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.
Diplomacy
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.
Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš told Latvian Radio May 25 that he had never witnessed a decision being made among EU leaders as quickly as the sanctions against Lukashenko in the case of plane hijacking on Sunday.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said on Monday, May 24, that the Latvian ambassador to Minsk, Einars Semanis, has to leave the territory of Belarus within 24 hours.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Latvian parliament (Saeima) has added its voice to an international statement calling for tough action against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko following his seizure May 23 of an international airliner in order to get his hands on a political opponent.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs told Latvian Television May 24 that airlines should stop using the airspace above Belarus, among other steps to be taken.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko provoked fresh international outrage Sunday by seizing an international airliner passing through Belarusian airspace, apparently in a bid to get a leading dissident into his clutches.
On 19 May 2021, Latvia became a member of an cross-regional Accountability, Coherence, and Transparency (ACT) Group at the United Nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said.
70% of surveyed judges feel they are under political pressure from the Ministry of Justice (TM), according to a recent survey on the independence of the judicial system, Latvian Radio reported May 10.
Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets has announced intentions to restore the so-called 'Baltic bubble' travel zone reports Estonian public broadcaster ERR News.
A series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between countries in the west and the Russian Federation continued April 28 with the ambassadors of the Baltic states summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and told who will have to leave the country.
On 26 April 2021, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic met in a videoconference, at which the Baltic States expressed their collective solidarity with the Czech Republic in relation to the illegal activities of Russia’s intelligence services in the Czech Republic – namely Russia's suspected involvement in causing explosions at the Vrbětice ammunition depot in 2014.
Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, in solidarity with the Czech government, has on April 23 declared one Russian Embassy diplomat an undesirable person (persona non grata).
The Baltic States are concerned about the noted build-up of the Russian armed forces near the Ukraine border and in the Crimean Peninsula, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the three Baltic States said April 15 during a joint working visit to Kyiv.
Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) took the unusual step April 13 of publicly rebuking a member of a foreign diplomatic mission based in Rīga.
Monday 12 April saw a new Latvian Chargé d’Affaires starting work Australia. Ieva Apine, begins her work in Canberra on an interim basis until a resident Ambassador of Latvia to Australia is accredited in the second half of 2021.
Spain's Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, Arancha González Laya, was in Latvia on 8 April to meet with Latvian Foreign Minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, on the occasion of the centenary of diplomatic relations between Latvia and Spain.
European Union leaders agreed to respect the principle of solidarity in the redistribution of additional doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - more vaccines will be received by countries that have got fewer so far, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said March 26.
Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs has decided to ban 118 citizens of the Republic of Belarus from entering Latvia indefinitely.
Foreign ministers of the three Baltic states had their first chance to get up close and personal -- while remaining suitably distanced -- with new United states Secretary of State Antony Blinken March 24 on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
On 24 March 2021, the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB), established with the aim of systematically documenting human rights abuses in Belarus and preserving evidence, is being put into operation, with backing from Latvia among others, the Latvian Ministry o Foreice Affairs (MFA) has announced.
Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš has added his name to a list of European national leaders who are calling on the European Union to do more to aid widespread vaccination gainst Covid-19.
March 5 saw Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjártó, in Latvia on a working visit which included meetings with President Egils Levits and Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs.
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid was in Latvia March 2 and took the opportunity to give an English-language interview to LTV.