French President Emmanuel Macron continued his two-day visit to Latvia September 30 with a busy day scheduled.
Diplomacy
Belarus has made a response to the sanctions imposed on Belarus by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, banning a number of Baltic state officials from entering the country, said Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz.
France, Latvia and Lithuania have released the text of a joint declaration on the importance of protecting democracy. It is reprduced below in full and is signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš -- not President Egils Levits, who welcomes Macron to Rīga later on Tuesday.
Based on the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia, as well as in coordination with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and Lithuania, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs on September 25 announced the imposition of an indefinite entry ban on 101 Belarusian officials.
Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner of the European Commission, met with a person who was later tested positive on COVID-19, according to the politician's Twitter post September 23.
On 22 September 2020 in Riga, the Foreign Minister of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs and the Foreign Minister of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius, presented diplomat and linguist, Alberts Sarkanis, with the annual Balts’ Award bestowed by the two countries for outstanding achievements in research and fostering the Balts’ heritage.
On September 21, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, took part in a meeting of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council, according to a statement from Foreign Ministry.
Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Belarusian president-elect Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Riga on 20 September 2020, according to a release from the Ministry.
On 18 September 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, took part in an urgent debate on the human rights situation in Belarus at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Foreign Ministry said in a news release.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed an order on Wednesday for the dismissal of the Belarusian ambassador to Latvia, Vasily Markovich (Маркович Василий Михайлович), Latvian Television reported September 16.
On September 29 and 30 this year, French President Emanuel Macron will visit Latvia, said the press service of the President of Latvia September 16.
Interior Minister Sandis Ģirģens (KPV LV) denied Latvia's possibility to take in migrants from burnt-down migrant camp in Moria, Lesbos island, in Greece, the Minister said September 15.
The foreign ministers of the Nordic-Baltic region (NB8) are meeting in Tallinn on September 9.
Saeima adopted amendments to the law last week with regard to strengthening independence of the judges of the Constitutional Court. Experts say, though, that there is more room for improvement, Latvian Radio reported September 8.
The delegations of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden (NB8) on September 4 submitted a joint statement to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (EPPA) on the situation in Belarus after the presidential election, offering strong support to democratic forces and calling for action from the Council of Europe.
"We call on the governments of the member states of the Council of Europe to support democratic reforms and democratic institutions in Belarus aimed at strengthening them, as well as supporting civil society, including the independent media. We also call on the Council of Europe to use its knowledge and experience to fully support Belarus in its efforts to achieve multi-opinion democracy and implement the necessary constitutional reforms in cooperation with other international partners,” said Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Head of the Latvian Delegation to the EPPA.
"We call on the governments of the member states of the Council of Europe to support democratic reforms and democratic institutions in Belarus aimed at strengthening them, as well as supporting civil society, including the independent media. We also call on the Council of Europe to use its knowledge and experience to fully support Belarus in its efforts to achieve multi-opinion democracy and implement the necessary constitutional reforms in cooperation with other international partners,” said Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Head of the Latvian Delegation to the EPPA.
Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement September 4 condemning cash payments promised by the Russian Federation to members of the former Soviet occupation regime in Latvia.
Latvian Television reported on Thursday, 27 August that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis will be temporarily entrusted with duties of the EU Trade Commissioner.
It is often the impression that the fate of Belarusians is decided everywhere but Belarus, the Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs (“New Unity”) said in an interview on Latvian Television August 19.
On Monday, the government agreed at an emergency meeting to strengthen Belarusian civil society by allocating €150,000 to it, Latvian Radio reported August 17.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said August 13 that two persons from Latvia were known to be among the thousands detained by forces loyal to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus as a brutal crackdown on civil liberties and dissent escalates.
The parliaments of the three Baltic states and Poland have become the latest to decry the brutal actions of Alexander Lukashenko's regime in Belarus following rigged Presidential elections.
The foreign ministers of the Nordic and Baltic states issued a joint statement August 11 on the situation in Belarus following presidential elections and a brutal crackdown by the regime of Aleksander Lukashenko. The statement is reproduced below.
The foreign ministers of Estonia, Finland and Poland came to Rīga August 11, ostensibly to mark the centenary of the signing of a Latvia-Russia peace treaty, but with current events in Belarus overshadowing the events of one hundred years ago.
On 11 August 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Urmas Reinsalu; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Pekka Haavisto; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Jacek Czaputowicz, will arrive in Riga in response to an invitation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and take part in events to mark the centenary of signing the Treaty of Peace between Latvia and Russia, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said August 5.
Latvia has set an ambitious foreign policy goal: to be a member of the UN Security Council, Latvian Television reported July 27.
Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement July 24 drawing attention, not for the first time, to attempts to rewrite history by the Russian Federation. It appears to be in response to recent claims by the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian embassies in the Baltic states that the occupation of the Baltic states in 1940 and subsequent decades was all done in accordance with international law -- a claim that few, if any, credible historians would support.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia said July 23 it regreted the conviction by a Russian court of a respected historian and human rights activist on dubious charges.
On 20 July 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, took part in the annual meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Baltic States and Germany in a “3+1” format, along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Urmas Reinsalu; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius; and the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Heiko Maas.
Despite the COVID-19 crisis it remains a favorable time for Latvian entrepreneurs in the British market, said Ivita Burmistre, new Latvian ambassador to the former European Union member state the United Kingdom, in an interview to Latvian Radio on July 16.
One of the priorities of the Foreign Ministry next year is the opening of an embassy in Australia. The ministry has requested funds in next year's budget to make it possible, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs told Latvian Television on July 14.