00:00As Russia continues its war against Ukraine, concern is growing among the Baltic states.
00:06For more, our Angelis Kujan sat down exclusively with Latvia's Prime Minister, Andres Kulbergs,
00:11and started by asking him whether he expects Russia to step up threats against Latvia, and if so, when.
00:18I think the one who prepares for the worst has peace, and that's how you have to be.
00:23There cannot be any weakest link. We all have to remain strong, this EU's outside border towards the aggressor.
00:31It's the eastern flank, and nobody can be weak. We all have to be united in this.
00:37So, I just came back from Kiev and met Zelensky, the new Prime Minister there,
00:44and I've seen a lot in the kitchen, how war is made, and what's today on the table.
00:51And I can tell you that Russia is burning more men on the battlefield than they can recruit.
01:00So, the resources they put in, there is no output, there is no political win, there is no war win.
01:08But we don't, and I don't see today a potential capability of Russia having a second front line.
01:17I know that the Baltic nations in particular are spending a lot of their GDP on defense,
01:23but Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are often referred to as chihuahuas.
01:27The inference here is the bark is more powerful than the bite. What do you make of that assessment?
01:33We were right, weren't we? Weren't we?
01:36We told everyone this is going to happen.
01:39We know in and out what the bear eats, what it thinks, how it functions.
01:46We knew, we've been 50 years occupied.
01:48We know the tricks.
01:50We know that bully is always showing the muscle, and there's only one way, by force you can only deter
01:56it.
01:56But does that phrase not make you feel like some EU member states don't support the Baltics when it comes
02:02to Russian aggression?
02:03The meetings I've been having now last, I mean, four months now, a lot of them, eight in particular,
02:10I must say that there is a clear understanding.
02:13The commitment is not there behind, because the politicians understand the societies are still behind of understanding the threat.
02:22So it takes time, and it takes, unfortunately, things to happen, to shake up, to understand that Europe cannot live
02:32in an ideal world that World War II was somewhere in the past.
02:36We also saw a regional election in Germany, which resulted in the far-right Alternative for Germany party, a pro
02:43-Russian party doing extremely well.
02:47How do you plan on avoiding this at the ballot box when the election occurs in Latvia?
02:51Simple.
02:52People, societies, are fed up with political blah, blah, blah.
02:59People need straight language.
03:02They need to hear the truth.
03:05They need to hear the certainty.
03:07They explain things simply, not cover up uncomfortable news.
03:13People understand.
03:15People will understand much better.
03:17And that's the problem.
03:18The connection is lost between politicians and the society.
03:22And the populistic parties not only are growing.
03:29Why?
03:31Because previously, the social media, they can explain things more clearly with statements.
03:37But doesn't that mean that the centre is failing, though, if more people are turning to the right or, in
03:42some places, the far left?
03:43I think it's because the policies we've been in Europe has not made great policies, if we compare where we
03:52are now.
03:52Energy sector, as an example.
03:55Industries have been outsourced way too much outside to China, I mean, as an example.
04:02We should have a strong economy.
04:04That's what I'm saying.
04:05People, when the economy is weak and we need to invest with the weak economy into defence, that's not a
04:12great position to be at.
04:14Strong economy can bring strong defence.
04:17And that's an area where the vulnerability happens.
04:20The Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, has come out and said that he needs an extra 23 billion euros to prop
04:26up his budget to address a funding gap.
04:28How far does Latvia's financial support for Ukraine go?
04:32Is it bottomless or does it end at some point?
04:36You touched on a very important subject.
04:39Do you know why it's gone up?
04:41Ukraine is attacked by ballistic missiles.
04:45And the missiles are being produced in Russia way more than before.
04:49What does it have inside?
04:51Western components.
04:53We're still supplying Russia in order for them to build missiles to attack Ukraine.
04:59And then we're helping Ukraine with more money in order to fight back.
05:04Maybe in the first time, first place, we should stop or put a full ban of those Western technological components
05:13be in the missile.
05:15Russia will not be capable of building it.
05:17Is that something that you would suggest?
05:18I was very open with that.
05:19I was very open on the meetings.
05:21I say, what is the purpose of sanctions?
05:24Let's put, do we want Ukraine to prevail, to win?
05:28We want to stop the war or we just want to put sanctions just because they sound well?
05:33No, we have to put the sanctions in and really execute them.
05:37And obviously that wasn't executed.
05:39There shouldn't be cutting corners.
05:41We shouldn't make exclusions.
05:43But what was the EU member states, what was their defense for this to not be implemented?
05:48Because there's still interests, because societies are still not understanding the reality of the threat.
05:55We should prepare for the wars.
05:57And that's how you have peace.
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