7 billion euros - Latvia will demand the European Union reimburse losses from its proximity to Russia

"We will insist on this. If Europe wants us to ensure the security of its and Europe's external borders, we cannot do this in the long term with borrowed money," emphasized Kulbergs. In his opinion, achieving this is quite realistic. "Europe understands: if we have a weak border, Europe will be weak too," said the Prime Minister. Earlier, the Prime Minister stated that Latvia's demand for additional funding is justified by the impact of geopolitical threats created by Russia on the economies of the Eastern flank countries of the EU. He referred to calculations by the European Commission, which indicated that due to the geopolitical threat in the countries on the eastern border, inflation was 3.7 percentage points higher than the EU average, while the average GDP growth from 2022 to 2023 was 1.9 percentage points lower than projected in the EU. According to Kulbergs, when calculating this impact over a seven-year period, Latvia's economic losses reach almost 7.43 billion euros. Therefore, Latvia is requesting about 7 billion euros in additional funding during negotiations. A total of 54 billion euros is being requested for the Eastern flank countries of the EU. Kulbergs emphasized that Lithuania and Estonia have joined Latvia's position, and support has been expressed by Finland, Poland, and Romania.