Bilateral relations and regional issues discussed at Latvian and Egyptian political consultations

On 3 December 2020, political consultations in a video-conference format were held between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and the Arab Republic of Egypt. The consultations were co-chaired by Under-Secretary of State Jānis Mažeiks, who is Political Director at the Latvian Foreign Ministry, and the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt for European Affairs, Ambassador Badr Abdelatty.

The Political Director expressed appreciation for the active political dialogue between Latvia and Egypt and highlighted Latvia’s interest in expanding the economic dialogue, especially in the field of ICT and other technologies. He also noted that Latvia would like to develop cooperation with Egypt in student and teacher exchanges, joint educational projects and research. The diplomats discussed upcoming work on the drafting of bilateral agreements in preparation for a possible visit to Cairo by the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Minister of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, visited Latvia in October 2019. 

Political Director Jānis Mažeiks and Assistant Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty went on to talk about recent developments in the Middle East, including in Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean, Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, as well as in the Middle East Peace Process. The officials also shared opinions on the United States presidential elections and its relevance and impact for the Middle East and the Baltics. Jānis Mažeiks presented Latvia’s perspective of current events in the Baltic region and Europe’s Eastern Neighbourhood.  

These are the first political consultations with Egypt since the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a mechanism for bilateral consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Egypt. The memorandum was signed during the visit to Latvia by the Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt for European Affairs, Ambassador Amr Ramadan, on 22 November 2018.