At the beginning of their conversation, the President of Estonia congratulated Latvia on its successful Presidency of the Council of the European Union, he noted that he had heard only good references and called on Latvia to share its experience with Estonia, whose Presidency was expected in 2018. While discussing the current events in the EU, both officials set out their visions of the situation in Greece and the Mediterranean region in the context of the increasing refugee flows. As for Greece, both Presidents agreed that it was important to wait for a high-quality offer as regards further action from Greece now. In relation to potential solutions to the problem of refugees, Raimonds Vējonis said that the EU Member States should be joint and several, but they should also try to take much wider perspective on solving this problem by investing in reduction of refugee flows. The EU had a wide range of options to provide necessary assistance to countries of origin of those refugees, thus contributing to their economic and political stability.
Later at the press conference, Raimonds Vējonis said, “Latvia and Estonia have always enjoyed very close relations and like-minded approach on many international issues. We have close political ties bilaterally. We closely cooperate in the EU and NATO on many challenging issues we face in today’s world. Difficulties and challenges created by the current external situation provides that Latvia and Estonia should work together even more closely as we are neighbours facing the same external issues and challenges. In these days, we must primarily strengthen our military cooperation. Latvia and Estonia should work together more closely in the area of common military procurement and strengthening the external border of the EU.”
Both Presidents also discussed relations of the Baltic States and Russia by pointing to their common concern about Russia's behaviour. Raimonds Vējonis said that under such conditions and taking into account actions of Russia over the last year and defaulting the Minsk agreement, discussing improvement in relations was impossible. In particular, the President of Latvia noted significance of the joint EU and NATO position and point of view in further development of cooperation. He highlighted Latvian concerns about Russian military activity nearby the borders and air space of the Baltic States and within the framework of various military exercises.
Raimonds Vējonis pointed to importance of improving economic situation in order to strengthen stability and security in the country as a whole. Therefore, he mentioned strengthening economic ties between Latvia and Estonia, by mentioning an excellent example of current operation of “Latvijas Finieris” in Estonia and plans for expanding their production for the next year. The officials discussed impact of Russian economic sanctions on both countries. Latvian and Estonian manufacturers had already successfully started redirection of their exports to new markets. The two Presidents also agreed that entrepreneurs of both countries should cooperate in conquering markets of large countries that required very big volumes of goods - they could propose a joint offer in such markets t make that supply much more competitive in such a way.
During the conversation with the President of the Estonian Parliament, the President of Latvia stressed that parliamentary cooperation still had ample potential for growth, calling on both inter-parliamentary cooperation groups to be more proactive in discussing the current events. The parties exchanged their views on the situation in Greece and solving migration problems in the European Union, as well as they discussed the situation in Ukraine.