The Foreign Ministers of the Baltic states and Poland met in Rīga September 13, using the occasion to express solidarity in the face of hybrid threats posed by Russia and Belarus.
Diplomacy
Monday, September 13 sees the Ministers of Defense and Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Lithuania and Poland visiting Rīga together, for meetings hosted by their Latvian counterparts.
On 13 September 2021, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Ministers of Defense of the Baltic States and Poland will gather for a joint meeting in Rīga to discuss current security policy matters and regional challenges, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.
On 6 September 2021, in an official ceremony in Riga Castle, the President of Latvia, Egils Levits, presented credentials to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the Commonwealth of Australia, Marģers Krams.
On 2 September 2021, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa Lukaševica, took part in a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, which featured an exchange of views on the situation at the EU’s external border with Belarus.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued an indication for the Latvian and Polish authorities regarding the treatment of migrants on the Belarusian border. Latvian authorities responded August 26 by saying that Latvia is already acting in line with the indications.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) indicated an interim measure in the cases of two illegal migrant groups against Poland and Latvia concerning recent events at the borders of Poland and Latvia with Belarus, LETA reported August 25.
Two more citizens of Afghanistan and their families who had cooperated with the European Union's mission have been evacuated from the country and transported to Latvia, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said on Twitter August 25.
On Sunday evening, two Afghan citizens who had cooperated with the European Union's mission in Kabul, as well as their families, arrived in Latvia, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs told Latvian Television August 24.
On 24 August 2021, to mark the 30th anniversary of the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will host an international conference titled “A Dream Fulfilled: Freedom and Independence”.
Latvia will help eight Afghan citizens and their families to evacuate from the country, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs (New Unity) said on Twitter August 19.
On 9 August 2021 in Vilnius, the Ambassador of Latvia to Belarus, Einars Semanis, met with the leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement.
August 9, 2021, marks one year since the fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus, followed by ongoing protests by the Belarusian society. Latvian Foreign Ministry has expressed support for the people of Belarus in the release reproduced verbatim below.
The Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the parliaments of Latvia, Estonia Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States have underlined in a joint statement that the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will undermine the European gas market, endanger security, and threaten the already precarious sovereignty of Ukraine.
The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced which applications which were submitted for the grant competition entitled “Support for Development Cooperation Projects in designated recipient countries” will receive funding.
On 14 July 2021 in New York, a joint communication was signed on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, further narrowing the list of countries with which Latvia does not enjoy diplomatic relations.
An English edition has just been published of a book with the less-than-catchy but nevertheless interesting title: "A century of Latvian diplomacy: The first hundred years of Latvia's diplomacy and its foreign service as reflected in essays by diplomats".
On 12 July 2021 in Brussels, the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, took part in the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council at which EU Foreign Ministers discussed the geopolitical aspects of new technologies and the EU 'Strategic Compass' among other things.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi, was in Latvia on Friday, July 2, marking one hundred years since Japan recognised Latvia de jure.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi, will visit Latvia on Friday, July 2, marking one hundred years since Japan recognised Latvia de jure.
On 21 June 2021 in Luxembourg, the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council gathered for a meeting at which the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers discussed the developments in Belarus, among other topics.
On June 22, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will pay a visit to Latvia, according to the Latvian government.
On 10 June 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Zbigniew Rau, for whom this was the first visit to Latvia.
The provision of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is in line with the Latvian Constitution, the Constitutional Court (ST) concluded June 4, closing proceedings on the rest of the case.
The First Three Seas Parliamentary Forum, where the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Three Seas Initiaitive (3SI) countries will discuss in virtual format the topics of energy, transport, and digital sector infrastructure, will be held June 3 with Latvia participating in the form of Saeima speaker Ināra Mūrniece.
The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Pēteris Kārlis Elferts, the Latvian Ambassador to Greece, passed away in Athens on May 28.
The ever-more-deranged Lukashenko regime in Belarus said May 28 it was opening a criminal investigation against the mayor of Rīga, Mārtiņš Staķis, and Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs for replacing the post-1995 state flag of Belarus with the pre-1995 state flag of Belarus, reported Belarusian media.
Imposing new economic sanctions against Belarus will mostly affect transit and logistics in Belarus and neighboring countries, Latvian ambassador to Belarus Einārs Semanis told Latvian Radio May 28.
Russian officials have expressed dissatisfaction by the Riga City Council's decision to replace the Russian Federation flag against the Russian Olympic Committee's flag on the advertising stands of the World Hockey Championship, Latvian Television reported May 26.
In connection with the expulsion of diplomats from the Embassy of Latvia in Belarus, the consular services offered by the embassy have been discontinued for an indefinite period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said May 25.