RIGA (Sputnik) – After approval by the cabinet, the Latvian parliament is due to debate the new concept and to adopt it before October 1.
"Today, May 24, the Cabinet approved the draft ‘national defense concept’ developed by the Ministry of Defense, which provides for national measures to ensure the protection of peace, national threat and during wartime," the statement read.
It argued that the concept was "significantly influenced by changes in the regional security environment, leading to an increased threat to Latvia."
Latvia’s national defense concept envisions allocating 1.7 percent of its GDP in the defense budget by 2017. The following year, Riga hopes to comply with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) demand to spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense.
Latvia has been a member of NATO since 2004.
