While membership in NATO and the European Union provides “the best security guarantees in the world,” Riga still needs to take “real measures” to counter the threat from Russia, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said at the Davos Ukrainian Breakfast on Jan. 18.

European countries should be prepared for hybrid warfare, Rinkēvičs warned participants, highlighting how the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has employed such methods against Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.

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“But our first line of defense is Ukraine. Rinkēvičs said, noting that Latvia’s defense industry should strengthen its capabilities to help Kyiv.

“We should be more grateful to the Ukrainians, who are now fighting against Russia” on the world’s behalf.

Rinkēvičs also called for the strengthening of Latvia’s defense industry, introducing conscription, and increasing defense spending, which is expected to rise to 3% of GDP by 2027.

“Unfortunately, we are always one or two steps behind Putin,” Rinkēvičs said.

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“He finds ways to attack us and we find ways to repel those attacks. But we have to be more creative and understand that they are invading without any rules.”

Rinkēvičs added that he sometimes has to convince his NATO colleagues that the alliance could face even more greater challenges in the future, so constant preparedness is necessary.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, British Foreign Minister David Cameron, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and several other important figures are hosting the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 18.

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