Baltic States – CIS, Education and Science, Investments, Latvia, Legislation

Photo: flickr.com

The programme was established as an initiative of the Foreign Ministry in 2014 and aims at assisting with the development of future leaders for regions which are a foreign policy priority, providing practical contributions, and increasing Latvia’s presence.

In remarks delivered at the event, Andrejs Pildegovics pointed out that contributing to the education of future leaders is one of the principal means of support Latvia can offer to its partner countries. The successful results of last year's programme once again showed this is the case. He said that Latvia aims at establishing a long-term programme that will increase Latvia's visibility as an active supporter of reforms in the Eastern Partnership and Central Asian countries, while establishing a professional education centre in Riga which can serve the whole region.

The 2015 programme received financial support from other international partners and Andrejs Pildegovics thanked Luxembourg and the United States, which had co-financed the spring session, and Sweden, which had expressed readiness to sponsor several students at the autumn session. State Secretary Pildegovics also invited other countries to contribute to the programme.

Taking part in the spring session are 15 students from 13 countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The programme offers a training course for public administration and representatives of civil society on the EU and international economy, on political and legal issues, as well as ensuring the transfer of knowledge and experience from Latvia and EU institutions.

The programme is coordinated by the Riga Graduate School of Law with engagement of teachers and professors from the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, the University of Latvia, the Stockholm School of Economics and the European Institute for Public Administration.