:44Also, we have now released the support to Ukraine, which is $90 billion.
03:49Blockade is overcome.
03:51So it's very important for Ukraine, $60 billion will be going to military support, to actually hold the battlefield.
03:58Because holding the battlefield and freeing up the territory shows that Russia is not achieving its objectives of the war.
04:06And as more pressure we can put on Russia, as more chance we have for serious peace negotiations.
04:13And I want to get on to the issue of also Iran.
04:15There's some consequences, obviously, for the Ukrainian war because of the war in Iran, that some U.S. weapons deliveries,
04:20for example, are not happening or they're being paused.
04:23Are you having that experience with the United States?
04:24Have they given you a better timeline?
04:26Well, in life in case, everything is okay.
04:28We are receiving what we need to be receiving.
04:31But again, I think we all have to, as the drone incidents also show, be much more forthcoming to experimentation
04:40and to using non-traditional methods of defense,
04:43integrating the very conventional capabilities that we have with technological superiority.
04:50Because that, at the end, is what Ukrainians are doing and learning those lessons and experiences for each one of
04:59us, not just for the countries on the eastern flank, is crucially important.
05:03And one sort of final question.
05:05It was the question of Donald Trump removing troops from Germany.
05:08This is seen as sort of a punishment for the Germans not supporting, in some ways, the war in Iran.
05:12Do you think that some of those troops could be migrated from Germany to, say, Latvia?
05:16Is that a conversation that you're having with the Americans?
05:18We are having a number of conversations with American allies.
05:22And they always say that we are the model ally, you know, not only for defense funding, but also all
05:27the other issues.
05:28So we would very much welcome that development.
05:31But I think the important part is to keep that cooperation between the U.S. and Canada and European allies
05:39going strong.
05:40As we see the war in the Middle East currently, the war against Iran and the situation in the Middle
05:46East has shown that more cooperation is needed,
05:51that the theaters of Europe and Middle East are related, and that the U.S. operations actually were enabled by
05:58European allies.
05:59So that is what we have to recognize, both in the U.S. and in Europe.
06:03And I'd like to bring in one more region here.
06:05When we're sitting here in Brussels, when you're sitting, you know, in Latvia and across the European continent,
06:09when you think about a meeting between the president of the United States and the president of China,
06:13what does success for Europe in that meeting look like?
06:15I think sort of regulating and stabilizing the relationship and also getting China to be a more responsible international ally,
06:23stopping its sort of enabling the war in Ukraine, making sure that it also acts responsibly in the U.N.
06:32Security Council.
06:33We are drafting a new resolution on stabilizing Strait of Hormuz.
06:36So not vetoing it like last time.
06:40There is a whole spectrum of relationship, not just economic, but also more transparent about its defense capabilities,
06:48about the plants that is developing, nuclear capabilities, so on and so forth.
06:52So we'll be watching that meeting very sort of eagerly from Brussels and everywhere.
06:55Well, Bayou Braja, thank you so much.
06:57That is the foreign minister from Latvia.
06:59A slew of different issues and some meetings today with, of course, the Ukrainians, the Europeans, and the Canadians who
07:03are here.
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