Military branches:
Latvian Republic Defense Force: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force,
Border Guard, Home Guard (Zemessardze) (2005)
Military service age and obligation: 19 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 12 months; 18 years of age for volunteers; plans are to phase out conscription, tentatively moving to an all-professional force by 2007; under current law, every citizen is entitled to serve in the armed forces for life (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 19-49: 517,713
females age 19-49: 519,631 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 19-49: 361,098
females age 19-49: 422,913 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 19,137
females age 19-49: 18,505 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$87 million (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.2% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Latvia
Disputes - international:
Russia refuses to sign the 1997 boundary treaty due to Latvian
insistence on a unilateral clarificatory declaration referencing
Soviet occupation of Latvia and territorial losses; Russia demands
better Latvian treatment of ethnic Russians in Latvia; the Latvian
parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with
Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over oil exploration rights; as
a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Latvia
must implement the strict Schengen border rules
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for opiates and cannabis from Central and
Southwest Asia to Western Europe and Scandinavia and Latin American
cocaine and some synthetics from Western Europe to CIS; despite
improved legislation, vulnerable to money laundering due to nascent
enforcement capabilities and comparatively weak regulation of
offshore companies and the gaming industry; CIS organized crime
(including counterfeiting, corruption, extortion, stolen cars, and
prostitution) accounts for most laundered proceeds