According to the Latvian president, being a member of the EU provided member states with “economic opportunities,
opportunities for young people to study, an opportunity for all of us to easily resolve any hassle on the border through the Schengen area. These are very clearly great marks.”
“Since we joined the European Union, I would say that all of the European Union has changed fundamentally,” the Latvian head of state said, highlighting the EU’s recent shift towards enhancing its security capacity, calling it a “revolution”.
He also addressed the prospect of Ukraine’s potential accession to the EU community. However, he underscored the rigorous nature of the negotiations, stating that “there will be a very tough process of negotiations,” and emphasized that “at the end of the day, it is a decision of all 27 EU member states and their parliaments.”
“I don’t think that Latvia will be the biggest challenger, but I think that there are going to be a lot of issues at this process,” the Latvian head of state added.
He concluded that
the European Union should increase its defense capabilities as even the United States is “expecting that Europe is going to do more for its own security.”
“And frankly, this is a legitimate demand,” the President assessed.
Following the interview, the president expressed gratitude to Sascha Fahrbach of TVP World for hosting the insightful discussion.
