On 13 October, at the Riga Castle, President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs welcomed the newly-elected President of Estonia Dr. Ülle Madise on her working visit to Latvia. It is Estonian president’s first foreign visit after the appointment.
During the meeting, heads of both states discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral relations between Latvia and Estonia, mainly focusing on economic and defence industry cooperation. Ülle Madise and Edgars Rinkēvičs exchanged views on defence and security cooperation in the Baltics and wider region, in particular fostering of NATO eastern flank defences and countering of hybrid threats, as well as military, political and economic support to Ukraine in war against Russian aggression.
President of Latvia congratulated President Madise on assuming the office of the President of Estonia, thanking her for continuing the symbolic tradition of paying the first foreign visit to Latvia.
“Latvia is grateful for the close and active dialogue with Estonia, and practical support extended to Latvia on regular basis, for example, during the aftermath of electricity blackout caused by storm this August, and also Estonia’s help in fighting illegal migration,” Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined during the meeting.
Both countries need to keep working together and coordinate with other countries in the region in securing appropriate funding from the European Union’s (EU) multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034 for reinforcement of the eastern border of the Union, he emphasised.
Officials also discussed security context in Europe and the Baltic region. According to the President of Latvia, NATO’s eastern flank strongly needs to boost its air defence and work out sustainable, cost-efficient ways to enhance anti-drone capabilities. “We see that Russia’s “risk appetite” keeps growing. So does its desire to minimise Western support to Ukraine at all cost. It sows fear and uncertainty among people in the NATO countries, such as Latvia, and keeps testing NATO’s response and reaction,” President Rinkēvičs stressed.
