On 11 June 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, had an online introductory meeting with Kairat Abdrakhmanov, High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs expressed support for what the OSCE High Commissioner has been doing for the sake of protecting the rights of national minorities in the OSCE member states.
Edgars Rinkēvičs spoke with the OSCE High Commissioner about Latvia’s experience with the implementation of the educational reform launched in 2018, which, while not being easy, has nevertheless been in compliance with the standards of international law.
The Commissioner commended Latvia’s achievements concerning societal integration, including in education and with regard to the official language, and he invited Latvia to share best practices. The Commissioner also spoke with the Foreign Minister about his activities in other OSCE countries.
As part of his introductory visits to OSCE member states, this May and June, the High Commissioner also had virtual meetings in Latvia with the Head of the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs, the Minister of Education and Science, and representatives from the Ministry of Culture and non-governmental organisations. The OSCE High Commissioner Abdrakhmanov commented positively on Latvia’s implementation of educational reforms and the reduction of the number of non-citizens.
Background information
Kairat Abdrakhmanov was appointed OSCE High Commissioner on 4 December 2020. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan from 2016 to 2018, and has been a career diplomat since 1993. The last visit to Latvia by the former OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier, took place in March 2019.