Foreign minister on two-day visit in Latvia

On 7-8 September 2022, foreign minister Jeppe Kofod and four members of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee visited Latvia.

The foreign minister and the MPs met with the Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs. The officials discussed bilateral relations between Denmark and Latvia, regional cooperation, security situation in the region and other international developments. The Ministers condemned Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, which has irreversibly changed the security climate all across Europe. The Latvian Foreign Minister greatly appreciated Denmark’s significant contribution to NATO’s defence and deterrence efforts in the Baltic region.    

Afterwards, the delegation visited Ādaži Military Base to meet the Danish soldiers at the HQ of the NATO’s Multinational Division North (MND North) led by Denmark together with Latvia and Estonia as framework nations. The visit was followed by a visit to the camp of the Danish infantry battalion with the 750 Danish soldiers deployed since May 2022. The delegation had lunch with some of the Danish soldiers, and were then guided around to see the camp, and meet some of the Danish soldiers. 

During the visit, the foreign minister and MPs also visited NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. The NATO StratCom COE, based in Riga, contributes to improved strategic communications capabilities within the Alliance. Strategic communication is an integral part of the efforts to achieve the Alliance’s political and military objectives. Denmark joined the Centre in 2019 and has currently one staff member posted from MFA. 

The visit ended by the Danish and Latvian Foreign Ministers unveiling the Danish photographer Martin Thaulow’s outdoor exhibition, “Brothers and Sisters”, arranged by the Danish Culture Institute in Riga with support from the Danish MFA. The exhibition tells the personal stories of some of the people who have had to flee from Ukraine to Latvia among other countries. In times of war and crisis, the human experience is often reduced to numbers and statistics; it is difficult to conceptualise the idea of more than 6 million people fleeing their homes and families. Brothers & Sisters strives to show each human as an individual person with a name, a face and a story. The exhibition is displayed in the center of Riga for the next month.