First e-PINE meeting with participation of new US Administration held in Washington [05 Nov 2009]

On 5 November in Washington, a current meeting of e-PINE (Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe) was held, also attended by Political Director of the Foreign Ministry of Latvia, Peteris Ustubs. E-PINE consultations traditionally involve political directors of the foreign ministries of Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, and the USA. During the meeting in Washington, the parties are to discuss co-operation with the U.S. in the issues of international significance: energy security, the situation in Afghanistan and Iran, security policy, the relations with Russia and countries of Eastern Partnership. This is the first e-PINE meeting with participation of the new U.S. Administration. 

The e-PINE initiative was launched in 2003 as a wider-scale continuation of the U.S.-Baltic Partnership Charter with the aim of strengthening the U.S., Baltic and Nordic co-operation. The format of e-PINE sessions involves the organisation of regular 8+1 (Baltic and Nordic countries, and the U.S.) consultations by political directors, during which, the representatives of the participating countries exchange opinions on current international and regional issues. In October 2007, an e-PINE meeting was held in Riga. The previous event in this format took place in 2008 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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