Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš will meet US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon [11 Aug 2009]

On 12 August the Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš will meet the Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, Philip Gordon, to discuss the bilateral relations between Latvia and the USA and some regional topics. During the meeting, it is planned to discuss energy policy issues and the current agenda of NATO, including the development of the new NATO strategic concept. 

The Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš has previously met with Philip Gordon during his working visits in the USA on 14 July 2009 and on 10 October 2008. This will be Philip Gordon's first visit to Latvia.

During his stay in Latvia, the US assistant Secretary of State will have a meeting with the Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.

Dr. Philip Gordon was nominated as Assistant Secretary on March 6, 2009 and took the oath of office on 15 May 2009. Philip Gordon was the Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council and, at the same time, member of the Council of Foreign Relations. In 2008 during the presidential elections campaign, Philip Gordon was the senior counsellor of Barack Obama in foreign policy issues concerning. From 2000-2009, he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, in Washington, DC, where he focused on a wide range of European and U.S. foreign policy issues. Prior to joining Brookings, Dr. Gordon was Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton.  

Dr. Gordon has also held teaching and research posts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London; the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC; INSEAD, in Fontainebleau, France and Singapore; and the German Society for Foreign Affairs in Bonn.