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Friday, 26.04.2024, 02:19
Ambassador: British-Latvian bilateral relations will become even stronger
The ambassador said that the UK’s relations with Latvia cannot be
considered only in the EU framework. Already now there is a strong bilateral
relationship, cooperation in NATO and other organizations. The cooperation is
ongoing and will continue in education, scientific research, trade and other
areas also after Brexit, Shannon said.
The things we do today they are highly valued among the member countries
and we will look for ways to do them slightly differently. We are need to be
more active with each individual member state as we are leaving the EU, so we
are working to strengthen bilateral relations with Latvia. It will also be
important to continue security cooperation not only within NATO but also
supporting stability and growth Eastern Europe, for example, in Ukraine, Georgia,
Moldova, which are important not only to Latvia but also the UK, the ambassador
said.
Assessing the progress made so far in the Brexit negotiations, the British
diplomat voiced confidence that certain progress has been made on citizen
rights issues, as well as on Ireland’s border and the UK’s financial
obligations towards the EU. He also noted that British Prime Minister Teresa May has clearly stated in her
speech in Florence that the UK would meet its financial obligations.
“My government’s position is that real progress has been made and we will
hear towards the end of the week whether that is recognized as sufficient
progress to move towards the next stage of the negotiations... But I would not
want to anticipate what decisions will be made by leaders of the EU 28… The
discussions are still ongoing… We are keen to move to the next stage of the
negotiations because we believe that the separation arrangement and future
relationships are closely interconnected and should be addressed simultaneously,”
Ambassador Shannon said.
It will still be necessary to debate cooperation in security, data
protection, science, innovation, education and other spheres.
The ambassador said that both sides are clearly interested in discussing
these issues and that there are no doubts that the UK will remain a close
partner of the EU.