What, I think, worries many people in Latvia is whether, taking into account the profile of the newly elected President of the United States of America (USA) Donald Trump as a leader and his resulting insights into the order of things in the world, the possibilities of Latvia as a small country will not be narrowed not only to influence internationally, but to influence at least in relation to the security situation in our region. And the first test here will be the solution that he will eventually put on the table regarding the war in Ukraine. Because for almost three years we have rightly said that long-term security in Europe will depend on how the war in Ukraine ends. Now negotiations are coming to the fore, if not for every price, then for a high compromise price.
You see, I once spent several years as an ambassador in America, and this question has traditionally been on the agenda of almost all countries – where on the US “radar screen” their region is located. And all the time, even 20 years ago, when I worked there, I had to work hard to maintain my agenda, my issue and my profile in Washington and not only in Washington. Both in the president’s office and in his closest associates, the National Security Council, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Finance Department, both chambers of Congress – it is hard work every day to make your country’s voice heard there. So it’s one thing where you just have to keep working, there’s no two ways about it. Of course, you should be aware that the USA, which has interests in all regions of the world, this fight for attention to your region is not easy.
What I think could be one of the elements that could also motivate the Trump administration to be active specifically in European or transatlantic security issues is the circumstance, that small element of Russian aggression against Ukraine, involving North Korean soldiers, involving a country that comes from the Pacific of the ocean region, and thus actually taking this conflict outside the continent of Europe. This confirms that these military theaters, the Pacific theater, which may be of primary interest to the Americans due to growing Chinese ambitions in the region, are actually closely linked to the Atlantic region as well. What happens here will affect the situation there; what will happen there will affect the situation here. To a large extent, this is a view that is very well understood and expressed by NATO’s closest allies in the Indo-Pacific region – South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. So, in my opinion, this is also another thing that will strengthen the confidence of the new Trump administration that this security here on both coasts of America is really connected and equally important.
Respectively, by involving North Korean soldiers in the war in Ukraine, Russia actually does not allow someone to trivialize this as some kind of local conflict, where two Slavic peoples are arguing about the lands, but the Baltics and the Poles are panicking as always.
Yes, yes!
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