On Tuesday, the 28th of January, Latvian government approved the provision of another EUR 200 million towards the country’s anti-air defence system.
The Latvian government has approved the allocation of EUR 200 million from the budget programme “Funding for measures to strengthen national security” toward the “Maintenance of National Armed Forces” budget programme of the Ministry of Defence.
It has already been reported that from 2023 to 2027, Latvia has committed to invest an additional EUR 200 million annually in strengthening air defence capabilities, investing one billion euros in this area in five years, thus “increasing the country’s defence capabilities, maintaining the Euro-Atlantic course of foreign policy and strengthening Latvia’s security in the changing geopolitical situation”.
The first such budget provision was made in December 2023. The second was in February 2024.
On the 30th of November, 2023, the Ministry of Defence signed a supply contract with the German company Diehl Defence for the purchase of the IRIS-T medium-activity air defence system.