Other events in Baltic States

Russia has extended an invitation to Latvia to observe its military exercise Zapad this fall, Latvian Television reported on August 14^th, informs LETA.

The Latvian defense attache in Moscow received the invitation.

Defense Ministry state secretary Janis Garisons said that Latvia would accept the invitation and would participate in observing the drills, which are held jointly by Russian and Belarusian forces.

For Latvian representatives to participate in the observation of the Zapad 2017 exercise Latvia had to receive an invitation also from Russia as the invitation from Belarus would not be enough, Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis (Greens/Farmers) said on Latvian Television this morning.

Kucinskis noted that Latvia and NATO would be keeping an eye on the exercise but that it definitely is not an extraordinary event as siminal maneuvers are held in other countries as well.

Asked when Latvia might receive the invitation from Russia, Kucinskis voiced hope that this would happen soon as the invitation from Belarus has already arrived.

As reported, the Latvian Defense Ministry last week received an invitation from Belarus to send two military observers to Zapad, a military exercise to be held jointly by Russia and Belarus in September this year.

The invitation to Latvia was extended based on the Vienna Document, which is an agreement between the participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) about confidence and security building measures, including an annual exchange of military information about forces located in Europe, prior notification of certain military activities and their observation, inspection and evaluation visits etc.

The large-scale Belarusian-Russian exercise Zapad 2017 has triggered alarm in the neighboring NATO members.