The President of Latvia, Eglis Levits, stressed this Wednesday in Lisbon during an official visit to Portugal’s “active role” in the global south and the importance of convincing these countries of the need to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“Portugal has historically had very close ties with Africa, Latin America, Brazil, Asia, it is very active in relations with the designated global south” and has the opportunity to “explain the situation and why it is in the interest of all countries in the world, from the 193 member states of the UN, that Ukraine must fully restore its territorial integrity,” the President of Latvia said.
Levits made a joint statement with his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa after an official reception at the Belém Palace on the first day of his official visit to the country.
In his statement in English and without question from journalists, Levits, who has been in power since July 2019, emphasized the contribution of the two countries to the cause of peace and security in Europe as members of the European Union and NATO, and in particular the Air Guard of the Western Military Alliance in the Baltic region with Portugal.
Earlier, in a statement also in English and referring to the conflict in Ukraine, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza had already stressed Portugal’s role in “engaging other countries” and the need to “raise awareness”.
“This is not just a European war, this is not a local war, this is not a regional war, this is a global war. Very often, countries on these different continents, being far from what they consider to be a European conflict, do not understand how important it is to have this global vision. (…) I am talking about African countries, the Middle East and other countries, but specifically about these neighboring areas where Russian interventions are trying to weaken the southern and southeastern flanks of the European Union and NATO,” he said. Marcelo.
The war in Ukraine was the dominant theme in the brief statement of the Latvian leader when he condemned the aggression against a sovereign and independent country whose goal is to “extinguish” it, as a common duty to support resistance, in the name of the principles of international law and in the context of the “global challenge to peace and security all over the world” from Russia.
During his official three-day visit, which began this Wednesday, the president of the small Baltic State, educated in law and political science, highlighted the cooperation between Lisbon and Riga in various international organizations, underlined Kiev’s common political and humanitarian support, and stressed the organization of the economic forum between the two countries on Thursday with the signing of a joint memorandum of understanding in the field of biomedicine.
At the end of his speech, the Latvian Head of State also stressed the need to strengthen European solidarity so that Europe assumes the role of a global player.
In the program of this Wednesday, Eglis Levits planned a working lunch with the head of diplomacy Joao Gomes Cravinho, a trip to the Lisbon city council and an official dinner organized by his Portuguese counterpart.
On Friday, the last day of the state visit, he travels to Évora for the presentation of the European Capital of Culture Évora 2027 and the European Capital of Culture Liepaja 2027 (Latvian third city) before the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two cities.