Analytics, Economics, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia

At the meeting of Andris Berzins and Ruprecht Polenz. Riga, 19.09.2012. Photo: president.lv

At the start of the meeting, Berzins praised the intensive political dialogue between Latvia and Germany, adding that Germany is one of Latvia’s most important trading partners and that Latvia hopes to attract German investments in manufacturing and sectors with a high level of added value. Polenz confirmed Germany’s interest in this.

The president also thanked his guest for Germany’s support for Latvia’s membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), confirming that Latvia will continue to pursue that aim.

The two officials particularly focused on the euro zone and its stability. The chairman of the Bundestag's foreign affairs committee thanked Latvia for continuing to seek membership in the euro zone, arguing that this is a wonderful international signal in terms of the euro as a stable currency. He also spoke about what he called decisive decisions aimed at resolving the crisis in the euro zone, including Germany’s vote on the fiscal stability agreement. Berzins insisted that Latvia is very much interested in negotiations about the EU’s multiyear budget for the period between 2014 and 2020. The two officials discussed the positions which EU member states have taken in regard to this issue, also talking about experiences related to the stabilization of national budgets.

Berzins confirmed that Latvia has achieved a certain level of economic stability and expressed support for Germany’s decisions. Both officials agreed that EU member states must work together to strengthen Europe as an increasingly important international player. The emphasis was on the fact that different countries have experience and knowledge about various cooperation partners and that this makes it possible to ensure as precise a view as possible about international processes.

The Latvian president also confirmed that he supports expanded partnerships in the areas of culture and education. At the conclusion of the meeting, the two officials also discussed the EU’s position vis-a-vis Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.