Latvia

As of January 2006 Latvia had around 250 troops deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq (EIU 2006x, 15). The main reason why Latvia does not participate with troops in UN peace operations is because its foreign policy is focused more towards the EU. Latvia participates in non-UN peace operations in Afghanistan and Latvian military spokesman, Normunds Stafeckis, announced that 15 soldiers left for Afghanistan in 2006 to help its reconstruction (XNA 2006b, 1). The sappers and management personnel would work in north Afghanistan under the command of the NATO-led ISAF (Ibid.).

Initial variables of the data collection process:

UN/UN peacekeeping policy reform
No record.

Perception of peacekeeping
The fact that Latvia participates in NATO peace operations implies that it is part of its EU-centered foreign policy.

Domestic political environment
Relations with Russia improved ahead of the NATO summit to be held in Riga on November 28-29, 2006 (EIU 2006bu, 2).

However, the border treaty between the two countries remains unsigned, and Russia continues to withhold crude oil supplies from the pipeline to the Ventspils oil terminal. A resumption of supplies appears unlikely after the Netherlands-based Vitol Group bought most of the state’s 38.62% stake in Ventspils Nafta, the company that operates the pipeline, in October. Relations are likely to continue to be bedeviled by tensions relating to energy issues, unresolved historical questions and the status of Latvia’s large ethnic Russian minority. (Ibid.)

Even if political rhetoric remains confrontational at times, Latvia’s membership of the EU and NATO will shield it from excessive Russian pressure, and economic ties between Russia and Latvia, including trade and investment, will continue to strengthen (Ibid.).

Domestic economic environment
Like its Baltic neighbors, in the 10 years since independence Latvia has made a rapid transformation to embrace the free market (BBC 2006ab, par. 1).

Military affairs
Latvia’s armed forces are small and a major effort is required in order to achieve the goal of a modern, well-trained, rapid reaction force (EIU 2006x, 15). In 2004 the Latvian defence forces consisted of 5,200 men and women in active service and 11,200 reserves (Ibid.). Latvia’s road to NATO has not been easy.

Owing to sporadic and piecemeal development throughout the 1990s, the Latvian armed forces have been beset by organizational, leadership, financial and disciplinary problems. Moreover, most of the 2,000 young men recruited each year were poorly educated and poorly motivated. The country is due to switch to a fully professional army in 2007, and the government has pledged to raise gradually the defence allocation to 2% of Latvia’s GDP, in line with the requirements of NATO membership. (Ibid.)

Latvia’s military profile has increased significantly in recent years, as shown by the participation of Latvian soldiers, sailors and aviators in Baltic and international maneuvers and peacekeeping operations (Ibid., 16). As of January 2006, Latvia had around 250 troops deployed in BiH, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq (Ibid.).

Foreign policy
Latvia’s post-independence foreign policy was initially designed to achieve integration into Western structures, particularly the EU and NATO (Ibid., 14).

Formal relations with NATO began when the North Atlantic Co-operation Council was established on December 20, 1991, and ties were further cemented when NATO set up the…PfP program in 1998, which was supplemented with the US-Baltic Charter. Despite being left out of the first round of NATO’s eastward enlargement in March 1999, the Baltic states persisted in their bid to join the alliance. Together with its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Lithuania, and four other former communist states, Latvia was invited to join NATO at the alliance’s summit in Prague in November 2002. It then made rapid progress in completing the negotiating chapters of the acquis communautaire [the body of EU law], and in 2002 was accepted, along with nine other applicants, for EU membership in May 2004. (Ibid.)

Public support for membership was confirmed in a referendum in September 2003, when 67% of participants voted in favor of joining the EU (Ibid., 14). Since joining the EU on May 1, 2004, Latvia has continued to focus on further economic and infrastructural integration with the rest of the union (Ibid.).

Additional variables found after the preliminary analysis:

Climate changes
No record.

Independent negotiations taken by DPKO to seek troops
No record.

Independent negotiations taken by contributor countries to engage non-contributor countries
A new Baltic naval force (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) was established to focus on mines and peacekeeping (Defence News 1996, par. 1). This explains another tendency about countries starting to specialize about specific technical issues on peace operations.

Meetings organized by other international organizations to engage in dialogue about peacekeeping
Latvian military spokesman Normunds Stafeckis announced in 2006 15 soldiers have left for Afghanistan to help its reconstruction (XNA 2006b, par. 1). The sappers and management personnel will work in north Afghanistan under the command of the ISAF (Ibid.).

A group of 120 soldiers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who make up the new Baltic peacekeeping battalion, are receiving training in basic military issues from 14 Royal Marines and in English from British Council tutors (Bellamy 1995, 12). This will bring them up to the standards which are required to join NATO operations (Ibid.). On completion of the course, the battalion will probably be split into three separate companies and used in UN peacekeeping work (Ibid.). Nevertheless, no record was found on DPKO public documents with regards to Latvia’s contributions.

During an extraordinary session on January 20, 2003, the cabinet approved a proposal to send eight Latvians to Afghanistan as part of a Dutch military contingent (IPR 2003, par. 1). Latvia is ready to send two volunteer teams—including one physician, two paramedics, and a driver—for a term of six months at an estimated cost of 260,000 lats ($450.000), which would be covered from the Defence Ministry budget (Ibid.). This would be Latvia’s first direct support for peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan (Ibid.).