Foreign Minister to encourage discussion on future EU-Russian relations at GAERC meeting

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
August 13, 2008

On 13 August Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins will take part at an extraordinary GAERC meeting in Brussels, where discussions will take place about the current situation in Georgia and a co-ordinated EU response to the Russian military offensive in Georgia, which has been already drawn condemnation from Latvia, as well as from other states.
During the GAERC extraordinary meeting, the position of EU member states regarding the further development of EU-Russian relations will also be reviewed.
The Foreign Minister will present Latvia’s position on issues relating to the situation in Georgia, based on information received from the Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis after his visit to Tbilisi. “A discussion on changing the peacekeeping format is necessary, because recent events have attested that the existing one has proved to be ineffectual”, Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins has pointed out.
Minister Riekstins has already made Latvia’s position clear, condemning Russia’s military offensive in Georgia and urging the international community to evaluate the events properly, to take a united stand and to encourage a dialogue between the sides involved in the conflict.