On 9 December, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Secretary of State of European Affairs of Portugal, Bruno Maçães, who was in Latvia on a working visit.
"The topics addressed during the meeting were the priorities for Latvia's Presidency of the Council of the EU, with a special focus on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the European Neighbourhood Policy," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
This was the first time that Bruno Maçães visited Latvia since he took up his duties as Secretary of State for European Affairs in July 2013.
His visit was being followed Wednesday by the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Ivica Dačić.
Dačić, who is regarded as a highly influential figure and is responsible for steering Serbia's desre to join the EU at a future date, will meet with the Prime Minister of Latvia, Laimdota Straujuma; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs and the Deputy Speaker of the Saeima (Latvian Parliament), Inese Lībiņa-Egnere.
Themes that will be addressed during the meetings include the priorities for Latvia’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the initiatives of Serbia during it OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office in 2015, and bilateral cooperation.
Ivica Dačić has been Foreign Minister of Serbia since 27 April 2014; before that he was Prime Minister.
