During the meeting, President Levits thanked the Prime Minister Trudeau for Canada’s contribution to security of Latvia, Baltics and the whole Europe. Canada, which is the framework nation of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence battle group Latvia stationed at the Camp Ādaži, has almost 600 troops rotating to Latvia. Egils Levits also thanked Prime Minister Trudeau for confirming Canada’s commitment to continue mission in Latvia also in the future because such presence is significant for Canada and the whole Alliance. President of Latvia and Prime Minister of Canada also discussed the current NATO agenda. President Levits stressed that Latvia supports the strengthening of NATO’s European pillar to avoid any possible duplication of responsibilities. President of Latvia also praised the input of Canada in operation of Riga-based NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE).
Prime Minister Trudeau and President Levits also discussed ways of intensifying bilateral trade relations. Both leaders agreed that the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will further enhance business ties between the two countries.
Egils Levits also mentioned the vibrant Latvian community of Canada whose active day-to-day work strengthens the bond between the two countries.
Both leaders also concluded that Latvia and Canada are two like-minded countries that have a shared vision on global challenges faced by the whole planet, for example, climate change. Egils Levits and Justin Trudeau both underlined the need to have more ambitious national policies on environmental protection and climate change adaptation.
