On 27 March 2024 in Riga, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krišjānis Kariņš, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radosław Sikorski, who had arrived in Latvia on a working visit. The Ministers discussed the bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Poland, focusing in particular on the active political dialogue between the two countries, their close contacts in national economies and the strengthening of regional security.
“Poland is a very important cooperation partner for Latvia, both in security and defence matters and in economy,” Foreign Minister Kariņš underlined. “We are grateful to Poland for its contribution to Baltic security.”
The Foreign Ministers of Latvia and Poland highlighted the need to increase the capacity of the EU’s military industry and the scale of assistance to Ukraine, as well as continuing work on the 14th round of sanctions. Minister Kariņš emphasised: “The main topic of our talks was Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Latvia and Poland had already supplied weapons and military equipment to Ukraine before the Russian invasion, and we continue to do so today and provide all the support Ukraine needs. Russia’s frozen assets must be used to support Ukraine,” Krišjānis Kariņš said.
The Foreign Minister emphasised that Latvia and Poland should jointly strengthen NATO’s unity and commitment to provide Ukraine with all assistance necessary for it to win the war, and for Russia, to lose.
The Ministers also exchanged views on the security of the European Union’s external borders and the impact of farmers’ protests in Poland on cargo transportation and the functioning of border crossing posts.
After the meeting, the Ministers visited the Museum of Occupation of Latvia, commemorating the tragedies experienced by the Latvian and Polish people in the 20th century.
