The people of Belarus must be able to express their views freely and openly in the elections, such a position was expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs (JV) during a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Makey.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the meeting the parties discussed the situation before the upcoming presidential elections in Belarus, which will take place on August 9. Rinkevich called on Belarus to respect civil liberties.
During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers also discussed topical issues of the European Union-Belarus relations and issues of Latvian-Belarusian bilateral co-operation.
The Ministers praised the good neighborly relations between Latvia and Belarus, which were especially evident in the constructive co-operation so that the citizens of both countries could return home in the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis. Rinkēvičs acknowledged that Belarus is an important foreign trade partner of Latvia, with which co-operation in the field of transit and logistics is also important, and called for further work on an agreement on co-operation between the two countries in the field of transport and logistics.
Discussing nuclear safety issues, Rinkēvičs pointed out that compliance with the safety requirements of the Astravjec nuclear power plant is in the first place, as well as Latvia wants to see a more active exchange of information between experts on nuclear safety issues.
This was the annual meeting of Latvian and Belarusian foreign ministers. Rinkevich visited Belarus just a year ago.
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