Other events in Baltic States

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis is to arrive for a 3-day state visit to Estonia on Tuesday, in the course of which he will meet with his Estonian counterpart, Kersti Kaljulaid, speaker of the Riigikogu and the prime minister and visit the Locked Shields cyber defense exercise, informed LETA/BNS. 

On Wednesday, Vejonis and the Latvian First Lady, Iveta Vejone, will meet with Kaljulaid and her husband Georgi-Rene Maksimovski in Kadriorg, spokespeople for the president said. Vejonis will also lay a wreath at the base of the War of Independence Victory Column and head on to Toompea, where he will meet with the Estonian prime minister and the speaker of the parliament.

The Latvian head of state will also visit Maarjamae Memorial Grounds and Locked Shields, an international cyber defense exercise, and meet with the local Latvian community at the Latvian embassy in the late afternoon. In the evening, the Latvian presidential couple will attend a state dinner hosted by President Kersti Kaljulaid and Georgi-Rene Maksimovski at the Arvo Part Center in Laulasmaa.

Also on Wednesday, there will be a meeting between the foreign ministers of Estonia and Latvia, after which the Estonian-Latvian Language Award ceremony will take place.

On the second day of the visit, April 11, the president of Latvia will visit Sakret, the largest mortar factory in the Baltic states, which was founded on the basis of Latvian private capital and is located near the central Estonian county town Paide.

The Latvian and Estonian presidents and their spouses will then visit Tartu, where they will meet Mayor Urmas Klaas. In the afternoon, the Latvian head of state will deliver a public speech about the role of knowledge in the defense of liberties in the assembly hall of the University of Tartu. That will be followed by a commemoration of the soldiers of the Latvian Riflemen Regiment and Latvian refugees at Uus-Jaani Cemetery in Raadi.

The state visit will conclude with a visit to the Estonian National Museum.

The Latvian head of state will be accompanied on the state visit by Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, Minister of Economic Affairs Ralfs Nemiro and member of the parliament Janis Vucans, the office of the Estonian president said.

On Wednesday, Iveta Vejone and Georgi-Rene Maksimovski will visit Randvere School, where children with special educational needs have been successfully integrated into the regular learning environment. Vejone and Maksimovski will also visit the Viimsi Open Air Museum and the "Children's Republic" at the Estonian History Museum at Maarjamae Palace.

On Thursday, Iveta Vejone will visit the Rocca al Mare Vodja School in Jarva County, which offers a peaceful and green environment for children who cannot adjust well in bigger schools.

As part of the state visit, the Estonian president is to bestow on her Latvian counterpart the Collar of the Cross of Terra Mariana.

On the spouse of the president of Latvia, Kaljulaid will bestow the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class. The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class, will also be to given to the Latvian ambassador to Estonia, Raimonds Jansons, and Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevics.

Latvian Minister of Economic Affairs Ralfs Nemiro and head of the Office of the Latvian President Arnis Salnajs will be decorated with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class.

Deputy head of the president's office Egita Kazeka, head of the State Protocol of Latvia Elita Kuzma, foreign affairs adviser to the president Maija Manika and head of the Latvian-Estonian friendship group in the Latvian parliament Janis Vucans will be presented with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd Class.

Legal adviser to the Latvian president Andis Jekabsons, press adviser to the president Kristine Klaveniece, conductor Kaspars Putnins, head of the European affairs department of the Latvian Foreign Ministry Alberts Sarkanis and head of the president's protocol Renars Vilde will be decorated with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 4th Class.

The Order of the Cross of the Eagle, 4th Class, will be bestowed on head of the security service of the state president Valters Kalve and the Order of the Cross of the Eagle, 5th Class, on the president's adjutant Maj. Intars Forsu.