On 20 September 2021 in New York, during the high-level week of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, had a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women of Australia, Marise Payne.
Edgars Rinkēvičs spoke highly of Latvia’s political cooperation with Australia. He expressed hope that the opening of a Latvian Embassy in Australia was a major step towards building an even closer cooperation between the two countries. It is also gratifying that, regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade between Latvia and Australia has increased, Minister Rinkēvičs noted. The Ministers were of one mind about the need to work on the expansion of the Latvian-Australian legal framework to promote economic cooperation between the two countries.
Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined Latvia’s excellent cooperation with Australia in UN formats. Latvia highly appreciates the close partnership with Australia in combating disinformation, said the Minister.
The Ministers also discussed the state of affairs in the region and global security challenges. Edgars Rinkēvičs said he was deeply convinced that Australia’s cooperation with NATO and contribution to international peace and security is rooted in shared values and interests. The Australian Foreign Minister gave an update on developments in the Indo-Pacific region highlighting the need for a continued close coordination on these matters with like-minded countries, including Latvia.
During their meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs and Marise Payne also discussed developments in relation to a new security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (AUKUS), which envisages providing Australia with nuclear technologies to develop nuclear submarines.