Swedish crown princess, prince visit Riga to reaffirm close ties

RIGA, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Crown Princess of Sweden, Victoria, and her spouse, Prince Daniel, arrived in Riga on Friday on an official visit to reaffirm the close Latvian-Swedish relations in the year of Latvia's centenary.

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, who met with Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel at Riga Castle, noted that Latvia and Sweden are united by close bilateral ties and long-term cooperation in "virtually all areas" and by values of "democracy, freedom and solidarity."

"I am confident that we will be able to overcome future challenges by cooperating in security and defense, as well as in the defense of our information environment and cybersecurity," Latvian presidential spokespeople quoted Vejonis as saying.

Vejonis mentioned innovation, digitalization and new technologies as the most perspective areas for further cooperation between the two countries. Also, building a consolidated and strong European Union and developing transatlantic cooperation is equally important to Latvia and Sweden, Vejonis said.

Regarding education cooperation between both countries, the Latvian president also praised Sweden's role in establishing such leading education institutions in Latvia as the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) and Riga Graduate School of Law, which are training future business and public administration leaders not only for the Baltic states by also countries involved in the EU's Eastern Partnership program. Enditem