From 20 to 23 July 2024, Andrejs Pildegovičs, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of UNSC Task Force – a secretariat for Latvia’s UN Security Council candidacy – was on a visit to the Republic of Liberia.
The Ambassador-at-Large met with senior Liberian officials: the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Commission, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of State for Presidency Affairs, and the Deputy Minister of Defence. He also gave an interview to the official radio station of ECOWAS (Economic Union of West African States), attended a church service in honour of the 177th anniversary of Liberia’s independence, and held meetings with the representatives of partner countries and UN agencies in Monrovia.
Andrejs Pildegovičs expressed his gratitude to Liberia for its strong support for compliance with principles of international law and the fight against impunity. Liberia has backed six UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. The Ambassador-at-Large handed over invitations from the Saeima Speaker, Daiga Mieriņa, to members of the Liberian Parliament to attend the Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform in Riga in October 2024.
The officials discussed the resumption of tripartite cooperation between the Latvian and Liberian Armed Forces and the Michigan National Guard launched in 2012 when the NAF staff, with U.S. support, began training Liberians to participate in the UN peacekeeping missions. The interlocutors also saw potential for bilateral cooperation in information technology, education, agriculture and forestry.
Diplomatic relations between Latvia and Liberia were established on 11 April 2014. The visit by Andrejs Pildegovičs is the first working visit between the foreign ministries of the two countries in the history of diplomatic relations. If elected, both Latvia and Liberia will work together on the UN Security Council as elected members in 2026 and 2027.
