00:00Andres Kulbeks became the Baltic country's prime minister in May
00:04after the previous coalition government collapsed over its handling of stray drones.
00:10Latvia is of course one of NATO's frontline states bordering Russia on Europe's eastern flank
00:16and plays a leading role in supporting Ukraine.
00:20And Prime Minister Andres Kulbeks joins us live now from Riga.
00:24Prime Minister, good morning, really good to have you with us on the show.
00:29Good morning, Brussels.
00:31Yesterday, your armed forces in Latvia fired a warning shot
00:36and used tear gas to prevent migrants from crossing from Belarus.
00:41Do you believe, Prime Minister, that Minsk and Moscow are instrumentalizing these migrants
00:47in order to destabilize your country?
00:50I do not believe. I'm sure. This happened since 2021.
00:56We're being tested, not just us.
00:58This moment, it is us.
01:00It is any given moment.
01:01It is our neighbors, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland or Poland.
01:05Any of us are tested.
01:07This is a hybrid threat.
01:08This is a war threat.
01:09That's what Russia does.
01:11This is for sure, because we can see that it is not just asylum seekers, what somebody might think of.
01:18They are really men, 18 to 25, with criminal past, with all given visas from Belarus.
01:27This is all organized from the top level of Russian mob as well.
01:32So this is an organized threat towards us to find a weak link.
01:37And we all have to do all the measures, take all the measures to prevent that.
01:42And why, Prime Minister, do you think that this is intensifying now?
01:45Why is Putin deciding to target Latvia in this hybrid war at this moment?
01:53Because he's losing in Ukraine.
01:55Simple.
01:55He needs to take attention somewhere else and have this action.
02:01Prime Minister, I want to move on to talk about drones,
02:04because the previous governments there in Latvia collapsed amid criticism over its handling of incursions.
02:10What are you and your government doing differently to ensure Latvia is better prepared and protected against this threat?
02:19We're not simple.
02:20We're talking the truth.
02:21We're not giving any anticipations which cannot be met.
02:25We immediately have, I appointed the defence minister professional,
02:31professional not just from Latvia, but from the field in Ukraine,
02:34who has clear knowledge, clear experience of warfare, what is happening in Ukraine.
02:40So, getting the best of the best solution for us.
02:44So, we signed a drone deal with Zelensky.
02:47This gives us access to the Ukrainian know-how and implement the umbrella for our skies in the best possible
02:55way.
02:55Do you think that the EU more broadly is moving quick enough on this?
03:00Because we know that this is a threat across the eastern flank.
03:03We know that the European Commission here are talking about a drone wall.
03:07Are you confident that those European initiatives will also work?
03:12They will work, but they have to be much faster in speed.
03:15You pointed it out really correctly.
03:17We are not up to speed.
03:19We are not just Latvia.
03:21We're investing 5%, above 5%, actually 6%, above 6% in our defence.
03:27Clear defence.
03:28Not some buildings.
03:29Real defence.
03:30But that is even not enough for the outside of European border, so eastern flank.
03:35We're defending all Europe, not just Latvia.
03:37So, this is a matter which has to be whole Europe's matter for the defence.
03:42And this is an important point where we all have to be united.
03:45And, Prime Minister, when it comes to supporting Ukraine, obviously squeezing Moscow's war chest is very important.
03:52Yet, we have now Greece blocking the latest package of EU sanctions against Russia as it seeks an exemption from
04:01the ban on Russian LNG.
04:03Does that frustrate you?
04:06Well, I've been quite vocal about it also in my speeches in our closed loop as well of the leaders.
04:14We have to understand, what is the purpose of the sanctions?
04:18Why are we doing that?
04:20Why are we supporting Ukraine?
04:21This is number one question prior to anything else.
04:24Do we want Ukraine to win?
04:26Do we want to support Ukraine so that the bully gets its peace?
04:31Or what do we want?
04:32Or we want to earn money?
04:34So, there's a choice.
04:36It's not both.
04:37So, the sanctions have to be implemented.
04:40But, above all, the best sanctions that work today are the long-range Ukrainian sanctions deep into Russian heart,
04:49which is gas infrastructure, petrol station infrastructure.
04:53That is the biggest pride what Russia has.
04:56That's their only asset, is selling gas.
04:58Now, the pump versus Putin's propaganda is working because the pump is winning.
05:05The pump where people cannot put their gas into their cars.
05:09That is the deepest sanction and the deepest signal to the whole society.
05:14The latest sanctions package was also meant to include a full EU entry ban on Russian soldiers.
05:21Are you disappointed that this has been watered down in these negotiations?
05:26I am.
05:27I am.
05:28Because, well, first of all, this is sanction package 21.
05:32We should have done it in the first year, not in the fifth year.
05:36We're waiting.
05:37We're doing all that.
05:39Let's see how it works.
05:41No.
05:42If we want to win, we have to give it.
05:44Where was it?
05:44Remember, what happened in the first year?
05:47We said, oh, no, don't shoot over the border.
05:49It's going to cause a chaos.
05:51It's going to cause...
05:51What happened?
05:53Nothing much has happened.
05:55But the escalation with so many Ukrainians had to die just because we did not take the decision timely enough.
06:02So I think it's all in all our interests just to finally unite, push it through, and give the Ukrainians
06:10the momentum to use the momentum what they have now.
06:12Okay.
06:13Prime Minister Andres Kulbergs, that's all we have time for, I'm afraid.
06:16But thank you so much for joining us, and we hope to see you again soon on Europe Today.
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