On 2 March 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, François-Philippe Champagne, who is in Latvia on an official visit. The Ministers discussed current cooperation between Latvia and Canada recognizing that the dialogue between the two countries has considerably intensified over the past years.
The Ministers also agreed that the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade. Agreement between the EU and Canada and the provisional application launched has given a positive impetus to economic cooperation, while there still is potential for developing it further, for instance, in cutting edge technologies.
Edgars Rinkēvičs thanked Canada for contribution to the security of Latvia and the region by leading the NATO enhanced Forward Presence battle group in Latvia. It is a strong example of solidarity, which demonstrates NATO collective defence and commitment to protecting every member of the Alliance, the Latvian Foreign Minister said. He noted that Latvia is interested in Canada’s military presence in in the long term.
The Foreign Ministers discussed strong support from Latvia and Canada for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and they expressed a common position on the importance of sustaining transatlantic unity in addressing the conflict in Ukraine. Edgars Rinkēvičs called for concerted efforts to achieve a uniform transatlantic approach to combating of disinformation, with a special focus on Russia’s activities in this respect.
The Foreign Ministers shared views on cooperation between Latvia and Canada in the international initiative titled “Women, Peace and Security”. Edgars Rinkēvičs noted that Latvia is interested in sharing Canada’s experience with regard to this initiative.
During his official visit, François-Philippe Champagne is also going to have meetings with the Prime Minister of Latvia, Krišjānis Kariņš, and the Minister of Defence, Artis Pabriks. A visit has been planned to the Camp Ādaži military base to meet with Canadian troops who are part of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence battle group in Latvia.