Today, President of Latvia Egils Levits and Mrs Andra Levite met with leadership of the Sovereign Order of Malta (Order of Malta) in Rome during their official visit. Meeting focused on further cooperation between Latvia and Order of Malta in fulfilling the Order’s mission.
Meeting with Fra’ Marco Luzzago, Lieutenant of the Grand Master and Head of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, Grand Hospitaller of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, focused on current priorities of Latia, the Order of Malta and international agenda: human rights, dignity and solidarity, multilateralism and responsible use of information and communication technologies as a way of boosting the recovery of various regions of the world after the crisis caused by the pandemic. In 2020, Order of Malta played a major role in bringing relief to developing countries stricken by COVID-19.
President of Latvia thanked the Order of Malta for its vital support to Latvia and its most vulnerable groups in the first years of renewed independence when political and social conditions were particularly tough. Egils Levits offered to expand cooperation with Latvia in the field of high technologies, healthcare, finance, language translations, bioeconomics and pharmaceuticals.
Meeting concluded with the signing of Declaration of Intent between the government of Latvia and Order of Malta regarding the postal service cooperation. Minister for Justice Jānis Bordāns signed Declaration of Intent on behalf of Latvia.
‘Together, acting in the framework of international organisations, European and bilateral cooperation, we can do a lot to promote the agenda of inclusion and sustainability. Today we discussed what each of us can do in this regard and the Declaration of Intent that we signed details further steps towards deeper cooperation,’ said President Levits.
Sovereign Order of Malta is an entity of international law without territory. It has originated from crusading order of the Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem, which belonged to the Roman Catholic Church in medieval era. Main areas of activity of the Order worldwide are charity, humanitarian aid and healthcare. Soon after restoration of Latvia’s independence, Order of Malta began helping Latvia with a number of social initiatives, such as medical transportation services for people with special needs.