Courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
March 29, 2017
On 28 March in Washington, D.C., the Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics together with the Foreign Ministers of the Baltic States met with the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Paul Ryan; Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Bob Corker; and Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, Ben Cardin, to share views on the strategic partnership between Latvia and the United States, transatlantic relations and parliamentary contacts.
The Foreign Minister expressed appreciation for the regular and intensive contacts as part of the inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Baltic States and the US over recent years. The frequent visits by the delegations of US senators and representatives to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have fostered an increased political attention on the part of the US and its practical support for the Baltic States at a time when the international legal order is being violated increasing more often and Russia’s foreign policy has become much more aggressive vis-à-vis its neighbours, said Edgars Rinkevics.
Edgars Rinkevics confirmed preparedness to move forward with the Baltic States-US strategic partnership in security and defence and work jointly on the implementation of the NATO Warsaw Summit decisions.
The Minister called for maintaining an uninterrupted rotational presence of US troops in the Baltic States and told US congressmen that Latvia is committed to contribute 2% of its GDP to the development of its defence capabilities by 2018.
