U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rīga Monday

Take note – story published 2 years ago

The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is in Rīga March 7 as part of a whistlestop tour of the region to coordinate NATO and European responses to the Russian Federation’s unjustified war against Ukraine.

After arriving from Vilnius, Blinken will meet President Egils Levits, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, and Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics before moving on to Tallinn on March 8.

"During all three stops, he will discuss joint efforts to support Ukraine, strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense, promote democracy and human rights, and pursue deeper economic and energy cooperation with our Baltic Allies," the State Department said in advance of the visit.

The press conference of the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken will be live-streamed online at 15:45 (see below).

Blinken was last in Latvia as recently as December 2021.

It will be a particularly busy week for Latvian diplomacy with Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also in Rīga for talks Monday and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau due to arrive Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs had earlier also hinted that other high-profile visitors may be expected later in the week with Rīga acting as an "international political epicenter". 

 That quickly proved to be an accurate predicition with confirmation following on Monday that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will also be in Latvia on Tuesday in addition to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, with Trudeau, Stoltenberg and Sanchez all due to visit NATO troops stationed at Camp Ādaži near Rīga.

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You can see the English-language version of the press conference at the website of the Latvian Foreign Ministry

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