NordenBladet — At the meeting of the President of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas and the President of Latvia Egils Levits, the mutual relations between the two countries as well as cooperation within the framework of the European Union were discussed.

Põlluaas congratulated Levits on his election as the President of Latvia, and recognised his decision to make his first foreign visit to Estonia immediately after he had assumed office.

Levits said that the aim of his first foreign visit was to strengthen good-neighbourly relations between the two countries and to develop regional cooperation.

At the meeting, it was stated that Estonia and Latvia had common interests and understanding in many areas that were important to the whole Baltic region. “The Baltic cooperation is a historically established and well-functioning institutional network which mainly aims at promoting the development of the region,” Põlluaas said.

Põlluaas and Levits considered it important to tighten the cooperation between Estonia and Latvia in protecting the common interests in the European Union when developing common positions and protecting them in the EU decision-making process.

At the meeting, the cooperation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in connection with Russia’s activities was touched upon. Levits said that, in the near future, the Latvian parliament was going to discuss further action and would consult with other countries on how to respond to Russia’s activities.

Põlluaas and Levits gave a brief overview of the activities of the parliaments that had commenced work. The issues relating to the excise duty on alcoholic beverages which have been topical in the mutual relations between the two countries in recent times were also mentioned. It was stated that it was necessary to improve the exchange of information on the issues relating to excise duties as well as on other issues of interest.

In the afternoon, Levits also met Vice-President of the Riigikogu Siim Kallas and members of the Riigikogu Kadri Simson and Indrek Saar.

 

Source: Parliament of Estonia