Baltic consular services agree to update agreement on consular cooperation

RIGA - Representatives of the Baltic consular services at the meeting in Riga on Thursday agreed on the revision of the 1999 Agreement between the Governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on consular cooperation and assistance to adapt the document to the current needs of travelers and the diaspora, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said.

The foreign services of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia today met for consular consultations in Riga. The participants of the meeting expressed approval of cooperation on consular issues between the Baltic states to date.

It was agreed that the 1999 agreement on consular cooperation and assistance should be revised to adapt the document to the current needs of travelers and the diaspora in line with the changing global security situation and increasing mobility of population.

The consultations devoted particular attention to the implementation of the so-called Consular Directive with a strong focus on providing consular assistance to the citizens of the European Union Member States in third countries. Consular officers from all the three countries noted their productive collaborative efforts and expressed readiness to continue to cooperate closely in providing help to EU nationals abroad. The Directive has been introduced in Latvia with the adoption of the Consular Assistance and Consular Services Law, which came into force on May 16, 2018.

The meeting also addressed the issues of a more effective consular assistance to persons who have become victims of human trafficking. The parties discussed the outsourcing of various consular services, personal data protection in consular work and other practical matters in the provision of consular assistance.

The previous Baltic states' consular consultations took place in Lithuania in 2017.