Latvia, officially known as the Republic of Latvia, is one of the Baltic countries in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 and has a population of 1.9 million. The capital of Latvia is Riga. The official language is Latvian.

Latvia is a unitary state. The 100-seat unicameral Latvian parliament, the Saeima, is elected by direct popular vote every four years. The president is elected by the Saeima every four years. The president appoints a prime minister who, together with his cabinet, forms the executive branch of the government, which has to receive a confidence vote by the Saeima.

OVERVIEW

There are no open issues between the two countries. Latvia has a firm position regarding its support for Albania’s EU integration process and in particular for the opening of negotiations. In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Mr. Edgars Rinkēvičs, together with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland and Lithuania, as well as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, paid a visit to Albania, on 04-05 March 2020, with the aim of delivering a strong message of support for Albania’s efforts to opening of negotiations with the EU.

Latvia is a friendly country with which we share common positions on important regional and global issues and which supports Kosovo.

Albania remains in solidarity with Latvia, as a NATO member, with its troops to the NATO multinational battalion, the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Adazi.

Political dialogue is considered as one of the main pillars of the bilateral relations. There is determination to intensify the relations and to continue the exchange of visits, not only at the level of ministers, but also at the level of prime minister, speaker of parliament and president.

The latest visits include the visit in Albania of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Latvia, Mr. Artis Pabriks, on September 8, 2021; the visit in Latvia of the Minister of Defense of Albania, Mr. Niko Peleshi, on 4-5 June 2021, as well as the visit in Latvia of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ditmir Bushati, in February 2018, as part of a Baltic tour. On 20 July 2020, the Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gent Cakaj, held a joint video conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Mr. Edgars Rinkēvičs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Mr. Urmas Reinsalu and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Mr. Linas Linkevičius.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

The diplomatic relations with Latvia were established in 1928 and were re-established on 29 April 1992. Relations between the two countries have always been very good. As evidence of the quality of our bilateral relations is also the fact that Latvia was the first country to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Albania. Latvia has always supported Albania on its path to NATO membership and EU integration. In this context, during the official visit to Riga, on 21 February 2018, of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Mr. Ditmir Bushati, a Memorandum of Understanding the field of European Integration was signed between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

Latvia is among the first countries that have recognized Kosovo and has always supported Kosovo.

The diplomatic coverage is realized by non-resident ambassadors, the relations with Latvia are covered by the Embassy of the Republic of Albania in Warsaw, Poland, while the relations with Albania are covered by the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Rome, Italy. On 04 June 2015, the Honorary Consulate of Latvia in Albania was inaugurated in Tirana and Mr. Sokol Kraja was appointed as Honorary Consul.