On 24 July 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, who is in Latvia for a one-day visit. During the meeting that took place at Silene in Skudraliena Parish of Daugavpils District, the Foreign Ministers discussed topics of current importance for the relations between the European Union and Belarus and Latvian-Belarusian bilateral cooperation.
The parties then discussed the situation ahead of the Presidential election in Belarus this coming 9 August. The Latvian Foreign Minister underlined that the Belarusian people should have the possibility of freely and openly voicing their opinion and he also called on Belarus to respect civic freedoms.
The Ministers praised the good neighbourly relations between Latvia and Belarus, manifested notably by constructive cooperation to enable the nationals of both countries to return home at the outset of the COVID-19 crisis. Edgars Rinkēvičs noted that Belarus is an important partner to Latvia in foreign trade, with whom it is also essential to cooperate in the transit and logistics sector. He called for work to continue on an agreement between the two countries on cooperation in the field of transport and logistics.
In an exchange of views on nuclear security, Edgars Rinkēvičs pointed out that compliance with security requirements at the Astravyets NPP comes first and that Latvia would also like to see a more active sharing of information between experts in nuclear security matters.
This was the annual meeting between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Belarus. Edgars Rinkēvičs visited Belarus on 25–26 July 2019.