The meeting of the National Security Council convened by President Edgars Rinkēvičs was closed and lasted about one and a half hours.
Ainars Latkovskis (New Unity), Chairman of the Saeima National Security Committee, said that "the issue has been discussed in detail since the moment the drone flew into the territory of Latvia, including further actions".
He stressed that "one thing is clear: the air defense equipment that we have ordered or where tenders will be held is vital".
"We have to recognize that we have a lack of capacity on the border, we are filling it gradually, but because of the war in Ukraine there are queues for the same air defense equipment, its production. At the political level, we are also doing everything to inform our partners where these manufacturers are located - that is Germany, the United States - and to ask them to put us higher in the priority order, because we are after all a NATO border country, we are bordering an aggressive country.
"Well, those countries that [..] are in Western Europe should not be above us in purchasing this equipment. This is where the weakness comes in, that we still lack certain capabilities close to the border."
The meeting agreed that the National Armed Forces (NBS) will accelerate the development of its future military capabilities, as well as the deployment of additional air defense systems to strengthen the defense of NATO's Eastern border.
The Council decided that the Latvian side would raise at the next North Atlantic Council meeting and in discussions with allies the need to accelerate the implementation of NATO's advanced air defense system and the rotational presence of capabilities on NATO's Eastern flank in line with the decisions taken at NATO summits.
Prime Minister Siliņa also said after the meeting that Latvia's ability to identify drones that have entered Latvian territory is limited. She stressed that such incidents should be taken seriously. She added that the NBS had acted in accordance with the established procedures.
Asked how she assessed the communication of the responsible authorities with the public, the Prime Minister noted that "such situations are not easy in any case":
"We see that in our neighbouring countries from time to time there is information that such drones are flying into their territories. Situations differ from one another. I think our NBS has also acted in accordance with our procedures this time.
"Well, communication - I trust both our NBS and our Minister for Defense. I understand from their data that they had first done everything possible to neutralize the drone and then, of course, communication came out. I think that they acted in accordance with the risk assessment method - first do everything possible to ensure that there is no risk to life, then communicate."
