On 8-9 March 2023, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Dr Gunda Reire, took part in an informal meeting of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council on the matters of development cooperation in Stockholm, Sweden. The agenda focused on EU coordination and involvement in Ukraine’s reconstruction and support for the process of reform and European integration in Ukraine. Global health issues and reform of multilateral development banks were also discussed.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, also participated in a video format in the central discussion on support for Ukraine’s reconstruction and reforms. The Parliamentary Secretary reaffirmed Latvia’s unwavering support for Ukraine, including the reconstruction and reform processes. Gunda Reire stressed: “Latvia will continue providing all the necessary support to Ukraine’s European integration. We strongly advocate the indivisibility of emergency reconstruction and long-term reconstruction.”
The Parliamentary Secretary also highlighted the reconstruction of Ukraine’s economy: “The resumption of business activity in Ukraine, in particular, in the agricultural sector, is also important globally given the significant amount of the export of Ukrainian produce across the world.” In the discussions, Gunda Reire stressed the importance of localisation, inter-sector cooperation and inclusive coordination. She drew the attention of other Member States to Latvia’s good practice and long-term cooperation between Latvian and Ukrainian state administration, local governments, private sector and civil society.
During the meeting, the participants engaged in a discussion with the Director General of the World Health Organisation on cooperation between the EU and the WHO in addressing global health challenges, including the EU Global Health Strategy and lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first informal discussion was also held on the reform of multilateral development banks, especially on the need for those banks to contribute to tackling global challenges such as climate change, the provision of support to middle-income countries facing structural challenges, as well as closer cooperation between development cooperation and financial formats.
The EU Foreign Affairs Council in the configuration of ministers for development deals with the matters of development cooperation and humanitarian aid. The meetings are chaired by the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. Informal meetings are usually held every six months, in the country currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Photo: Johannes Frandsen