On 24 September 2024, in Brussels, Belgium, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dace Melbārde, took part in a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union, where preparations were made for the European Council meeting on 17–18 October.
The preparatory session for the October European Council featured discussions on the provision of military, financial and energy sector related support to Ukraine, including to help the country prepare for the winter season. The Parliamentary Secretary stressed the need to support Ukraine’s energy sector and to make decision on the use of proceeds from immobilised Russian assets for a loan to Ukraine. In response to an assessment by former President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, she confirmed her support for the leaders’ discussion on the EU’s competitiveness.
In addition to the above, the meeting included a presentation on the priorities for the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Latvia underscored that regardless of a number of important elements in the Hungarian Presidency priorities, the programme lacked the most important – a focus on further broad-scale support to Ukraine. In her remarks, the Parliamentary Secretary emphasised the urgent need for a decision on the use of the European Peace Facility funds in support of Ukraine. While emphasising Latvia’s priorities, the Parliamentary Secretary pointed out that for promoting EU competitiveness it was essential to strengthen the EU Single Market in order to ensure its full functioning.
Representatives from the Member States then held an exchange of views on the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report. In her remarks, the Parliamentary Secretary underlined her support for the rule of law reporting process. At the same time, the involvement of civil society in the reporting process was highlighted, calling for civil society and its situation in the Member States to be given a broader role in the rule of law dialogue. The rule of law situation in four EU candidate countries – Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia – was also examined. Latvia sees it as important that candidate countries are involved in the rule of law reporting process to ensure their alignment with EU standards concerning the rule of law.
