President: Latvia may increase defence spending

Latvian President Egils Levits has said that Latvia may increase defence spending as the planned 2.5 per cent may be insufficient.

"Safety is a priority of our policy today. Some 2.5 per cent of GDP has already been allocated, however, this may be insufficient, and we should be ready for this," Reuters reports citing President Levits, according to TASS.

Moreover, the president proposed to call all citizens of the country, including women, for military service.

"I think that we should have equality in this issue. I support the idea [of introducing military service] for all Latvian citizens of a certain age, regardless of gender," he added.