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From:Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee TD, yesterday (9 September) visited Latvia for a meeting with partners focused on key priorities including, competitiveness, enlargement, and Ukraine.

Following her visit to Estonia, Minister McEntee met with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Baiba Braže, and Foreign Ministers from Poland, Hungary, Finland and Croatia for discussions as Ireland’s EU Presidency heads into an important period of negotiations.

Minister McEntee also signed a letter of intent with Latvia on working together to support victims of sexual violence in Ukraine.

Speaking after her visit, Minister McEntee said: “I want to thank Minister Braže for inviting me to pay my first bilateral visit to Latvia as Foreign Minister. This visit comes at a time of immense challenge for Europe. We face escalating attacks on our soil, households face high energy costs, and Ukraine is heading into a difficult winter period.

“Coming away from our meeting, I am confident that we share the resolve to tackle these challenges head on. Our Presidency is ambitious and focused on delivering to meet the scale of events.

“We are progressing key files of the competitiveness agenda; making it easier for business to access finance, reducing energy costs, and simplifying rules to reduce the burden on our SMEs.

“We are similarly committed to continuing and enhancing support for Ukraine. My discussions yesterday built on the meeting of Foreign Ministers that I hosted in Ireland last week, and I look forward to working closely with colleagues over the coming months to make progress on building a safer, more prosperous Europe.”