President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs says the “militarized sculpture composition” of an armoured personnel carrier on pedestal placed outside Ādaži military base is rather tasteless, as he told LTV programme Rīta panorāma in an interview.
Rinkēvičs said no matter how many people say that other NATO member states create similar monuments and the like, the only thing that comes to his mind are memories from the Soviet Era.
He believes the costs of the militarized monument are unjustified, especially considering all the other needs of the defence sector, as well as the funding needed for healthcare, education and other sectors.
“Unfortunately, every piece of news like that causes reasonable concerns about the situation in other sectors, which are very important to us. Whether it is the drone or this tank… Of course, the Ministry of Defence and leadership of armed forces should do all they can to recover public trust,” said the president.
As previously reported, both Minister of Defence Andris Sprūds and Commander of Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) Leonīds Kalniņš have admitted that the costs of the “militarized sculpture” outside Ādaži can be considered a waste of resources.
LETA previously reported that a tracked armoured vehicle “CVR(T)” has been placed on a concrete pedestal at the NBS military base. It has been dubbed “a composition of militarized sculpture” by the defence industry. About EUR 183 000 were spent on its creation. The Minister of Defence has requested an inquiry into this.