Latvia-US relations unlikely to change after new ambassador takes office - expert

RIGA - Latvia-US relations are unlikely to change after the new Ambassador Melissa Argyros takes office, Maris Andzans, an associate professor at Riga Stradins University (RSU) and director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies, told LETA.

In his view, it is too early to assess the influence and priorities of the new US ambassador to Latvia. He stressed that Argyros is a political, not a career, diplomat, and there have been such US ambassadors to Latvia before, including Catherine Todd Bailey and Charles Larson.

Andzans said that political ambassadors may have more discretion compared to career diplomats, although they may have less professional diplomatic experience. He stressed that, regardless of their status as ambassadors, US diplomats must publicly toe the official line of the US administration, and they cannot publicly contradict the position of the US President.

The expert believes that having a career diplomat in Latvia would make the work of the US Embassy more predictable, while a political ambassador, if she so wished, could have more discretion than the outgoing US Ambassador Christopher Robinson.

As LETA was told at the US Embassy in Riga, further information on Argyros' accreditation and start of work in Latvia is currently not publicly available.

As reported, the US Senate has appointed Melissa Argyros the Ambassador to Latvia, according to the information published on the internet website of the US Senate.

Argyros has no prior diplomatic experience, but she has donated USD 2 million for Trump's election campaign, according to the information from the US media.

Argyros is a California based Real Estate Investor. She has served in different positions in Argyros family company Arnel & Afficialtes, including as the vice president of the company.

She is also a Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chair of the Board of the Argyros Family Foundation, whose mission is to focus on children, education, health care, scholarships, and the arts.

Argyros holds a B.A. from Chapman University, Orange, California, 2007.

The US appoints not only career diplomats as ambassadors, but also supporters of political parties.