Foreign Ministry Secretary of State appreciates support from WFFL

On 22 September, the annual Board Meeting of the World Federation of Free Latvians (WFFL) was opened in Riga.  

The Chairman of the WFFL Board Mārtiņš Sausiņš informed in his address about the Federation’s activities and encouraged citizens of Latvia residing in Latvia and abroad to participate in the 10^th Saeima (Parliament) elections. Sixty-four polling stations have been located abroad this year.

Welcoming addresses to the participants and guests of the meeting were given by Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, the Minister of Education and Science Tatjana Koķe, the Minister of Defence Imants Lieģis, and the Foreign Ministry Secretary of State Andris Teikmanis. In his speech, Andris Teikmanis thanked the WFFL for its active position in relation to the upcoming elections and for support to the mobile passport workstation project which was instrumental in receiving more than 1000 applications for issuing or changing the Republic of Latvia passports in the United States, Canada and Australia. The Foreign Ministry Secretary of State expressed satisfaction with the Co-operation Memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the WFFL - a document which formulates the underlying principles for further co-operation. Mr Teikmanis voiced hope that such co-operation could also facilitate Latvia's economic contacts all over the world.

The WFFL Board Meeting will run for three days and will be concluded on 24 September. The WFFL unites all Latvian organizations and associations worldwide, and is the largest NGO working together with the Latvian state.