The high-profile politician met his Latvia counterpart, Krišjānis Kariņš in the morning to discuss bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Poland, regional security, development of transport and energy infrastructure, the security of the Eastern border of the European Union, as well as support to Ukraine.
Their joint press conference can be viewed below.
On 27 March 2024 in Riga, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krišjānis Kariņš, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radosław Sikorski, who had arrived in Latvia on a working visit. The Ministers discussed the bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Poland, focusing in particular on the active political dialogue between the two countries, their close contacts in national economies and the strengthening of regional security.
“Poland is a very important cooperation partner for Latvia, both in security and defence matters and in economy,” Foreign Minister Kariņš underlined. “We are grateful to Poland for its contribution to Baltic security.”
The Foreign Ministers of Latvia and Poland highlighted the need to increase the capacity of the EU’s military industry and the scale of assistance to Ukraine, as well as continuing work on the 14th round of sanctions. Minister Kariņš emphasised:
“The main topic of our talks was Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Latvia and Poland had already supplied weapons and military equipment to Ukraine before the Russian invasion, and we continue to do so today and provide all the support Ukraine needs. Russia’s frozen assets must be used to to support Ukraine," Kariņš stated.
The Ministers also exchanged views on the security of the European Union’s external borders and the impact of farmers’ protests in Poland on cargo transportation and the functioning of border crossing posts.
After the meeting, the Ministers visited the Museum of Occupation of Latvia, commemorating the tragedies experienced by the Latvian and Polish people in the 20th century.
During his visit, the Polish Foreign Minister will also meet with the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and visit the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia and Camp Ādaži military base where Polish troops are among those serving as part of NATO's enhanced forward presence to deter Russian aggression.
A former journalist, Sikorski has had a distinguished career in politics and academia. He was Poland's Minister of Defence (2005–2007), Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007–2014), and Speaker of the Sejm (2014–2015). In 2019–2023, he was a Member of the European Parliament and is a Senior Fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard.
As Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, he launched, together with Carl Bildt, the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative.
