On 4 May 2023, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Gunda Reire, took part in the meeting of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council, in its development configuration, in Brussels.
The main topic on the agenda was the global impact of the global consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine on food security worldwide. Representatives from EU Member States also discussed current international developments – support to Ukraine, the situation in Sudan, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, as well as the reform of multilateral development banks.
In a discussion on the global impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Parliamentary Secretary underlined: “In order to address the global consequences of Russian aggression felt in developing countries, Latvia has increased support for food crisis related issues, for example, by sharing expertise and innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture, implementation of EU standards, and water management. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also increased support for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in partner countries and supported the Ukrainian President’s initiative to export Ukrainian grain to less developed countries.”
In a discussion on food security, the ministers exchanged views with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis, who is also coordinator of the Task Team at the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance. Rebecca Grynspan informed the Council about the work accomplished by the crisis response group and about the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The Council followed up on a discussion from previous meetings on the reform of multilateral development banks. Addressing the global challenges posed by climate change, poverty, pandemics and conflicts requires an active involvement from multilateral development banks, as major donors to developing countries. The reform aims to increase the readiness and capacity of multilateral development banks to assist developing countries while maintaining the banks’ long-term financial sustainability and their credit rating of AAA.
