On 17 January in Stockholm, Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins met with Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister, and Cecilia Malmstrom, the Swedish Minister for EU Affairs. 

At his meeting with Mr Bildt, the Latvian Foreign Minister discussed both regional co-operation within the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), where Latvia currently presides, and collaboration in a broader European perspective. Preparing the CBSS Riga summit, which is due to take place in June, Latvia is currently considering priority co-operation areas and assessing possible enhancement of the co-operation mechanism in association with other states of the region.      

Mr Bildt put an emphasis on an EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which will be high on the agenda during the Swedish presidency of the EU. The European Commission has begun work on drawing up the strategy. Both ministers were of the same opinion that the Riga summit is to be a central point of reference for defining regional priorities. The success of regional co-operation depends on active participation by each and every state in the region, including Russia, for the reason that our states face common challenges – primarily, the ecology of the Baltic Sea. Both parties also touched upon aspects of energy security.   

As regards bilateral collaboration, the ministers talked about the future of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. Mr Riekstins expressed Latvia's interest in maintaining co-operation with the institution, broadening it further to the new neighbouring states of the EU as well.

The Latvian Foreign Minister also met with Swedish Minister for EU Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom in order to discuss key EU issues. Mr Riekstins and Ms Malmstrom acknowledged that the ratification process of the Treaty of Lisbon is currently central to both states. Other EU issues considered included EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the approaching review of the EU budget. 

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