Latvia unveils timeline for construction of Baltic defense line on Russian border

The head of the defense department acknowledges that the costs of strengthening the NATO and Russia border will be significant, but the exact amount is not disclosed.

It is noted that preliminary calculations of the construction cost of the defense line have been made, but they are yet to be finalized. In any case, this information will not be made public.

The government must decide how to balance these expenses with other priorities of the state, emphasized the minister. At the same time, Spruds has reminded that security is one of the major priorities.

Additional comments from the defense minister

"Of course, the financial resource here is not insignificant, as there are other important sectors. We are talking about significant sums. The plan extends for several years, where specific measures on how we will implement this plan are precisely defined. In general, we are talking about the coming decade, during which construction and reinforcement will take place," explains the minister.

The agreement between the Baltic countries does not imply that all states will start or finish the construction of the defense line absolutely synchronously and on the same day. For effective deterrence of the enemy, it is necessary to mutually coordinate actions with Lithuania and Estonia.

Background

Recently, the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania approved the creation of a joint Baltic defense zone on the border with Russia and Belarus.

"The Baltic defense zone is a carefully considered project, necessitated by the security situation. Russia's war in Ukraine has shown that, in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, we also need physical defense structures at the border to protect Estonia from the very first meter," said the Minister of Defense of Estonia, Hanno Pevkur, at that time.