AKIPRESS.COM - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Erlan Abdyldayev on 18 December, who was in Latvia on an official visit, the press service of the Latvian Ministry reports.
The sides discussed bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Kyrgyzstan, developments in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and expressed interest in a continued political dialogue.
The Ministers also agreed that it would be important to organize a meeting of the Latvia-Kyrgyzstan Intergovernmental Commission on economic cooperation.
During the meeting, a programme for cooperation between the Foreign Ministries for 2015-2017 was signed.
The Ministers also agreed to continue work on enhancing the legal framework for cooperation between the two countries. Several agreements are currently in the coordination stage, including those on air traffic, cooperation in education sector, cooperation in fight against terrorism, organized crime and illegal circulation of narcotic and psychotropic substances and their precursors, and cooperation in health protection and medical sciences.
Edgars Rinkēvičs emphasized that development of cooperation between the European Union and Central Asia is one of priorities in Latvia's foreign policy during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015. He invited representatives from Kyrgyzstan to take part in the Presidency events on education, transport and environmental protection.
Foreign Minister Abdyldayev stressed that Latvia, during its Presidency, has plenty of opportunities to contribute to the promotion of relations between the EU and Central Asian countries. Kyrgyzstan is interested in receiving support for improvement of its election system ahead of parliamentary elections in 2015.
He confirmed that Kyrgyzstan will comply with the ruling of the International Court of Arbitration in Paris in an investment dispute over Manas Bank, and the Government of Kyrgyzstan is dealing with the matter. The case, however, should not influence the development of Latvia-Kyrgyzstan relations.
During his visit, the Kyrgyz Foreign Minister also met with President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš and Deputy Speaker of the Saeima Gundars Daudze.
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