During Cyprus' Presidency in EU Council, it is important to strengthen EU security and cooperation on sanctions policy issues - Braze

RIGA - During Cyprus' Presidency in the European Union Council, it is important to strengthen EU security and cooperation on sanctions policy issues, Foreign Minister Baiba Braze (New Unity) said on Thursday.

Braze, during her working visit to Nicosia on Wednesday and Thursday, met with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, as Braze's advisor Signe Znotina-Znota informed LETA.

Bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Cyprus in security and economy, including in the areas of new technologies and the use of innovative solutions in the maritime sector and port development, support for Ukraine and containment of Russia, transatlantic relations, the security situation in Europe, and Cyprus' upcoming presidency in the EU Council in the first half of 2026 were the main items discussed by the two ministers.

The ministers welcomed the year-round direct flights between Riga and Larnaca, which promote tourism opportunities and expand cooperation between the two countries. Braze pointed out that more than 1,000 Latvian nationals currently live in Cyprus.

Latvia highly values that Cyprus has made support for Ukraine as one of the priorities of its Presidency in the EU Council, said Braze. "During Cyprus' Presidency in the EU Council, we will work together to strengthen EU security and defense, on negotiations for the EU's multiannual budget, on EU enlargement issues, and on closer cooperation and coordination on sanctions policy issues, particularly in relation to the "shadow fleet" and its ecosystem," said Braze.

"We share a common understanding - Russia is a long-term threat to the whole of Europe. I thank Cyprus for its constructive position in the EU and other multilateral forums in the context of Russian aggression, including its efforts to improve the system for applying sanctions at national level. The sanctions are working and are having a negative impact on the Russian economy," Braze emphasized.

EU member states are facing increasingly aggressive and intense hybrid threats from Russia, and Latvia and Cyprus agree on the need to strengthen the EU's external border and to effectively combat illegal migration and the instrumentalization of migration, said Braze.

Similarly, EU democracies must strengthen their resilience to Russian disinformation and interference in internal processes, particularly in elections - both Cyprus and Latvia will hold parliamentary elections in 2026, said Braze.

Braze and Kombos discussed EU-U.S. relations, emphasizing the need to deepen transatlantic ties, as well as Braze's working visit to the United States this week. The ministers also discussed the situation in the Middle East, Latvia's priorities in the United Nations Security Council in 2026 and 2027, and Cyprus's upcoming accession to the Schengen area.