On 25 October 2023 in Nouakchott, Mauritania, the Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ilmārs Breidaks, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritania, Mohamed Salem Merzoug. The officials discussed cooperation between the two countries both bilaterally and in international organizations. The Mauritanian Foreign Minister Merzoug expressed support for the development of bilateral cooperation, including through drawing up a mechanism for political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs.
The officials also discussed the regional security situation. Ilmārs Breidaks welcomed Mauritania’s efforts to stabilise the security situation in the Sahel region, including regional security coordination mechanisms under its presidency of the G5 Sahel.
Ilmārs Breidaks briefed the Minister about Latvia’s position concerning the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine; Foreign Minister Marzoug, for his part, explained Mauritania’s view on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On 24 and 25 October, Ilmārs Breidaks took part in the 13th meeting of the European Union Special Representatives for the Sahel in Mauritania.
Background information
The G5 Sahel is an institutional framework for coordination of regional cooperation in development policies and security matters between Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger. On 15 May 2022, Mali withdrew from the alliance.
