Trump's rhetoric is alarming, but if he wins, he won't change vector much - former president of Latvia

This opinion was expressed by former President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis in an interview with Ukrinform.

“Of course, Trump's rhetoric on Europe and Ukraine is alarming right now. “Let's stop doing this, let's stop doing that...” But in the pre-election period, in such a fiercely contested election as we have in the United States, there is no telling what a candidate, and such an expressive person, will say,” says Vējonis.

In his opinion, if Trump wins the election, he will not change the current vector much. “The majority of Republicans and the state apparatus will be able to withstand particularly sharp bursts of energy from him,” the former president of Latvia said.

He reminded that “each particular country has its own philosophy of the state, which has been developed over the years, and generations of officials have grown up on it.” “This cannot be changed easily and quickly, no matter what your intentions are. This is also the case with Trump,” Veyonis is convinced.

He also disagreed with the views of some experts who believe that Trump has allegedly “privatized” the Republican Party. “I don't think a party like the Republican Party can be privatized 100%. Historically, the Republicans have always been in favor of looking - and being - strong. And they have always been quite stable in helping the Baltic countries, in general, countries that are fighting for freedom,” the Latvian politician said.

In particular, according to him, at the end of Trump's presidency, it turned out that “during his term, the United States helped the Baltic countries, perhaps even more than previous administrations, including Obama's two terms.”

Raimonds Vējonis was the Minister of Defense (2014-2015) and the ninth President of Latvia (2015-2019). He is currently serving his second term as the chairman of the Latvian Basketball Association (LBS). In this position, he has been doing his best to help Ukraine, Ukrainian athletes, and Ukrainian refugees in Latvia.

As reported, in April 2018, Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis, along with his counterparts from Lithuania and Estonia, participated in a meeting with then-U.S. President Donald Trump on the occasion of the centennial of the three Baltic states' declaration of independence.