The defense sector budget for next year has been structured in such a way that funds are directed towards rapidly increasing the combat readiness of all army units and increasing personnel numbers, reported the Commander of the National Armed Forces (NAF) of Latvia, Kaspars Pudans, at the Saeima commission.
The commission reviewed the budget in both open and closed parts of the meeting on Tuesday. Next year, 4.91% of the gross domestic product (GDP), or 2,157,907,137 euros, will be allocated for defense.
During the open part of the meeting, Pudans stated that the budget is based on priorities that meet operational needs and on threat scenarios that can be anticipated in the coming years.
At the same time, the budget includes those needs that are necessary to achieve NATO's capability-building goals and are defined for all member states of the alliance. "To be honest, if we wanted to achieve all the goals at once over the next three years, this budget would not be sufficient. Our country simply would not be able to fulfill it. The priorities have been carefully selected, and the plans are based on specific capabilities," said the commander.
At the same time, Pudans noted that currently, almost all European countries are strengthening their armed forces, so the demand for identical needs is quite high.
As reported by bb.lv, a few days ago, Pudans stated that "Russia could attack as early as this evening."
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