German Foreign Minister Baerbock begins Baltic tour with promise of stronger support.
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Loading... - Aabir Fathi
- 20 Apr 2022
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Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock pledged greater support for the three Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — at the start of her three-day trip on Wednesday.
"If necessary, we will defend every square centimeter of territory of our joint alliance," Baerbock said in a statement seen by DW. The three Baltic states are all members of both the EU and NATO.
"The Bundeswehr has already taken on a leading role among NATO's presence in Lithuania," she added. "We are ready to play a bigger role in the security of our partners."
Baerbock is set to meet with the leaders of the three countries in their respective capitals. The focus of the talks will be the "reaction from the EU, NATO and the international community to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine," a statement from the German Foreign Ministry said.
Germany open to sending armored vehicles to Ukraine
The German foreign minister held a joint press conference with her Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics following her first set of talks.
She said that the weapons and Germany "delivered anti-tank Stinger [missiles] and other things that we didn't talk about in public so that the deliveries could be carried out quickly and securely."
She added that the German government is not against sending armored vehicles, and has already signed off on the option, but currently does not have the capacity to send equipment. However, Baerbock said Germany was taking a long-term perspective on assisting Ukraine with military defense.
"It is about the next three months, and the next three years. This is where Germany can contribute more," she said.
Baerbock also made it clear that German government sending arms to Ukraine does not make Germany a party to the war.
Germany has previously been criticized for not sending heavy weapons to Ukraine.
What else did Baerbock say in Riga?
Baerbock referred to similar dependence both Germany and Latvia have on Russian gas, saying that the two partners discussed a "similar timely route" to reduce consumption of Russian gas.
She went on to promise the three Baltic states, as NATO members, that they can "100% rely on Germany."
The German foreign minister also stressed the desire to learn from Latvia's media offering of media for Russian speakers. "We have been working together with NGOs for years and media outlets to take the ground from under Russian propaganda channels," she said.
She called for "strong, independent media and a critical audience" to counter propaganda from the Kremlin. Read More...
