On 18 January 2021, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Latvia and the President’s Personal Representative to the International Organisation of La Francophonie (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, OIF), Eduards Stiprais, presented credentials to the OIF Secretary-General, Louise Mushikiwabo.
In their conversation, the Secretary-General commended the current successful cooperation between Latvia and the OIF, highlighting cooperation on learning the French language. The cooperation is based on a memorandum signed between Latvia and the OIF. The Ambassador and the Secretary-General agreed that wider use should be made of contemporary digital tools in promoting the French language learning process.
Latvia is interested in developing cooperation in the field of translation and artificial intelligence. The Ambassador mentioned Tilde, which is a leader in language technology and based in Latvia, as an example of a company offering such possibilities.
Secretary-General Louise Mushikiwabo showed interest in Latvia’s expertise in fighting disinformation, pointing out that this is a problem faced by many OIF member states. The Secretary-General emphasised that the OIF is engaged with reforms and one of the aims is to engage more actively with the organisation’s observer states in its projects and discussions.
In the course of the conversation, Ambassador Stiprais informed the Secretary-General about Latvia’s candidacy for the United Nations Security Council in the 2025 election.
Latvia has been a participant with observer status at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) since 2008.