Egils Levits, who is also a former ambassador of Latvia to Switzerland, expressed his pleasure about the interest of Swiss parliament to deepen relations with Latvia. President Moret thanked the Latvian side for hospitality and expressed her hope that this visit will lead to establishment of Latvian-Swiss parliamentary friendship group for further enhancing of partnership between the two countries.
President Levits and Swiss Federal Speaker Moret discussed EU-Switzerland Institutional Framework Agreement, which is currently under debate. According to Egils Levits, free movement between the EU and Switzerland is important for Latvia, which is looking forward to building closer cooperation with Switzerland in a number of fields. Latvia hopes the Swiss government, parliament and people will vote in favour of the framework agreement.
Swiss delegation was keen to find out Latvia’s position with regard to Russia and Belarus. President Levits commented on Latvia’s position towards developments in Belarus and underlined that Latvia condemns use of force to quell peaceful demonstrations. The right of Belarusian people to decide their own future must be respected. ‘Latvia thinks Belarus should hold free, democratic and fair elections. They should also let OSCE observers monitor the election process. Latvia does not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus because his tenure has expired,’ said the President Levits.
Meeting also focused on fight against COVID-19 in Latvia and Switzerland. Swiss parliamentary delegation praised Latvia for successful containment of virus and protecting society against the pandemic.
