Speaking at the Rīga Conference Business Forum, Kulbergs began by holding up Latvia as an example to other EU member states, saying next year it would spend 5% of GDP on defence. He then performed some statistical gymnastics by claiming that when internal security measures were also taken into account, the amount rises to 6.4% of GDP spent on security.

"I think that's a clear example for all the European countries and the rest," he said, but added that even such spending was not en...