On 21 October 2020, the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the President of the National Council at the Federal Assembly of the Swiss Federation, Isabelle Moret, and members of the National Council.
The Latvian side underlined the long-standing cooperation between the two countries, their active bilateral dialogue and regular political consultations, pointing out that Latvia and Switzerland will be marking the centenary of their diplomatic relations in 2021. The delegations agreed on the need to strengthen business contacts, considering the potential for cooperation on high technologies, especially biomedicine, artificial intelligence, research and development. Edgars Rinkēvičs commended Latvian-Swiss cooperation in international organisations.
The officials also discussed issues of current importance for the EU, international politics and regional security, focusing attention on developments in Belarus. Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined that Switzerland is an important partner to the EU not only bilaterally but also in global matters. Minister Rinkēvičs expressed support to move ahead with the signing the Institutional Framework Agreement between the European Union and Switzerland since it would enhance the legal framework between the EU and the Swiss Confederation and facilitate bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Switzerland.
Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs thanked Switzerland for projects implemented in Latvia as part of the Swiss financial assistance programme and confirmed that Latvia is interested in continuing that cooperation in the future.
The President of the Swiss National Council and a delegation are in Latvia on an official visit from 20 to 22 October 2020, this being the first official visit to Latvia by the President of the Swiss Parliament.