EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation

Photo: flickr.com

In discussing the current course of the Latvian Presidency, the minister pointed to the job being done by officials from ministries other than the Foreign. Rinkevics mentioned having heard various positive remarks about the performance of Latvian officials.

"I can say with confidence that we have experienced no failures," he said. "On the contrary – I am hearing positive remarks about how professional our ministers and representation in Brussels are," Rinkevics added.

Asked about any possible failures or the fact that people in rural areas are not well informed about the course of the Presidency, Rinkevics expressed puzzlement.

"Were they expecting drama [..] or some special entertainment?" he asked rhetorically. "I believe that the fact that everything is progressing peacefully, in terms of bureaucracy and politics, is an achievement". He reminded that not everything was peaceful, referring to the Paris terror attacks.

"With regard to rural areas, [..] we decided that we will focus on Riga, as it would not cause any inconvenience in terms of logistics," the minister said, adding that the decisions made during the Presidency will begin to show results in the long-term.

As reported, the presidency of the Council of the EU is taken in turn by each of the 28 member states of the European Union, according to a rotation system for a period of six months.