On Monday, 16 July 2018, President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis presented the Orders of the Three Stars to H.E. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to the Republic of Latvia Tõnis Nirk and H.E. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic to the Republic of Latvia Peter Hatiar for significant contribution in promotion and strengthening of bilateral relations between the countries at the solemn ceremony in the Riga Castle.
The Chapter of Orders has adopted the decision to grant the Orders of the Three Stars, Class III, to Estonian and Slovak Ambassadors in Latvia and appoint the Ambassadors as Commanders of the Order of the Three Stars. By the procedure established by the Law of State Decorations if the Order of the Three Stars is awarded to the foreign ambassador for the benefit of the Republic of Latvia, it can be presented to foreign ambassadors by the end of their term of office in Latvia.
Ambassador of Estonia to Latvia Tõnis Nirk was accredited on 2 September 2014. During the farewell visit of the Ambassador of Estonia to Latvia, President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis appreciated welcomed T. Nirk’s contribution to the facilitation of political dialogue between Latvia and Estonia, including the establishment of closer cooperation between the top officials of both countries. The President thanked the Ambassador of Estonia for his contribution to the promotion of co-operation between the two countries in economics, culture, and other fields. During this period, former President of Estonia Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves and the current President of Estonia Ms Kersti Kaljulaid visited Latvia on some occasions. Also, both former Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas and current Head of the Estonian government Jüri Ratas have visited Latvia several times. To facilitate economic cooperation between the two countries, the Ambassador visited Latvian regions and cities several times, where he visited business incubators and met with entrepreneurs. During the cadence of the Ambassador, the tradition of awarding the Language Award for the promotion of the Latvian and Estonian languages continued.
In his turn, Ambassador of Slovakia to Latvia Peters Hatiar was accredited on 15 October 2013, and he has served as the Senior Official of the Diplomatic Corps since 19 May 2017. During the farewell visit of the Slovak Ambassador to Latvia, President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis thanked the Ambassador for his personal contribution to strengthening Latvia-Slovakia relations. Thanks to the Ambassador’s personal involvement and support, several visits by senior officials and experts from Slovakia took place. The Ambassador also actively supported the development of political dialogue between the two countries, as well as expanded and improved cooperation between Latvia and Slovakia in culture and higher education.
