On 8 December 2021, during a working visit to Warsaw, Poland, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Zbigniew Rau. The Ministers discussed regional security issues, including the security situation in Ukraine and current developments at the border between the European Union and Belarus, as well as cooperation in NATO.
This has been a special year as we marked the centenary of diplomatic relations between Latvia and Poland and the 30th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic ties, Edgars Rinkēvičs pointed out at the beginning of the meeting. He thanked Poland for its contribution to the security of Latvia and across the region.
Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined that the European Union’s solidarity and political unity with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland is a major aspect in reducing the effectiveness of the hybrid attack by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. Accordingly, the EU should continue its active engagement in the activities already underway, namely, move ahead with preventive work in the countries of origin and transit.
Coordinated action should go on in international formats so as to strengthen awareness among the international community of the actual situation and developments at the border with Belarus, Edgars Rinkēvičs noted.
The Latvian Foreign Minister said he was certain that Russia is currently causing the greatest political and security challenges in Europe’s neighbourhood. It is vital that Ukraine receive a strong international support and solidarity. Security challenges posed by Russia in the region are aggravated by the Lukashenko regime’s hybrid attack on the borders of the European Union and Russia’s confrontational rhetoric and threats, the Minister underlined.
The Ministers also discussed the upcoming EU Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Brussels on 15 December. Edgars Rinkēvičs thanked Poland for its active involvement in the Three Seas Initiative and its Investment Fund, and he updated his Polish colleague on the seventh Three Seas Initiative Summit and Business Forum that Riga is to host in June 2022.
As part of his working visit, Edgars Rinkēvičs met with Pavel Latushko, member of the Coordination Council established by the Belarusian opposition, and gave an interview to a Polish newspaper, Rzeczpospolita.