“Russia’s aggression is a long-term threat not only to Ukraine but to Europe as a whole, and every effort must be made to reduce Russian influence and achieve Ukraine’s victory, a fair and sustainable peace,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Baiba Braže, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Giorgos Gerapetritis, underlined after a bilateral meeting. For Giorgos Gerapetritis, this was the first working visit to Latvia.
Baiba Braže praised the decisive action by the highest-ranking Greek officials on the issue of Russian aggression, of condemning Russia’s attack and war crimes as well as providing assistance to Ukraine. She also emphasised that Greece has never recognised the occupation of Latvia and that diplomatic relations between Latvia and Greece have a history of over 100 years (Greece recognised the Latvian state on 23 May 1922). The Ministers expressed appreciations for the active cooperation between Latvian and Greek officials despite a large geographical distance between the two countries – several high-level visits have taken place in recent years.
Giorgos Gerapetritis thanked Latvia for the welcome, emphasising that although the two countries are located far apart, they face similar challenges, and what’s more, there are almost no purely national challenges these days: all the current geopolitical challenges – terrorism, disease, cyber threats – span national borders. Therefore, like-minded countries from various regions need to step up their cooperation to tackle the challenges together, including by strengthening energy independence, the EU’s external borders and sanctions against Russia.
Latvia and Greece rank among the five NATO countries with the highest share of GDP being invested in defence.
Baiba Braže also highlighted Latvia’s significant contribution to the operation organised by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, on Greek territory, supporting Greek law enforcement authorities, especially the Coast Guard, and strengthening security at the EU’s external maritime borders. The largest mission of Latvian border guards abroad has been deployed to Frontex.
The Ministers discussed urgent geopolitical and security challenges, migration problems at the EU’s external borders, as well as issues on the UN Security Council agenda, given that this past 1 January Greece began its two-year term as a non-permanent Member of the UNSC. Baiba Braže congratulated Giorgos Gerapetritis on Greece having started its term on the UNSC, and she underlined that Greece’s experience is important to Latvia given Latvia’s standing as a candidate in the UNSC elections to be held this June for the term of 2026-2027. Minister Gerapetritis pointed out that smaller countries – such as Latvia and Greece – should also have equal rights and opportunities to participate in solving global issues.
The diplomats recognised that the two countries have great potential for economic and academic cooperation, which should be strategically exploited.
The Greek Foreign Minister also took part in the annual meeting of the Latvian ambassadors; he delivered a speech and exchanged views about perspectives on current global and regional challenges.
Giorgos Gerapetritis has been serving as Greece’s Foreign Affairs Minister since June 2023. The Minister was on a visit in Latvia on 28 January, in response to an invitation that Foreign Minister Baiba Braže extended to her Greek counterpart while in Athens on 2 July 2024, during the State visit to Greece by President Rinkēvičs.
Further information
Bilateral relations between the Republic of Latvia and the Hellenic Republic (in Latvian)
