Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa has given the Ministry of Transport until the 5th of February to assess existing action algorithms and present possible improvements, as well as perform a full assessment of responsibility of officials in regards to the recent drone incident at Riga International Airport.
The ministry will need to assess whether or not the airport could have acted differently and what measures authorities should take to prevent such situations from repeating in the future. The ministry is expected to present proposals to help fix this situation now and come up with long-term solutions.
The PM also ordered the Ministry of Transport to work with the Ministry of Defence, which, according to the prime minister, has acquired an anti-air defence system and is currently working on a new sensor system to identify drones. “I believe that all systems installed by state in Latvia should be compatible with each other, so cooperation involving the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Interior should be developed from the point of view of air defence, object identification and striking capabilities,” Siliņa said.
The head of the government told journalists on Monday that she expects officials to present “actions appropriate to the existing geopolitical situation”.
“We cannot wait for Europe – we are the first to be affected by various threats. We are the ones who live under hybrid threats.
We have to be prepared to react to all involved sides, including agencies under the Ministry of Transport,” said Siliņa.
The Prime Minister met with representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of the Interior, state security institutions, as well as the aviation industry in a closed meeting on Monday morning to discuss the drone incident at Riga Airport in mid-January and how to further improve cooperation and operational action in such cases.
Siliņa said Latvia has been living in a tense geopolitical situation for three years. This is why she wanted to find out if all relevant institutions, especially Riga International Airport, Latvian Air Traffic, Civil Aviation Agency (CAA), have a clear plan of action. The PM said it is clear Latvia needs to be able to respond much faster and “be on top of things” going forward.
As previously reported, on the 13th of January, short-term restrictions were imposed in Latvian air space three times. All of them were related to drones illegally flying within the territory of Riga International Airport.