Latvian authorities follow development of the situation and the investigation of the incident that occurred in Poland, said Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš after an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
After the meeting the PM said he has two things to say – the situation in Latvia has not changed after the incident in Poland and that Latvian authorities carefully follow development of the situation and the investigation.
All of our [Latvian] services, our government are prepared to act, said Kariņš. He reminded that Latvia is prepared to provide «any kinds of assistance» Poland may require.
When asked if Minister of Defence Artis Pabriks didn’t make any hasty conclusions when he made his statement even though no facts were known at the time, Kariņš said it is important to keep in mind that on Tuesday, 15 November, Russia fired over 90 missiles on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
«It is brutal aggression. In such a situation, when an explosion takes place in a neighbouring country, certain uncertainties surface from the fog of war, forcing each of us to react quickly or slowly,» said Kariņš.
At the same time, the PM stressed that right now it is vital to determine what happened. He also reminded that the security situation in Latvia remains unchanged and the country’s services and the government are prepared to react.
«Eyes are open and we offer full support to Poland and Ukraine, but at the moment the cause and how the situation will be resolved is unknown. Latvia’s government is fully composed and capable of taking action. We have the right to make all kinds of decisions. We would benefit from a quick composition of a new government, but the current state of affairs does not impede the current government from taking action,» said the PM.
Minister of Defence Artis Pabriks said in his statement that the situation in Latvia has not changed since the incident in Poland. «Latvian residents can feel safe even after this incident,» he said.
The minister also wrote on his Twitter page that «there would be no tragedies like this if Russia hadn’t attacked Ukraine in the first place.» He also stressed that the western world needs to find a way to stop missiles from hitting any country.
There would be no tragedies like this if Russia hadn’t attacked Ukraine in the first place. If this was a deliberate attack, there must be a measured response – not one provoking further attacks by our weakness. We need to find a way to stop missiles from falling on any country.
— Artis Pabriks (@Pabriks) November 15, 2022
On the evening of the 15th of November, a rocket struck a grain facility in the village near Poland’s border with Ukraine. It comes when Russia is committing the heaviest attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure since the beginning of the war in February. Reportedly there are two casualties. As suggested by an anonymous local, the victims are two men who worked at the facility.
Joe Biden called a meeting of leaders gathered in Bali, for a G20 summit to discuss the incident. Leaders from NATO members Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, and Britain attended, as well as non-NATO member Japan and representatives from the European Union. After the meeting Biden told that investigation is ongoing and he can’t confirm any information, but it looks like the rocket wasn’t from Russia.
More on this topic: US: Missile that struck Poland probably is not from Russia