Defence Minister at NATO’s Resilience Symposium: resilience against threats first develops in people’s minds and then comes the action

On Wednesday, 26 April, Defence Minister Ināra Mūrniece opened the NATO Resilience Symposium ‘Resilience in the age of disruption’, which gathered more 250 NATO member state and partner country civilian and military sector leaders, policy makers and experts in Riga. 

In her address to the participants of the Symposium, Minister Mūrniece stressed that national and collective resilience against threats is one of the cornerstones of military defence. ‘It is critically important to understand that resilience against various threats, in current security environment, depends on society’s collective and our individual responsibility for NATO’s deterrence and defence posture,’ Ināra Mūrniece said.

‘Societal resilience against diverse threats first develops in people’s minds and hearts. Only then comes the action, the response. Ukraine’s armed forces and people have demonstrated the importance of psychological resilience, confidence  in one’s own abilities and commitment to the common objective of defending your country. We can only learn from Ukraine in this regard, and continue to work on more robust national and collective resilience. Undoubtedly, modern weapons also contribute to greater resilience against threats. However, the main and decisive factor is and will always be people’s resolve and readiness to defend their country,’ Minister Mūrniece emphasised.

One of Latvia’s priorities is building of comprehensive national defence. It should promote the overall resilience of the society against various crises and threats, including military threats. ‘Introduction of comprehensive national defence in Latvia will require us to develop a number of elements, including acquisition of modern weapon systems, enhanced preparedness of the whole society. In response to emerging security threats, the first recruits of national defence service will start their active duty in July. We are fully aware that our ability to manage various crises and threats largely depends on our people’s readiness and willingness to contribute. That is why Latvia will continue to strengthen our people’s psychological resilience and readiness to defend Latvia against all potential threats,’ Ināra Mūrniece underlined.

As reported earlier, Riga hosted NATO Resilience Symposium ‘Resilience in the age of disruption’ from 25th to 27th of April. It is an event co-organised by NATO Headquarters and NATO Allied Command Transformation.

Participants of the Symposium discussed various topics related to resilience agenda to enhance the overall understanding and arrive quicker at suitable arrangements addressing the existing vulnerabilities, as well as be better prepared to face strategic turbulences and disruptions, i.e., overcome, respond and recover. 

Contact information
Roberts Skraučs
Head of the Media Relations Section
Military Public Affairs Department
Tel.: 67335393
E-mail: roberts.skraucs@mod.gov.lv