Riga  - Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis appeared Tuesday to back a controversial plan by his defence minister to buy 25 horses for an honour guard to welcome visiting dignitaries.

"I cannot agree it is a waste of money," Goodmanis said of the horse project that would cost 120,000 lats (250,000 dollars) from a defence budget of 304 million lats, plus
70,000 lats annual upkeep.

The horse guard would revive a tradition and could also be used in sporting events such as the modern pentathlon, said the premier, who originally questioned the idea.

The plan by Defence Minister Vinets Veldre, an equestrian enthusiast who says his goal is to restore military traditions, has provoked much sarcasm in this Baltic nation of
2.3 million.

"Spending money on show-off functions to satisfy the whims of a minister should be forbidden," said Guntis Bojars on his blog on the Diena newspaper website.

Veldre plans to create the equestrian honour guard to emulate big countries such as the United States, Germany, Britain and Sweden. The price tag per horse is below market rates, according to people in the horse business.

An unnamed Latvian military officer ridiculed the idea when it first surfaced in the media in January.

"This will turn us into a laughing stock," the Latvijas Avize newspaper quoted the officer as saying. "We don't have jeeps for Afghanistan because they're 'too expensive,' but we can afford to buy horses."

Latvia has about 100 soldiers with the NATO-led security force in Afghanistan. (dpa)