On 16 August 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the 3rd Forum of Latvian Professionals Working for International Organisations. It brought together more than 80 Latvian professionals from 27 different international organisations – the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the European External Action Service, the European Commission, the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and others. Participants have come to Riga from Egypt, France, Ukraine, Vietnam, Georgia, the USA, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and other countries.
The forum was opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, who highlighted: “Every Latvian working for international organisations is an important support for the implementation of Latvia’s foreign policy goals. The three foreign policy priorities we all share are security, economy and our people. Everyone has the opportunity to contribute to their achievement. It should be remembered that the voice of Latvia in international organisations is important and significant, and each of us is an ambassador for Latvia in the world.”
“Together, we must continue to support Ukraine to limit Russia’s combat capabilities, because our security – the security of the EU and our allies – is closely linked to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield. Latvia – our government, business and society as a whole – has done a lot to support Ukraine. This support and assistance to Ukraine cannot decrease – not individually, not at the national level, not at the level of international organisations,” she stressed:
“I also invite you to communicate with each other on a daily basis, to inspire and enable, to look for opportunities to attract financial and other resources to Latvia – we have people who can and are able to do this,” said Baiba Braže.
The experts and participants of the forum discussed the challenges of Latvia’s economic growth and development and their possible solutions. They also exchanged views on strengthening national security and defence capabilities, developing national and public resilience capabilities and preparedness in the face of risks posed by disinformation and new technologies, including the increasing influence of artificial intelligence on political and economic processes.
An important part of the discussions was devoted to the future of the EU and related issues – the preparation of a new multi-annual budget and the interests of Latvia, the EU enlargement process, the tasks related to the preparation of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2028, as well as other issues.
The professionals discussed the modernisation of public administration – how to attract professionals and young people to the public administration sector and how to increase the active civil participation in the decision-making process in various public administration institutions.
The aim of the forum is to maintain a continued connection with Latvians working in international organisations, to discuss opportunities to use this potential to represent Latvia’s interests as successfully as possible, to exchange experiences, and to inform participants about issues of importance for the development, economy and security of Latvia.
The event was organised by: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the President’s Chancery, the State Chancellery and the World Federation of Free Latvians.
