Foreign Minister of Latvia and Sweden find bilateral relations excellent

On 28 November, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs hosted an introductory visit from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt. Both Rinkēvičs and Bildt found the bilateral political, economic and cultural relation between both countries excellent and noted those as a good basis for future cooperation. The year 2011 was special for both countries, which marked the 20^th anniversary since the restoration of Latvian-Swedish diplomatic relations.  

During the meeting both foreign ministers discussed the situation in the Eurozone and shared the opinion that the necessary measures for preventing crisis should be taken as soon as possible. The Swedish Foreign Minister made note of Latvia’s successful economic growth figures in the wake of the 2008-2009 crisis and named the restructuring of our country’s economy as a good example for the problem-hit Eurozone countries.

The ministers exchanged opinions on regional cooperation and the topical subjects on the EU agenda, related to the EU enlargement process and the EU Eastern Partnership. Latvia and Sweden share the opinion regarding the need for sustaining a closer dialogue with EU’s neighbours.  

Before the meeting with Minister Rinkēvičs, Mr Bildt had a brief discussion with Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. After the visit at the Foreign Ministry, Swedish Foreign Minister also went to meet the Minister of Defence Artis Pabriks. This is Carl Bildt’s second visit to Latvia this year. On 18 February he was in Latvia during the official visit by the Prime Minister of Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt.