President Iohannis will pay an official visit on Wednesday to the Republic of Latvia, followed by an official visit to the Republic of Lithuania, scheduled on Thursday, and the President’s participation in the international symposium called The Idea of Europe, in Kaunas (Lithuania), on Friday, as well as in the meeting of the heads of state of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Romania, Agerpres reports.

According to the Presidential Administration, within the visit to Riga (Latvia), which takes place in the centennial year of establishing the Romanian-Latvian diplomatic relations, President Iohannis will carry out political consultations with his Latvian counterpart Egils Levits, as well as meetings with Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins and Speaker of the Latvian Parliament Edvards Smiltens.

The official visit to Vilnius (Lithuania) will include President Iohannis’ political consultations with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda and a meeting with Lithuania’s Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen.

The Presidential Administration informs that on the discussions’ agenda of President Klaus Iohannis with the Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts, as well as with other high officials, also included will be the strengthening of the bilateral relations, including the economic and sectorial cooperation, the European and international agenda.

„Taking into account the worsening of the security situation in the context of Russia’s aggression war against Ukraine, an important place in the discussions shall be grated to the cooperation within NATO and strengthening the Eastern Flank of the Alliance for ensuring Europe’s security, including through Romania’s participation in the enhanced air policing mission in the Baltic countries, as of 2023. Also discussed will be the possibilities to increase the assistance efforts for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, taking into account the damage caused by the war and the coming of winter, as well as measures to support grain exports from Ukraine, in order to ensure food security of some vulnerable third countries,” the quoted source stated.

On the discussions’ agenda also included will be the energy security, with an emphasis on solutions for diversifying Europe’s gas supply, in order to reduce dependence on the Russian gas. The developments in the Republic of Moldova and the assistance measures in the difficult economic context that the neighboring state is going through will also be addressed, as well as regional cooperation, including in view of the Bucharest 9 Format and the Three Seas Initiative.

President Klaus Iohannis will participate, on the second day of the visit to Lithuania, in the symposium called „The Idea of Europe,” organised in Kaunas, by the Vytautas Magnus University, where he will deliver a speech within the presidential panel.

The head of state will also attend, alongside his counterparts from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, a summit dedicated to strengthening the Eastern Flank of NATO, supporting Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and promoting European memory, with a focus on combating disinformation and the attempts to rewrite history.

Agerpres