Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed the new Latvian Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis to Berlin. She praised the 25 years since Latvia gained its independence as "a major success story – both within the EU and in NATO".

"Facilitating and engaging in dialogue"

Angela Merkel said that Germany will meet its obligations, as agreed at the NATO summit in Wales in 2014. "Strengthening the security of all of NATO’s eastern member states is also Germany’s concern," declared the Chancellor. She promised greater German engagement within the framework of NATO in Eastern Europe. At the same time she stressed the importance of keeping the channels of communication open within the scope of the NATO-Russia Council. She said, the German government is delighted that the Council met again recently, after a two-year break.

"We must always facilitate and engage in dialogue. I believe this to be very important," said Angela Merkel. But she also stressed, "The planned increase in troops is in line with the NATO-Russia Act." The further commitments will be defined in more detail before the NATO summit in Warsaw, she said.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis underlined the fact that, "We are looking to Germany, also on security-related matters". He was very happy that the Chancellor had announced her support for securing Latvia’s eastern border, he added.

Cooperation – also on the refugee issue

Angela Merkel pointed to the bonds that link the two countries in many areas. In addition to the military sector, Germany is, for instance, supporting Latvia in training journalists and through a cooperation arrangement on television programmes. Latvia has introduced a dual vocational training system, and here too there is close cooperation between the two countries. "In the economic sector, we cooperate very closely, and we would like to step up this cooperation even further," said the Chancellor.

The Latvian Prime Minister announced that an agreement had been reached on cooperation on the refugee issue. He thanked the Chancellor for her refugee policy. Māris Kučinskis pledged that Latvia would meet its share of the obligations. He welcomed the agreement between the EU and Turkey. The Prime Minister did note, however, that his country would have to strengthen its eastern border, should there be new waves of refugees.

Germany is Latvia’s most important partner

Māris Kučinskis has been Prime Minister of Latvia since 11 February 2016. He underscored the fact that this is only his third foreign visit. Following visits to his direct neighbours Estonia and Lithuania, his next foreign visit has taken him to Germany because "Germany is Latvia’s most important partner in the European Union." He thanked Germany for its support since Latvia became independent. Māris Kučinskis stressed that Latvia fully supports the EU and NATO. There are no ethnic conflicts in his country, he said, and everybody agrees that Latvia belongs to the West.

In 1991 Germany was one of the first countries to recognise Latvia as an independent state and establish diplomatic relations.