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On 23 October 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a meeting of the Advisory Council on the participation of civilian experts from Latvia in international civilian missions led by international organisations. The council meeting, chaired by the Under Secretary of State, Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ivars Lasis, brought together officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The discussions at the Advisory Council addressed Latvia’s external political priorities in relation to sending civilian experts to international missions, drawing up an informative report on the participation of Latvian civilian experts in international missions, an improved process of preparing civilian experts, and using the knowledge acquired during missions.
Political Director Ivars Lasis emphasized that participation in international missions is in line with Latvia’s foreign policy priorities of building stability in the EU’s closest neighbouring countries and further beyond its borders. As a future elected member of the United Nations Security Council, Latvia also holds important the international rules-based order, in the provision of which international missions and the participation of Latvian civilian experts have an essential role to play.
The Latvian civilian experts serving at the EU Advisory Mission in Ukraine (EUAM UA) and the EU Mission in Armenia (EUM AR) shared their experience of participating in the missions. Members of the council heard their stories about what it means to become a civilian expert on an international mission, what the working and living conditions were like, and what competencies Latvia could offer to both the missions.
The Advisory Council was established under Cabinet Regulation No 74 of 24 January 2006, “Statute of the Advisory Council for the participation of civilian experts from Latvia in international civilian missions led by international organisations” as a consultative, coordinating body on current matters related to the participation of Latvia’s civilian experts in international missions.