RIGA, June 25 (LETA) - Local governments must develop response protocols and ensure alternative channels of communication, without relying solely on cell phones, emphasized President Edgars Rinkevics on Thursday following a meeting of the Military Council and a meeting of the council with the heads of municipalities in the eastern border region.

The president acknowledged that the level of challenges and the intensity of cooperation - both with state institutions and among themselves - vary from one municipality to another.

Rinkevics noted that municipalities need alternative communication channels, such as those based on municipal police communication systems or other solutions. In his view, municipalities must also be able to communicate with one another, using portable radio sets.

He cited as an example a situation where a bus from one municipality carrying children is located in the territory of another municipality where an air raid alert has been declared. The president explained that in such a case, both a response protocol and the ability to communicate and resolve practical issues are necessary.

Speaking about the lack of a system for exchanging classified information in the country, Rinkevics emphasized that this is the next step - the current priority is action protocols, information sharing among local governments, cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior on civil protection and shelter issues, as well as, where necessary, cooperation with the Ministry of Defense.

The president said that since the beginning of the year, local government leaders have had access to state secrets, and this was the first comprehensive discussion in which they were briefed in detail on the National Armed Forces’ assessment of the security situation and the capabilities of the armed forces.

Rinkevics sees a need to also involve the administration of the Ministry of the Interior and the State Fire and Rescue Service in such discussions in the future. According to him, approximately 40 percent or even half of the questions posed by local government leaders were related to civil protection and the alert system.

Some local government leaders raised the issue of shelters, drawing attention to the lengthy bureaucratic procedures that must be followed to set them up. Rinkevics also concluded that the level of cooperation among municipalities - both with state institutions and with other municipalities - varies.

At the Military Council meeting, participants discussed current developments regarding the National Armed Forces and the need to refine the armed forces’ development plans, taking into account the issues identified at the national border and air defense needs.

The meeting also addressed how to implement the agreement signed between Latvia and Ukraine on comprehensive cooperation in the field of defense and how to strengthen defense capabilities as quickly as possible, in an effort to avoid drone incidents like those experienced this past spring.

Rinkevics emphasized that such incidents cannot be completely ruled out, as the deployment of anti-drone and air defense systems takes time. According to the president, the administration of the Ministry of Defense and the National Armed Forces is working to make air defense and ground-based counter-mobility measures as flexible and effective as possible, but this takes time.

He emphasized that in some cases, contracts for the purchase of the necessary equipment have been signed, but deliveries are delayed because defense industry companies in many countries are operating at full capacity. The president noted that aides to the NATO Secretary General are visiting Latvia to assess and clarify Latvia’s needs, as well as to evaluate the necessity of refining NATO and the National Armed Forces’ development plans.

The Military Council meeting was followed by a meeting with representatives of municipalities along the eastern border, as well as the heads of the Smiltene, Valmiera, Gulbene, and Madona municipalities. As the president explained, representatives of these municipalities were invited because the respective counties have been or are currently affected by various air raid alerts or have significant responsibilities in the context of national defense.