Thursday, February 21, 2019
The Minister L. Linkevičius drew attention to the fact that even under such difficult conditions the reform process in Ukraine was still ongoing. He also called for an increased targeted assistance to Ukraine because of Russia’s actions in the Sea of Azov. “There is a need for an effective, proportionate, and politically responsible EU response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine / the Kerch Strait, while the detained seamen are still…
The European Union (EU) Advisory Mission Ukraine should have a stronger representation in eastern Ukraine, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (New Unity) believes. Today, Rinkevics participated in the meeting of the EUForeign Affairs Council in Brussels, at which the EU member states held a discussion on the reform process Ukraine, including the upcoming election, the security situation in the east of the country and the region of the Sea of…
Politico Brussels Playbook wrote that 4 February 2019 might go down in the history books as a “fatal blow … to the EU’s attempts to be taken seriously on a global stage”. Agreement on the joint statement of the EU–Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting was blocked by Hungary. The EU was unable to adopt a joint position on Venezuela because Italy disagreed, leading to a collection of individual member states endorsing…
Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas and Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins discussed at a meeting in Tallinn on Friday relations between the two states and common issues in the European Union as well as on a regional level. On Friday, Ratas met with Karins, for whom this was the first foreign visit during his term of office, spokespeople for the government said. The Prime Ministers discussed relations between Estonia and…
The US President Donald Trump is no doubt a successful businessman who rules his country as if it is a huge enterprise. And this kind of management, to his mind, should lead to success. And very often it really works. As a wise leader he uses different tools to reach his goals. Thus, the most cunning one, which the US exploits in Europe – is indirect influence on the EU…
Latvian residents enjoy fewer “healthy life years” than any other European Union country, according to latest data from Eurostat released February 4. Despite its proximity just across the Baltic Sea, Sweden is right at the other end of the healthy life year scale with Swedes enjoying around two decades of extra healthy living. “The EU country with the highest number of healthy life years in 2016 for both women and men was Sweden (73.3…
It is better to reform the European Union (EU) than to abandon or destroy it, Manfred Weber, Chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP) Group in the European Parliament, told LETA. The bloc’s future in in the hands of its citizens, not bureaucrats, he said. Weber also emphasized the significance of the upcoming European Parliament elections which are expected to help answer the fundamental question whether we as European are…
During a discussion on current defense and security matters at an informal meeting of the European Union’s defense ministers, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks (For Development/For) said that a number of EU defense initiatives are being successfully developed. Pabriks indicated that the European Defense Fund and the Permanent Structural Cooperation (Pesco) are effective instruments for strengthening countries’ military capabilities and that they also allow for successful cooperation with the bloc’s…
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday that US President Donald Trump’s regular complaints about the alliance had not undermined it – adding that his criticism on defense spending was having a positive impact. Trump has frequently blasted members of the 29-nation western security partnership for not paying more into their national defense budgets, the AFP news agency reports. He has clearly stated that NATO allies need to invest more.…
The Queen has urged people to find “common ground” and to respect “different points of view”. Commentators say the remarks will be seen as referring to the Brexit debate, with MPs due to vote on the PM’s deal for leaving the EU again next week. MPs rejected the deal last week but the UK will leave on 29 March with no deal unless they can agree on a way forward.…
