On 24-25 May, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics took part in the German Marshall Fund seminar in Elmau, Germany, on the EU-U.S. relations and the future of transatlantic relations. The seminar was devoted to the memory of Ronald Asmus, Strategic Director the German Marshall Fund.
As the participants discussed further enlargement of the EU and NATO, Foreign Minister Rink?vi?s noted that it was important, first of all, to promote a closer integration among the EU member states, for instance, by accepting Romania and Bulgaria into the Eurozone as soon as possible. Minister Rink?vi?s also believes that the next NATO Summit must be the Alliance enlargement summit. Only by this could NATO ensure the credibility of its open door policy. Further NATO enlargement is to ensure security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region.
The Latvian Foreign Minister commended the contribution by Ronald Asmus to the Baltic States’ integration into NATO; given that Asmus was one of the major ideologists of NATO enlargement.
