During her stay, which comes straight after a visit to Finland, the Minister and senior Latvian officials will discuss bilateral relations between Latvia and France, cooperation in various sectors of strategic partnership and in international organisations, as well as exchanging views on the situation in the region and on international developments in general, said a release from the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the French Diplomatic service "In Latvia, the Minister will discuss our continued support for Ukraine, Defence Europe, and obviously the security of NATO’s eastern flank, to which France, as you know, actively contributes. The issue of European Union enlargement will also be a focus of the talks. They will mention the strengthening of the bilateral partnership, particularly with regard to economic and trade cooperation."
The visit by Foreign Minister Colonna will also include meetings with the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, the Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, and the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arvils Ašeradens.
As part of her visit, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Minister of Finance, Arvils Ašeradens, and Catherine Colonna signed an Action Plan of Latvia-France Strategic Partnership for 2024-2027.
The Action Plan sets out objectives and joint actions expressing the commitment of Latvia and France to strengthen their partnership in a number of priority areas: security and defence, including support for Ukraine; economic and energy cooperation; the European Union matters; development of public administration; and culture, education and language learning, according to a release from the Latvian MFA.
On 23 May 2008, a Political Declaration on the Strategic Partnership was signed at the level of Heads of Government; the document envisaged drawing up and signing multiannual action plans to be approved by the Cabinet.
The minister will then take a tour of the Museum of Occupation and lay flowers at the Freedom Monument, to be followed by an introduction to the Rail Baltica project.
Catherine Colonna previously visited Latvia in 2006 in her capacity of Minister for European Affairs.
