He explained that Latvia has lived in the constant shadow of the Russian threat since the restoration of independence. Its bloody and dictatorial regime has always been the greatest threat both to Latvian statehood and to society as a whole.

As the State Secretary admitted, in order to understand how to most effectively face potential Russian aggression, the National Armed Forces have, since regaining independence, carefully analysed lessons from every conflict in which Russia has been involved.

“We know perfectly well how Russia makes war. We have studied this issue to the bone,” said A. Rikveilis.

The expert emphasised that in order to subjugate its opponent, Russia will make maximum use of psychological warfare, deploying operations at various levels to break the opponent's will to resist and instill the thought that any resistance is futile.

Expressions of such operations are already visible on social media, where anonymous users and those openly sympathetic to Russia cite the numerical superiority of the Russian armed forces as one of their main arguments, thus attempting to prove that the outcome of a conflict will be decided before it even begins.

The dissemination of these and similar narratives is in the direct interests of the Kremlin, intended to break the victim's consciousness, intimidate them, and force them to surrender even before a fight. However, Russia's recent military adventure in Ukraine proved that a country that is smaller both geographically and in terms of population, but democratically governed, can effectively resist an aggressor.

Secondly, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence reminded that Latvia is a NATO member state and, in the event of a potential conflict with Russia, in addition to the support of allied forces, the alliance's reinforcement system will be available, which currently has no alternative in the world in terms of speed and efficiency.

Thirdly, both historical memory and the atrocities committed by the occupiers in Ukraine compel Latvian society to fight against a seemingly larger aggressor.

He also emphasised that he believes in Latvian society and knows that the majority will go and fight for their loved ones, their homes, and their country.

In turn, A. Rikveilis advised Latvian residents to carefully follow the hygiene of their information space, not relying on psychological and informational influence operations deployed on social media, in which, through seemingly credible publications, the enemy attempts to erode public morale and sow chaos, including by reinforcing messages about preparations for further escalation of the conflict with Western countries.

He advised the public to view all of Russia's actions as the attempts of a maniac to ruin the lives of their neighbours by any means necessary.

At the same time, he emphasised that every member of society must take care of their individual and the collective resilience of society, by preparing not only a 72-hour bag, but also building the necessary reserves so as to be able to weather not only natural disasters and technogenic crises, but also be ready for security threat situations.

He noted that in recent years, services and the state administration system have improved procedures for handling emergency situations every year. Therefore, if anyone has doubts about what to do in such a situation, it will be clearly stated at the moment when it is necessary.

“Those who have duties to the state and society must primarily go to perform their duties at their place of work or service. Those who do not know what to do must rely solely and exclusively on information provided by official state sources. There are not that many such sources in the Republic of Latvia. Primarily, these are the Crisis Management Centre, the Ministry of Defence, and the relevant state officials tasked by law to provide specific statements,” explained A. Rikveilis.

Full recording of the conversation with Airis Rikveilis in the “Droši ir zināt” podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzhCc7wI3wc