With U.S. President George W. Bush due in Warsaw next month - on his first visit to Europe since taking office - Kwasniewski's support for Latvia could be important.
"I am sure that NATO enlargement will expand the zone of security and stability in Europe and improve relations with Russia," he told reporters gathered at the president's castle. "We support the Baltic states joining NATO and I will tell that to George Bush."
Although the two declared a united front on EU accession, differences were evident. Unlike Latvia, Poland is prepared to accept a watered-down common agricultural policy as a price for accession.
"Poland and Latvia have different negotiation problems," said Kwasniewski. "Poland has the biggest agricultural sector among the candidate countries and it will be impossible to keep all the old concepts and subsidies. A new approach is needed."
By contrast, Andris Kesteris, undersecretary of state at Latvia's Foreign Ministry, told The Baltic Times that the common agricultural policy, the largest part of the EU's annual budget, must be extended in its present form.
"Negotiations should be carried out on the basis of the existing accession requirements, not on the basis of some possible reform, which would lead to delays. We should be treated as the current EU member states are treated. Subsidies are essential if our farms are to modernize."
But Kwasniewski's main aim was to encourage greater trade between Poland and Latvia. "We are pleased Riga City Council has recently decided to buy buses from Poland," he said. Earlier he opened the Polexport trade fair at Riga's Congress Hall, an event which comprises some 80 Polish businesses.
During his one-day visit, Kwasniewski also met Prime Minister Andris Berzins to discuss economic cooperation, the EU and NATO.
The Polexport fair closes on June 1.
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