New Latvian Foreign Minister's First Working Visit to Ukraine
On Friday, April 26, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Baiba Brazhe, who was appointed last week, arrived in Ukraine for her first working visit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia reported this on Twitter.
"The visit to Ukraine marks Minister Baiba Brazhe's first bilateral foreign visit, confirming the priority role of supporting Ukraine in Latvia's foreign policy," said the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In Kyiv's Mykhailivska Square, near the building of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed his Latvian counterpart. Together, they honoured the memory of those who lost their lives due to Russia's unleashed war against Ukrainian military personnel at the nearby memorial wall.
During a joint briefing, Dmytro Kuleba thanked Baiba Brazhe for consistently supporting Ukraine and leading the drone coalition. He stated that Ukrainian and Latvian companies could do much in this direction.
"Work is currently underway to increase drone production. We need more drones," said the head of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It was previously reported that Latvia plans to allocate at least 10 million euros per year to the drone coalition. The goal of the participating countries is to provide one million drones for Ukraine. On April 16, the Latvian government decided to send the first batch of drones as part of the coalition. Latvian government officials then stated that the drones for Ukraine are of high quality and have passed all necessary checks.
Recall that on Friday, April 19, at an extraordinary session of the Latvian Saeima, experienced diplomat Baiba Brazhe, who worked at the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 31 years, was approved as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
66 deputies voted for Brazhe's candidacy, 11 were against, and 9 abstained, as proposed by Prime Minister Eviķa Siliņa. "Baiba Brazhe is a professional in the field of foreign affairs, her name speaks for itself, she has a wide range of contacts. I have no doubt that she will be able to perform these duties from day one," emphasized the Prime Minister of Latvia.
Eviķa Siliņa also expressed gratitude to former Minister of Foreign Affairs Krišjānis Kariņš, who resigned the day before.