On 21 November 2024, the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Georgia (also Latvia’s non-resident mission to Armenia) held an event in Yerevan, organized in partnership with the Armenian Media Initiative Centre (MIC), the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence (BMIC), and the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation (LATO) and titled “Capacity building seminar for Armenian journalists: Transfer of Latvia’s EU membership experience and analysis of the Latvian UNSC candidacy campaign”.
The seminar was attended by more than twenty journalists representing the media based in the capital city, Yerevan, and the regions.
In her opening remarks for the seminar, Ambassador Edīte Medne, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia, emphasised the role of the media in conveying professional and factual information to the public. This is particularly important in conflict situations, where a country faces challenges to its security, including when it comes to explaining hard reforms that require deeper public understanding and engagement. Latvia is ready to share the experience it has gained in the transition process, becoming an equal player in the EU, a donor of knowledge and assistance instead of a recipient of knowledge and assistance. The Ambassador informed the participants that 2025 will be an important year for Latvia as it will stand in elections for memberhip of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Doing so signals Latvia’s desire to contribute to international security. Latvia’s priorities as a member of the UNSC – safeguarding the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, the rule of law, national sovereignty and territorial integrity – are also important for Armenia. The Ambassador urged media workers to discuss how those priorities may affect the interest of Armenian public in global security issues.
LATO expert Inna Šteinbuka and the expert on media, policy communication and the EU, Marta Rībele, introduced Armenian journalists to Latvia’s experience with reforms on its path to the EU, the challenges Latvia faced, and they explained how the reform process and EU membership has contributed to the increase in Latvia’s security, economic prosperity and global influence. The role of journalists in informing the public about EU issues was discussed, as were the opportunities offered by EU institutions for such aims. Latvia’s campaigns in the context of the UNSC candidacy opinions were shared about opportunities for small countries to contribute to global diplomacy. Inna Šteinbuka also presented a brief outline of the campaign and the priorities of Latvia’s candidacy.
Practical recommendations to Armenian journalists on journalism standards and reflecting public interest were made by the media expert Rita Ruduša. Through real examples, it was discussed how to better explain EU issues to the public by creating human-centred stories.
The project was implemented as part of the public diplomacy programme in support of the lobby campaign of Latvia’s candidacy for the United Nations Security Council. The campaign under the motto of “Together for peace and resilience” aims at ensuring successful election of Latvia to the United Nations Security Council for the 2026–2027 term in the 2025 election, at which Latvia is running for an elected member’s seat for the first time. Membership of the UNSC will be a key instrument in pursuit and protection of Latvia’s foreign policy interests, as well as making it possible for Latvia to expand the scale of its international cooperation and thereby contributing to world peace and resilience.