Baltic States – CIS, Energy, Latvia, Legislation, Ukraine, USA

Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Andris Berzins. New York, 24.09.2014. Photo: president.lv

According to the President's Press Office, continuing his U.S. visit, Berzins participated in the opening of the United Nations general Assembly and had bilateral meetings with several heads of state and government yesterday.

During bilateral meetings with Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Berzins informed them about Latvia's priorities for the country's presidency at the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015. The presidents also discussed Macedonia and Serbia's progress toward EU membership, as well as Macedonia's contribution to the NATO-led operations.

During the bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian premier, Berzins and Yatsenyuk talked about the developments in Ukraine and further cooperation between Ukraine and Latvia, including during Latvia's presidency at the EU Council. The meeting proceeded in particularly cordial atmosphere, the Press Office informed LETA.

Yatsenyuk informed Berzins about the current political situation in Ukraine before the upcoming parliament elections to be held in one month, admitting that the situation was complicated and further developments difficult to predict. At the moment, energy supplies to Ukraine is the most crucial problem that needs to be solved before the arrival of winter, he said.

Closing the day, Berzins met with representatives from the Latvian community in New York to talk about the upcoming Saeima elections and candidates running in the elections.

As reported, Berzins left to the United States on September 21 and will return to Latvia on September 26.