On 10 June, President of Latvia Egils Levits met with the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Poland, H. E. Mr Zbigniew Rau, at the Jūrmala residence. This was the first visit of the Polish minister to Latvia.
President of Latvia and Poland’s Foreign Minister acknowledged the successful bilateral relations between Latvia and Poland rooted in historic and cultural ties between the two countries. Both officials also underlined the successful cooperation between Latvia and Poland based on shared vision of regional security and development.
One of the key focuses of the meeting was high level exchanges and active political dialogue between both countries. Polish Foreign Minister thanked President for visiting Poland on 3 May 20201 to take part in the celebrations of the 230th anniversary of the first modern constitution in Europe in Warsaw. President Levits assured the head of the Polish foreign service about Latvia’s commitment to continue active exchanges at the highest level, especially given that 30th anniversary of reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Latvia and Poland is coming soon.
Egils Levits and Zbigniew Rau discussed current situation in Belarus. Both officials concluded that European democracies should continue to actively support the demands of the Belarusian people to make Belarus more democratic and strengthen the rule of law.
Conversation then turned to Ukraine, its European integration efforts and objective to join the European Union and NATO. President of Latvia and Polish Foreign Minister praised international community for the Crimean Platform. Both officials agreed that it is an efficient instrument for keeping the focus of international community on Crimean occupation. According to President, Latvia’s history is a vivid reminder of the importance of support provided by other countries and policy of non-recognition of occupation.
President of Latvia and Polish Foreign Minister also touched upon regional cooperation. Egils Levits and Zbigniew Rau concluded that ever closer transatlantic ties are a major factor in regional and European security. Three Seas Initiative is an important platform for deepening these ties because it fosters the green, digital and infrastructure integration of Eastern Europe.