LATVIA TO PULL OUT OF NRF-14

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIGA 000331 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2019 TAGS: MOPS PREL PGOV EFIN NATO LG SUBJECT: LATVIA TO PULL OUT OF NRF-14 REF: A) RIGA 55 B) RIGA 248 C) RIGA 318 D) RIGA 326 E) RIGA 182 Classified By: Charge Bruce D. Rogers. Reason: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (U) Latvia will not be able to meet its commitment to participate in NRF-14 as part of the Baltic Battalion due to its budgetary situation, Latvian CHOD MG Juris Maklakovs announced on June 11. Maklakovs said he was "embarrassed" to have go to NATO and say that Latvia could not fulfill its commitments. Maklakovs and others reaffirmed that Latvia will remain committed to the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. ¶2. (C) Finance Minister Repse placed heavy pressure for reductions in Afghanistan to save money, but Defense Minister Liegis resisted. Liegis instead agreed to the NRF reduction, feeling he had little choice, the minister explained to the Charge June 12. Liegis has to call his Lithuanian and Estonian counterparts to explain the decision. He too said he was "embarrassed" to make those calls. ¶3. (C) Comment: Although the Latvians had originally hoped to preserve the NRF mission, they had been previewing for us that this might be a possibility if further budget cuts were needed as the economy worsened (refs a and b). With the government seeking to cut roughly a billion dollars additionally from the deficit, and with reductions in pensions and social services, the defense budget was not off limits (refs c and d). While disappointing, we need to remain focused on supporting Latvian efforts in Afghanistan (ref e). ROGERS