As I've rightly pointed out, Canada has shown, in very crucial times in my view, a very strong leadership. A fine example is the Brussels summit. I had the chance to be present over there, not at the summit itself, but they had a side event called NATO Engages. I had the opportunity to directly engage with your Prime Minister Trudeau.
What was interesting was that we all knew what the atmosphere was before the summit. In the few days before, President Trump made public remarks on pulling out of NATO indefinitely and so on, so there was a lot of uncertainty. Your announcement just before the summit that you would extend your mission to Latvia to 2023 was a really strong message that we will not sell our principles, values and commitments made. This is something highly valued in Latvia. It's hard to explain what the reactions were in Latvia after these announcements were made. Shortly after, the Prime Minister visited Latvia and reassured that the decision wasn't just a hawk for public appearance and that it was the Canadian government's decision.
I'm not in favour of having this “enhanced forward presence” title of it. It should be a permanent position. We know that the Baltic States are the external border of NATO. That won't change; it will stay as an external border, and as Russia's aggression continues on different fronts, the very strong, solid position of NATO bases and troops at the external border is essential in the long term. It doesn't matter if it's a five-year or a 10-year assignment. It's also a clear message to adversaries that we are here to stay and that this is something they have to count on. It's a reality.
What more could be done? In Latvia, the military reforms that we have been undergoing for the past five or six years are immense. We hadn't seen anything like that before. After regaining independence, it's hard to describe our military's situation. It was very weak, and there wasn't a proper structure implemented. Right now, enhanced forward presence and oversight from Canadian leadership give us a lot of tools to improve our defence capabilities.
In regard to infrastructure building as well, our committee and I were ratifying the bilateral agreement between Canada and Latvia, incorporating our military sphere and investing in military infrastructure. This is something that we wouldn't be able to do single-handedly because it requires know-how and knowledge as well. After more than 25 years of independence, it's hard to get specialists with that kind of skill set.