Smart Civic Engagement in Latvia

May 16, 2012
Ambassador Lawrence Butler

Col. Shawn Fritz adds a EUCOM coin to a ceremonial time capsule placed in the foundation of the new three-bay garage with Lt. Col. Peter Wisti.

On Monday, Judy Garber, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia; members of the U.S. Embassy in Riga and EUCOM; the Latvian Ministry of Interior (State Fire and Rescue Service) and National Guard members; and local government officials broke ground on a EUCOM Humanitarian Assistance project modernizing eight fire and rescue stations in Latvia.

This project is a sterling example of the whole of government approach taken by both of our countries to build essential service capabilities that Latvia can employ not just within its own borders, but to benefit Europe as a whole. As we saw from the recent spate of natural disasters across Europe in the last two years -- wildfires in Russia, flooding in the Balkans, earthquakes in Turkey, extreme winter weather in central and eastern Europe -- there’s certainly a need for robust emergency response services in the region. Effective essential services help contain and mitigate the impact of disasters and thereby contribute to maintaining security and stability in the affected areas -- a EUCOM core mission.

The Gulbene Firehouse fleet of firetrucks was decades old, and so was the garage built to house them. With the recent purchase of new, larger, modern firetrucks, a larger garage is needed as well.

A construction crew lays the foundation for the new three-bay garage at the firehouse in Gulbene, Latvia.

This groundbreaking was part of a multi-year EUCOM HA effort that started in 2010 to renovate Latvia’s national fire and rescue stations and enhance their emergency response capability. Latvia leveraged these renovated stations by reaching out to the European Union for new fire trucks, which, combined with updated emergency facilities, enabling a speedier response to emergencies. As a result of this improved capability, Latvia was able to send firefighters and equipment outside the country to tackle catastrophic forest fires in Russia and severe flooding in Poland and Moldova. Thanks to innovative thinking by EUCOM and Latvian project team members, this project delivered a “bigger bang for the buck”.

Much like NATO’s “Smart Defense” concept, EUCOM’s HA effort with Latvia is “Smart Civic Engagement”--a joint project with one of our smallest NATO allies and one of the poorest countries in the European Union precisely crafted to deliver significant security benefits. We are truly Stronger Together!