U.S. Vice PresidentJoe Bidenspeaks at the National Library of Latvia in Riga, capital of Latvia, on Aug. 23, 2016. Joe Biden arrived in Riga as part of his European tour on Tuesday to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the Baltic states' security and discuss closer cooperation with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. (Xinhua/Janis)
RIGA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Riga as part of his European tour on Tuesday to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the Baltic states' security and discuss closer cooperation with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The agenda of Biden's visit to the Latvian capital included a meeting with the presidents of the three Baltic states, bilateral talks with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, as well as an address to the Baltic nations.
Biden's meeting with Latvian President Vejonis, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite resulted in an agreement to step up defense cooperation.
The commitment to intensify defense ties was formulated in a joint declaration, released after the talks.
"The United States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania affirm that we must keep our Alliance strong ... the United States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania intend to reinforce and deepen our defense cooperation to promote regional security," the declaration says.
Biden also reassured the Baltic presidents that the U.S. commitment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, obliging all other members in case of an attack on one member state to come to its aid, is unwavering and that the U.S. considers it to be its "sacred obligation" to defend its allies.
The U.S. Vice President's meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis dealt not only with security matters but also with issues concerning Latvia's judiciary system, insolvency rules and the banking sector. Biden also inquired about the security of the Latvian energy sector, offering closer cooperation and expertise in this area. The officials agreed that perspectives for energy cooperation are indeed good, especially given the planned liberalization of the Latvian gas market.
In his address to the Baltic nations, which Biden made in the evening at the National Library of Latvia, he reiterated the U.S. promise to always stand by its allies and told to ignore the remarks made recently by Donald Trump, the U.S. presidential candidate from the Republican Party, that the U.S. might not honor its obligations to NATO under his presidency.
