On 7 March 2022 in Riga, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra, for a discussion on developments in Ukraine and further steps in response to aggression by Russia and Belarus.
During the meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs expressed support for Ukraine being granted status of a candidate for membership of the European Union. It is vital to show Ukraine that its goal – EU membership – is realistic, and it is supported by all the Member States, the Minister underlined.
Edgars Rinkēvičs informed his counterpart that Latvia would continue its military, humanitarian and financial support for Ukraine. The Minister welcomed the Netherlands’ decision to provide not only humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine but also to supply arms thereby strengthening the country’s military defence capabilities.
The Latvian Foreign Minister also underlined that a strong and coordinated international diplomatic, political and economic pressure must be sustained on Russia, including in international organisations. Edgars Rinkēvičs expressed satisfaction with additional support provided by the Netherlands and its increased presence to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank. Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and its consequences have fully changed the security situation in Europe, he noted. A strong partnership between the EU and NATO is essential for demonstrating unity and respond to global threats and challenges, the Minister said.
The officials also talked about the issues of bilateral relations between Latvia and the Netherlands. Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined that the Netherlands was a like-minded partner with whom active cooperation was under way not only on regional security, EU and NATO related matters, but also on other topics, for instance, energy security. Edgars Rinkēvičs informed the Netherlands Foreign Minister that there were plans to considerably increase the number of wind power plants in the coming years in order to reduce Latvia’s energy deficit and dependence on external suppliers.