The things borrowed from the film in the National Guard even annoyed me

Brantevics, who was sworn in on July 10, but wrote the question last year right after Lāčplēš Day, reveals in the interview: ‘I saw soldiers also lighting candles, and I thought to myself – it’s not fair that I, a young friend, did not join the National Guard. Looking at the graves of the brothers and Mother Latvia, I decided: this is my duty. I had planned this for a long time, but being busy with many other things, I had forgot about it. The next day I left and wrote an application. It was not possible to start training immediately, but… 24 . February when Russia invaded Ukraine.”

When asked if the National Guard recognized him from the film in which he took on the role of a soldier, Brantevics says he did, but points out that the battlefield experience from the film doesn’t match what he needed to learn now.

“The similarity was only in some nuances, because the army has completely changed over these hundred years, both strategically and in terms of equipment,” says Brantevics.