On August 25 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Mr. Indulis Berzins met with Mr. Lloyd Doggett member of the US House of Representatives and Mrs. Libby Doggett.

Stressing constancy of the foreign policy priorities of Latvia - accession to the European Union and NATO - Mr. Berzins noted that the US support is very important for Latvia on its way towards these goals. The Minister stressed: "It would be very important if the NATO member states would urge Russia to understand that enlargement of the Alliance will happen and that in the future the Baltic states will also join it. Russia must understand that there will be no more grey zones in Europe any more. At the same time Russia must be actively involved in co-operation processes."

The Minister confirmed that Latvia has already been involved in international peace-keeping operations and is ready to continue such activities in the future. "Within the NATO framework we could do it even better. We do not ask security to be given to us, we want to give security," emphasised the Minister. He added that Latvia highly appreciates the US-Baltic Partnership Charter.

Mr. Lloyd Doggett, representing the Baltic Caucus of the House of Representatives, stressed that members of the Caucus have always been working to see that the Baltic states are never abandoned. Mr. Doggett noted the need for more active inter-parliamentary visits and support from Latvians living in the USA.

The officials also discussed the European Union integration process of Latvia. "We are ready to start negotiations with the European Union and step by step approach full integration into this organisation," confirmed Mr. Berzins.

Speaking about the integration issues, Mr. Berzins stressed that Latvia needs integrated society, non-citizens of Latvia must understand that the future of their children will be connected with this country, therefore they must become good citizens of Latvia.

Mr. Doggett and Mr. Berzins also discussed  relations of Latvia with neighbouring Russia and Belarus.

Mr. Lloyd Doggett was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994, before that he was a Justice at the Supreme Court of Texas.

(End of text)