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European commissioners visit Riga to launch Latvian presidency of Council of EU

Xinhua, January 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

A group of European commissioners led by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker paid a visit to Latvia on Thursday to inaugurate its presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), local media reported.

During the visit to Riga, the College of Commissioners intends to address the priorities of the Latvian presidency and promote dialogue between social partners, nongovernmental organisations and society, on the one hand, and the European Commission, on the other hand, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said.

Juncker started his visit by meeting with Latvian President Andris Berzins in the morning.

"He praised our government and said he would not be its teacher," the Latvian president told journalists following the meeting with the Commission's president, adding that Juncker had also spoken appreciatively of Latvia's high preparedness for the presidency.

Describing Latvia's vision of its priorities for the presidency of the Council of the EU, the Latvian president indicated that Latvia had been working consistently in recent years to expand cooperation with Eastern Partnership and Central Asian states, which now and in the future might be highly important for the entire bloc.

The talks also focused on the EU's economic growth and Juncker's investment initiative for Europe, energy policy and Latvia's interests in these areas.

The EU commissioners participated in six sectoral discussions with Latvian lawmakers, social partners, as well as representatives of the academia and nongovernmental groups on Thursday. The topics of these exchanges of views included the Commission Work Programme 2015, the EU's foreign policy priorities, the jobs, growth and investment package, the European Semester and related issues, as well as the Energy Union and the Digital Single Market.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, who participated in the foreign policy debate with members of the Latvian parliament foreign affairs committee, indicated that the Latvian presidency of the Council of the EU represented an opportunity to develop a balanced approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Mogherini added at the same time that the EU must not stop providing support to Ukraine and that it is necessary to use the valuable experience accumulated by Latvia in its relations with Russia both historically and geographically.

The Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU will last from January 1 to June 30, 2015. The 200 events planned for this period include informal meetings of EU ministers and experts, conferences, seminars and events. Some of them will take place in the new building of the Latvian National Library, which opened in 2013. At least 700 foreign journalists are expected to visit Latvia to cover the presidency events.

It is expected that one of the central events of the Latvian Presidency of the EU will be the Eastern Partnership Summit gathering heads of state and government from all EU member states and Eastern Partnership countries, as well as representatives of EU institutions. Enditem