On 2 December 2021, on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, for a discussion on bilateral relations, regional security in Central Asia, and the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU) and the countries of Central Asia held in Dushanbe on 22 November.
During the meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs, emphasizes that Latvia is interested in dynamizing the political dialogue with Tajikistan and seeking new opportunities to expand economic cooperation. The Central Asian region is one of the priorities for Latvia in its foreign policy and development cooperation both bilaterally and in the strengthening of relationship between the EU and Central Asia.
The Ministers exchanged views on the security and human rights situation in Afghanistan, which has a serious impact across the region as a whole. Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined that cooperation and consultations with the Central Asian countries is of key importance. The EU and the Central Asian countries must be able to jointly respond to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, as well as to the threat of terrorism and illegal migration through providing support for border management capacity building and prevention of the smuggling of people and drugs.
Latvia continues playing a Project Leader role in the EU-funded Border Management Programme in Central Asia, BOMCA, aimed at improving security, stability and sustainable growth in the region, while supporting cross-border cooperation and improving the living conditions of people in the border areas of the Central Asian countries and Afghanistan.