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On 19 October 2026, a coordination meeting between representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Lithuania was held in Burbiškis, Lithuania. The Latvian delegation was led by Andžejs Viļumsons, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The delegations discussed regional security, support for Ukraine and the containment of Russia, emphasising the need to strengthen sanctions, and agreed to maintain pressure on Belarus to end the instrumentalisation of illegal migration.
Regarding the EU agenda, participants of the coordination meeting discussed the priorities of the Lithuanian EU Presidency in the first half of 2027, as well as preparations for Latvian EU Presidency in the second half of 2028. The experts agreed to continue working together to ensure an ambitious EU budget for 2028–2034, which would provide sufficient funding for security and defence, including the strengthening of the eastern border and the Rail Baltica project, given its importance in ensuring military mobility, as well as for cohesion and agriculture.
The parties agreed that a close transatlantic partnership is indispensable to the security of the Euro-Atlantic area, and stressed the importance of continuing to strengthen it. In this regard, it is important to maintain the presence of NATO allies in the region and to support further strengthening and expanding EU–Canada cooperation across various fields.
Current issues concerning international organisations and matters of interest to the Baltic states were also discussed, taking into account Latvia’s membership of the UN Security Council. In this context, the importance of keeping Ukraine on the UN Security Council’s agenda and the need to continue close cooperation between the Baltic states and the NB8 within international organisations were emphasised.