On 19 October 2023, Vilnius hosted the annual Baltic States consultations on consular matters. The consultations addressed current topics of consular assistance, including the departure of the Baltic States nationals from Israel. The changing security situation in the world increasingly calls for a focus on remote identification of persons, in particular, through issuing emergency travel documents in consular assistance cases.
“The need to be constantly prepared to respond to multiple crises simultaneously has become a daily challenge for consular services in all the countries,” Agnese Saliņa, Director of the Consular Department at the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acknowledged during the consultations.
The Baltic States’ officials recognised that it was important to plan the availability of consular services in a forward-looking way, for example, in cooperation with external service providers. This year’s consultations also focused on the provision of consular functions in the context of Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine and the increasing number of fraudulent visa applicants from third countries.
Background information
Consular consultations provide a valuable and important exchange of experience to improve the effectiveness of consular services. They are held annually on a rotational basis, and have been organised by Lithuania this year. Next year, the consultations will take place in Riga.