During the visit, the Chairs of the Baltic Foreign Affairs Committees plan to meet with Speaker of the Knesset (Parliament) of Israel Amir Ohana, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein and leader of the Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Parliamentary Friendship Group Simon Davidson. They also intend to attend the opening of the Winter Session of the Knesset and have a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel Eli Cohen.
The visit to Israel comes just after itwas confirmed that a dual Latvian-Israeli citizen was among the dead as result of Hamas' terror attack – a fact confirmed by Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš on October 15.
.@Arlietas ir saņēmušas ziņas no 🇱🇻-🇮🇱 dubultpilsones ģimenes par viņas bojāeju Hamāss teroristiskās organizācijas uzbrukumā Izraēlai. Esam saziņā ar Izraēlas varasiestādēm par notikušo traģēdiju.
— Krišjānis Kariņš (@krisjaniskarins) October 15, 2023
Visdziļākā līdzjūtība ģimenei un tuvajiem cilvēkiem!
Representing Latvia in Jerusalem is Rihards Kols (National Alliance), who said Monday that a joint statement denouncing Hamas "and its barbaric and inhuman acts of terrorism" had been signed by the Baltic trio.
As Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the @KnessetENG, @Jekaba11, @LRSeimas and @Riigikogu unequivocally denounce Hamas and its barbaric and inhuman acts of terrorism inflicted upon Israel and its citizens. We recognize that much of the violence against Israel and its… pic.twitter.com/7CIR3pvSMk
— Rihards Kols (@RihardsKols) October 16, 2023
From Jerusalem, the trio will travel on to the meeting of the Chairs of the Nordic and Baltic (NB8) Foreign Affairs Committees that will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on Thursday and Friday.
The meeting will focus on the Nordic-Baltic cooperation, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and further support to Ukraine. In addition to the tightening of sanctions, using of Russia’s frozen assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine will also be discussed.
The meeting, which is held in NB8 format, brings together the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
