Democracy and defence in Latvia: thirteen years of development, 1991-2004

Abstract:

Latvia's accession to NATO in April 2004 represents the successful culmination of a thirteen year process of defence transformation. New Latvian armed forces and a defence ministry have been created, a constitutional and legal framework for democratic civil-military relations has been established, and military-society relations have been transformed. Problems do remain in Latvian defence reform. The resources available for the continued development of the armed forces are constrained while Latvia faces continued tensions between providing, training and funding forces for participation in multinational missions and the need to maintain and develop its own national defence capabilities. Nevertheless, given the base from which it started, Latvian progress in defence reform has been remarkable.