The speaker of Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, Edvards Smiltens, met with a delegation of parliamentarians from Japan in Riga, LETA reports. The delegation was led by Hirofumi Nakasone, chairman of the Latvia and Lithuania friendship groups of the upper house of Japan’s parliament, the House of Councillors (Sangiin). The parliamentarians discussed bilateral economic cooperation and…
The European Commission has granted EUR 6.8mn of financial support for Latvia’s agricultural sector, LSM reports. Latvia had requested EUR 11mn of EU aid. Agriculture Minister Didzis Smits noted that the support accorded to Latvia was proportionally the largest amount of aid granted. The support is intended for industries negatively impacted by the war in…
The heads of parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany have signed a joint declaration, calling on the NATO summit in Vilnius to commit to Ukraine’s eventual membership of the alliance, Ukrinform reports. The parliamentary speakers called on NATO allies to work closely together to develop security commitments for Ukraine. At the same time,…
Latvia’s new president, former foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics, made his first official visit abroad to Estonia on 10 July 2023, ERR reports. He met with Estonian President Alar Karis, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, and other officials in Tallinn. They discussed bilateral cooperation, regional cooperation projects, continued support for Ukraine, and the NATO summit in Vilnius….
The foreign ministers of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) have signed a joint declaration in support of Ukraine’s membership of the EU and NATO, ERR reports. The ministers stated that Ukraine’s future was within the “Euro-Atlantic family.” The declaration said that it was time to use the “Baltic experience of the 1990s” in…
US President Joe Biden met with Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, in Vilnius in the morning of 11 July 2023, LRT reports. Speaking at the presidential palace, Biden reaffirmed US commitment to the defence of the Baltic States and to NATO. Biden recalled that he first visited Lithuania in 2014, when he was serving as vice…
Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, plans to meet with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, on 12 July 2023, The Japan Times reports. The meeting is set to take place on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Vilnius, government sources said. Kishida is expected to convey Japan’s readiness to increase support for…
NATO member states have decided to drop the requirement for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine on its path to NATO membership, Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, confirmed, Ukrainska Pravda reports. This was earlier announced by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Nauseda noted that the move would simplify Ukraine’s NATO accession process. He stressed that…
Latvia’s President, Edgars Rinkevics, met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Riga, LETA reports. The two officials discussed the NATO summit in Vilnius, support for Ukraine, the situation in Belarus and Russia, and bilateral economic cooperation. Rinkevics expressed Latvia’s wish for Canada to expand its military presence in Latvia. Canada leads the NATO enhanced…
