On Monday, September the 13th in Riga, the head of the Ministry of National Defence participated in consultations with the ministers of the Baltic states. The ministers of defence and foreign affairs of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia discussed issues related to, inter alia, with security and cooperation in the region in the context of the ongoing Zapad-21 exercises, a hybrid threat from the Belarusian side and building resilience to such threats.

During the meeting, topics discussed at the last NATO summit in Brussels concerning the security of the North Atlantic Alliance's eastern flank were also discussed.

In the afternoon, defence ministers watched the exercise "Silver Arrow", the purpose of which is to prepare eFP (enhanced Forward Presence - eFP) forces for joint defence operations. During his visit to the Adazi military base, Minister Mariusz Błaszczak met the soldiers participating in the exercise.

During his stay in Latvia, the head of the Ministry of National Defence also met soldiers of the Polish Military Contingent who conduct tasks as part of the Multinational Battalion Combat Group under Canadian command, formed as part of the enhanced presence of the North Atlantic Alliance.

“Exercises play a key role in military cooperation. Here in Latvia, the framework nation is Canada, under whose command we are practicing. Soldiers improve their skills by showing that the countries of NATO's eastern flank are in solidarity and work together (...) The key to our security is interoperability and solidarity. This is the best response to threats. Taking care of our safety, we must cooperate with each other. Today, disinformation and cyber attacks are a big threat, ”said the minister.

The head of the Ministry of National Defence also thanked the soldiers for their commitment to supporting border protection and serving outside the country. “The soldiers of the Polish Army perform their tasks properly. Their service is a guarantee of our safety. I would like to thank the soldiers for improving their skills all the time. (…) Our borders are safe. 2,000 soldiers of the Polish Army support the Border Guard in our country. We are also building a fence on the Polish-Belarusian border. We are doing all this to prevent a migration crisis" - he said.

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The soldiers of the Polish Military Contingent in Latvia conduct tasks as part of the Multinational Battalion Combat Group under Canadian command, formed as part of enhanced Forward Presence (eFP). The decision to create an enhanced Forward Presence was one of the most important decisions of the NATO Summit in Warsaw. Its aim is to realistically increase NATO's defence and deterrence potential on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance. The current 9th rotation of the Polish contingent consists of 200 soldiers and civilian workers. The soldiers perform their tasks, mainly using PT-91 tanks.

Since September the 2nd, the international exercise Silver Arrow-21 has been taking place in Latvia, during which 150 Polish soldiers from the 17th Mechanized Brigade increase their skills in the field of inter-allied cooperation in planning and implementing defence tasks. Polish soldiers are equipped with, among others, in self-propelled Rak mortars and Rosomak transporters.