Latvia seeks 7 billion euros from EU for Russia war costs

Latvia wants the European Union to provide 7 billion euros to cover military and economic costs caused by Russia’s war, LSM reported, citing the Politico news outlet.

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said countries bordering Russia are currently bearing too much of the cost of countering Moscow.

In an interview with Politico, Kulbergs said the money should come from the EU’s next seven year budget through the new Competitiveness Fund. It would compensate Latvia for higher defence spending and the collapse in trade with Russia since Moscow’s full scale invasion of Ukraine.

The additional funding sought by Latvia would amount to almost half of the country’s projected 15.1 billion euro defence budget over the seven year budget period, according to Politico.