RIGA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Latvian foreign minister and his Italian counterpart agreed on Monday the need for the European Union (EU) to ensure a balanced development of its European Neighborhood Policy, Latvian media reported.
During their meeting in Latvian capital Riga, Edgars Rinkevics and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni praised the successful cooperation of the current EU presidency trio, which includes the successive presidencies of Italy, Latvia and Luxembourg. They also underlined the importance of ensuring continuity in the bloc's agenda, LETA news service reported.
Gentiloni voiced support for the priorities Latvia has defined as the next EU presidency and noted the need to continue work on the implementation of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's 315 billion euro (385.59 billion U.S. dollars) investment plan, specifically, the energy and digital market initiatives.
The ministers also agreed on the need for a balanced further development of the European Neighborhood Policy that would include regions both to the east and south of the bloc.
The talks in Riga also touched on security policy issues, including the current security situation in the Baltic region.
Rinkevics thanked Italy for its involvement in the airspace policing mission led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Baltics starting in 2015, and stressed the importance of the implementation of decisions taken at NATO's summit in Wales.
During his visit to Riga, Gentiloni also met with Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma and parliament speaker Inara Murniece.
Italy holds the EU presidency in the second half of this year. Latvia will take over the presidency on January 1, 2015.
