U.S. congressional staff pay a visit to Latvia

During their stay, the US congressional staff were introduced to the security situation in the region, visited a National Armed Forces’ military base in Lielvārde, where they met with US soldiers stationed in Latvia, and had a discussion with Latvian public officials on the bilateral cooperation between Latvia and the United States and on Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine.

During a meeting with congressional staffers, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, commended the excellent bilateral relations between Latvia and the United States and the strong transatlantic unity, which is of special importance in the current geopolitical situation. Members of the US delegation, for their part, thanked Latvia for its leadership in assistance to Ukraine in both bilateral and multilateral format and reaffirmed the unwavering support from the US in the security sector.

As part of the visit, the US delegation met with Jānis Kažociņš, National Security Adviser to the President of Latvia; Ginta Brūmane-Gromula, Director of the Defence Policy Department at the Ministry of Defence; Jānis Sārts, Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, as well as with Atis Lejiņš and Krists Baumanis, members of the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee.

The delegation also had the opportunity to attend the Riga Conference and watch the manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles at a Latvian company, Edge Autonomy.