On January 16th, 2012 Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko held a meeting with Speaker of the Saeima (Parliament) of the Republic of Latvia Solvita Āboltiņa.

The meeting was focused on inter-parliamentary cooperation between Ukraine and Latvia. In this regard, both sides emphasized on the importance of the upcoming visit to Latvia by Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn, as well as further cooperation between both countries’ parliamentary groups.

During the meeting the Speaker of the Saeima reiterated Latvia’s consistent support for the European aspirations of Ukraine and the readiness to share Latvian experience in approximation of legislation towards the EU standards.

“As for Ukraine-EU relations, we fully support European integration of Ukraine, and welcome finalizing of negotiations on the Association Agreement”, stated the Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic Latvia.

Both sides expressed mutual interest of the two countries in further enhancement of cultural and humanitarian cooperation.

The Speaker Solvita Āboltiņa underlined the important role of the Ukrainian community in Latvia. “We are glad that our children can study Ukrainian in Riga in the renovated Ukrainian Secondary School”, she said while mentioning today’s opening of the renovated building of the Ukrainian School in Riga.

Foreign Minister of Ukraine expressed gratitude to the Latvian State for caring about ethnic Ukrainians living in Latvia.