“We, the foreign service, have this tremendous responsibility and privilege – to strengthen our security, economic development and prosperity, and to protect the interests of Latvian nationals. The role of the foreign service has been vital both in the fight for independence and establishment of Latvia in 1918 and in our struggle for international recognition of our country in 1921: on this, we owe deep gratitude to Latvia’s first Foreign Minister Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics and his team. They, like us in the early 1990s, made every effort for our country to gain independence and international recognition. We must protect our independence and security day by day, since freedom does not come at no cost, and nothing should be taken for granted,” Foreign Minister Baiba Braže underlined in her address to ambassadors at the annual meeting of the heads of Latvia’s diplomatic missions.
At the opening of the event, the Foreign Minister added that this year the meeting is dedicated to all three foreign policy priorities – security, economy, and human and societal issues: “These are the priorities of our day-to-day work both at the Latvian Embassies abroad and at the Ministry headquarters in Riga. Without security there is no investment, no growth and no economic development, and no good prospects for the future.”
The ambassadors were addressed by Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, who thanked them for protecting Latvia’s interests abroad. She also noted that economic development and strengthening security remain key tasks for the Foreign Ministry and that their implementation calls for an active, bold and forward-looking foreign policy.
In parallel with the annual ambassadors’ meeting, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže welcomed two incoming ministerial visits – by Elina Valtonen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Giorgos Gerapetritis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic. The Minister also met with the Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations, Vanessa Frazier. The prominent guests engaged with the ambassadors about current geopolitical developments.
The ambassadors were also addressed by Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy, Productivity, Implementation and Simplification, Ilze Juhansone, Secretary General of the European Commission, and other Latvian experts in security and economy.
This year, the annual meeting of the heads of Latvia’s diplomatic missions abroad and Latvian ambassadors residing in Riga, held from 27 to 31 January 2025, brings together 45 ambassadors.
