Latvia’s air defence vulnerabilities send signal to East, says NATO official

Recent drone-related incidents in Latvia, along with the resignation of Defence Minister Andris Sprūds, may be interpreted as a signal of vulnerability to the East, according to Janis Sārts, Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.

Sārts said that drones detected over Latvian territory are most likely redirected Ukrainian UAVs, but stressed that the situation still does not send a strong message of national resilience, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

He noted that countering drones remains a shared challenge across NATO members, with no country currently possessing a fully effective system capable of protecting entire borders. As a partial exception, he pointed to Poland, where some drones have been successfully intercepted, although they still managed to penetrate deep into national territory.

There is no such thing as 100% protection against drones, Sārts added.

Commenting on Latvia’s ambitions in the unmanned systems sector, he said the country aims to become a “drone power,” but is still at an early stage of development. While acknowledging local manufacturers producing high-quality systems, Sārts described Ukraine as the current global leader in the field.

By Jeyhun Aghazada