Latvia's new man in Washington

  • 2007-07-12
  • By Mike Collier
As one of his first official duties, President Valdis Zatlers has issued a letter of accreditation to Latvia's new abassador to the United States.

The new man in Washington is Andrejs Pildegovics, who moves to the U.S. after serving as foreign policy advisor to Zatlers' predecessor, Vaira Vike-Freiberga as well as the head of her office.

At a ceremony in Riga Castle July 11, Zatlers noted the excellent relations which had formed between Latvia and the U.S., and in commending the active and regular dialogue between officials of both countries, he invited the ambassador to spare no effort to ensure that this positive development continued.

28 July this year will mark 85 years since diplomatic relations were established between Latvia and the United States.

The president also emphasised the need to support Latvians in the U.S., and to develop co-operation between the educational institutions of the two countries. Also discussed was a proposed visit to New York for Zatlers to participate in the UN General Assembly in September.

Heading in the opposite direction, previous Latvian ambassador to the U.S., Maris Riekstins, is now head of prime minister Aigars Kalvitis' office.

Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks met with Pildegovics a day earlier tocongratulate him on taking up office and telling him that one of his keytasks will be to work on introducing a visa-free regime with the United States.