On Wednesday, 5 October, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, welcomed Jürgen Ligi, the newly-appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs of Estonia, to the parliament of Latvia. The Speaker of the Saeima congratulated the neighbouring country with its forthcoming presidency of the Council of the EU and encouraged Estonia to continue the initiatives launched during the Latvian presidency, especially the strengthening of the Eastern Partnership.
Ināra Mūrniece praised the comprehensive progress Estonia is making in preparation for the presidency and expressed her delight for the opportunity to share the Latvian presidency experience. Minister Ligi confirmed that the Eastern Partnership is to be prioritised during the Estonian presidency in the second half of the 2017; the EU’s growth strategy and security constitute two other priorities.
Speaker Mūrniece emphasised that the current geopolitical landscape requires strong bilateral security and defence cooperation between the two countries.
Speaker of the Saeima also noted the positive regional cooperation. Both the Speaker and the Minister recognised the successful collaboration within the Baltic Assembly (BA) and Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) formats. As Estonia is to become the presiding country of the Baltic Assembly next year, Speaker Mūrniece wished the Minister a successful presidency and good progress in strengthening regional security, external border protection, and energy security.
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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBV1Sfcs9N4
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Saeima Press Service