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On 19 May 2025, while hosting a working visit from the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Mihai Popșoi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Baiba Braže, voiced strong support for Moldova’s eurointegration and underlined that Latvia supports the opening of all EU membership negotiations chapters for Moldova as early as this year.
The Ministers discussed the bilateral relations between the countries, economic cooperation, support to Ukraine and a rules-based international order, the security climate in the region, including the fight against Russia’s unconventional threat, also in relation to the parliamentary election coming up on 28 September.
Foreign Minister Baiba Braže: “Moldova is an important partner to Latvia, and we have excellent bilateral relations. We discussed economic cooperation, including the interest of our businesses to cooperate in the field of ICT and renewable energy.
Latvia and Moldova share a common understanding of history and of the threat posed by Russian aggression – not only to its neighbours, but to the entire international law-based order. We discussed further support to Ukraine: Moldova has received the highest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita and given them considerable practical assistance.
Latvia will continue supporting Moldova’s security, integration into the EU, as well as the implementation of comprehensive reforms in the country in political and practical terms, bilaterally and at the EU level – this past February, we sent the first Latvian civilian expert to the EU Partnership Mission in Moldova, and in recent years Latvia has channelled EUR 150 000 in support Moldova’s energy sector.”
Baiba Braže highlighted successful examples of cooperation between Latvia and Moldova, including a direct airBaltic flight between Riga and Chisinau, and the Riga Graduate School of Law programme in European Law and Economy, which has so far been completed by 73 trainees from Moldova. Latvian NGOs, businesspeople and experts are also actively involved in the implementation of Moldova’s reform and modernisation projects. The Ministry of the Interior of Moldova has begun using the services of a Latvian company, Tilde.
At the press conference, the Minister reminded those present about the upcoming premiere of the Oscar-winning Latvian film “Flow” in Chisinau on May 31.
During the visit, Mihai Popșoi signed an Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on the recognition and exchange of driving licences. Under the inter-governmental agreement, the two countries will mutually recognise driving licences issued in the other country, and exchange them without requiring an additional test.
Baiba Braže and Mihai Popșoi jointly took part in a discussion with students of the NATO Field School.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Mihai Popșoi, is visiting Riga from 18 to 20 May. His visit includes meetings with the Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, the Chair of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee, Ināra Mūrniece, and the Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, Jānis Sārts. The Minister was also given a tour of the Museum of Occupation of Latvia and delivered a guest lecture to international relations students at the University of Latvia.