On 20 May 2024, Riga hosted political consultations between Latvia and Slovenia. The State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Andris Pelšs, and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia, Marko Štucin, discussed bilateral relations and topics on the European Union agenda – EU enlargement and adjustment, the rule of law, and migration – as well as urgent security policy issues and developments in Ukraine.
Both parties reaffirmed their readiness to continue the active political dialogue between Latvia and Slovenia and to strengthen economic cooperation; they welcomed in particular the role of the Slovenian Embassy opened in Riga in December 2023. Andris Pelšs also expressed his hope that the direct Riga-Ljubljana flights launched by airBaltic in May would contribute to the development of people-to-people contacts and promote tourism and cultural and economic relations between Latvia and Slovenia.
This year Latvia and Slovenia mark the twentieth anniversary of their membership in the European Union and NATO. The officials underlined that, in order to promote peace and stability in today’s geopolitical situation, it is important to continue strengthening cooperation in multilateral formats. Andris Pelšs offered his gratitude to Slovenia for its contribution to the NATO enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Latvia.
When discussing the process of EU enlargement, the diplomats agreed that the fundamental values of the EU, including the rule of law, should be a key prerequisite for the accession of new Member States to the EU. In the context of security policy issues, the State Secretaries agreed that all possible long-term support to Ukraine should continue in its freedom fight against the Russian aggression.
