On 16 November 2023, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Saudi Arabia, Nesreen Hamad Alshebel, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Zambia, Gladys Neven Lundwe, who are in Latvia for accreditation visits.
The State Secretary and the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia welcomed the exchange of bilateral visits. Andris Pelšs noted the visit of the Minister of Economics, Ilze Indriksone, to Riyadh in June, during which an economic cooperation agreement was signed. He called for further development of bilateral dialogue through political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the promotion of parliamentary cooperation, and continued efforts to expand economic cooperation. The officials discussed global security issues, including the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, stressing the need to respect international law. They also discussed cooperation in international organisations.
Ambassador Nesreen Hamad Alshebel of Saudi Arabia resides in Finland.
During his meeting with the Ambassador of Zambia, Andris Pelšs stressed Latvia’s desire to strengthen political dialogue and promote the development of economic relations. The cooperation so far has been successfully reflected in the implementation of two esiLV development projects, She Rebuilds the World, from 2022 to 2024.
The negotiating partners agreed to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a political consultation mechanism to maintain regular dialogue in the future.
The officials discussed relations between the European Union and Zambia, as well as regional developments in Europe and Africa. Andris Pelšs briefed the Ambassador on Latvia’s position on Russia’s full-scale aggression in Ukraine and called on Zambia to support the Ukrainian Peace Formula.
The Ambassador of Zambia, Gladys Neven Lundwe, resides in Stockholm.
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Accreditation ceremonies with the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, are scheduled for 17 November. The Ambassadors will also take part in the official programme of the 18 November Proclamation of Latvia celebrations.
