On 1 March 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs met with the Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament), Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, who is in Latvia on a working visit. This is her first visit abroad in the capacity of Speaker of the Seimas.
During the meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs and Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen discussed matters of current importance in bilateral and regional cooperation and international relations.
The Foreign Minister and the Speaker of the Seimas noted the traditionally active cooperation between the Parliaments of Latvia and Lithuania. Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said that a new generation has entered politics in Latvia and Lithuania, and building closer contacts between young politicians would be important for the future development of cooperation between Latvia and Lithuania. Edgars Rinkēvičs pointed out that it would be important to facilitate broader coverage of events in Latvia and Lithuania by making the neighbourhood news easily available to the media in each country.
Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs also underlined that further efforts should be made to successfully advance the Rail Baltica project and by 2025 to achieve the strategic goal of the Baltic States – synchronisation of their electricity grid with the continental European network.
The Foreign Minister and the Speaker of the Seimas noted the close cooperation to formulate and express a common position about the state of affairs in Belarus and Russia and to coordinate support for the Eastern Partnership countries.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen has been Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas since 13 November 2020. During her working visit, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen met with the President of Latvia, Egils Levits, and the Speaker of the Saeima (the Latvian Parliament), Ināra Mūrniece.