Today, President of Latvia Egils Levits attended the 17th informal meeting of presidents of parliamentary and semi-presidential European Union member states in the capital of Malta, Valetta. Addressing the participants, President Levits emphasised that values and objectives shared by European Union (EU) countries will be the key drivers of the EU’s global efficiency in future. ‘We need to follow our values and objectives in everyday policies – that is our strength. We need better and faster decision-making, address our internal and external threats to make EU more efficient and competitive globally,’ President said.
President spoke about current security threats to Europe and its values resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He stressed that this is not a local conflict. It is a global security crisis. ‘EU must continue to provide comprehensive support to Ukraine, including military, political and humanitarian assistance. We must defend our values, advocate for peace. Peace is only possible if it is fair,’ Egils Levits pointed out.
Two international courts have already launched investigations into war crimes committed by Russia, reminded President. A special tribunal to prosecute Russia for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is still on the table, as well.
President of Latvia urged other countries to continue to work on legal ways to seize assets and property frozen by the West and owned by sanctioned Russian nationals and transfer these resources to Ukraine for the rebuilding of the country.
Egils Levits underlined that Latvia supports further enlargement of the EU and accession of Ukraine, Moldova and Western Balkan countries. ‘Each candidate country goes through an important process of transformation before it is allowed to join the EU,’ President of Latvia added.
As regards other threats to the security of Europe, President of Latvia mentioned hybrid threats, disinformation and attempts to manipulate public opinion through digital media and populism.
President of Latvia also made remarks about EU’s Cohesion Policy. It is one of the historically most significant objectives of the EU to make sure EU member states, social groups and people converge. ‘We owe this to future generations. We need faster decision-making to be able to deal with consequences and impact of war in Ukraine on everyday life in EU member states. This would enable us to deal with socioeconomic challenges of bringing refugees in more efficiently.’
During the discussion, President Levits suggested talking about how to make the best use of EU funding for developing countries. ‘Development assistance must be linked to good governance or otherwise EU investments will only fuel corruption and get misappropriated. We must support victims, not regimes. That is the only way to achieve global justice and promote adherence to international law and global peace,’ Egils Levits said.
Presidents of parliamentary and semi-presidential European Union member states gathered in the capital of Malta, Valetta, today for the annual meeting of the so-called Arraiolos Group. The agenda included topics like European security, support to Ukraine during the war with Russia, EU Cohesion Policy and global efficiency.
