Good afternoon.

Thank you to Prime Minister Kariņš. We have had a very wide-ranging exchange of views and, as has already been the case at various European Council meetings, we have found ourselves sharing many of the key choices required of Europe and our nations at this time.

We remembered that 25 years have passed since a President of the Council of Ministers of Italy last came to Riga on an official visit. I am very happy to have remedied this and I would in turn like to invite the Prime Minister to come to Rome at his convenience, because there really are a lot of matters on which we are on the same wavelength, obviously starting with the issue of Ukraine. This issue, along with security and defence policy, will also be the focus of the Vilnius Summit we are getting ready to attend. 
Italy’s position and Latvia’s position are essentially identical. We have provided, and continue to provide, Ukraine with comprehensive support, also working so that Europe can invest more in its security and defence.

Following this meeting with the Prime Minister, I will be going to the Camp Ādaži military base where 270 Italian military personnel are engaged in NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission. This not only demonstrates the attention Italy pays to its allies, which are border allies, but also shows how much we believe care, focus and clear-headedness are needed on defence and security issues, especially at this time.

We have had a very wide-ranging exchange of views with the Prime Minister. As he mentioned, we were in agreement on the issue of immigration, for example, at the last European Council meetings. Reasoning about primary movements instead of simply discussing secondary movements is clearly easier with a country like Latvia, which in turn also represents the European Union’s external borders. Together, we are trying to make it understood that, in order to address the issue of managing migration in a unanimous way, as we have said many times, it must be managed at its origin, otherwise finding common solutions will always be difficult: simply because, geographically speaking, historically speaking, we are different nations. We believe instead that the best way to address this issue is to work together on managing legal migration, stopping illegal immigration, and above all supporting migration that we can include in our societies, giving equal rights to those who come and live in them (obviously, when the flows are governed). 

We have of course spoken about the economy. Europe is also being called upon to make important economic choices regarding the resilience of its supply chains, support for its industries and its ability to be competitive. This clearly brings up the subject of rules, starting with the Stability and Growth Pact. I continue to believe, Italy continues to believe, that the role we give to investment spending on defence, on the green transition and on the digital transition is key. 
Investments have a multiplier effect that current spending does not have, and so, from our point of view, when talking about the next rules, these two things cannot be considered as being the same. Italy has indeed also asked for full flexibility in using existing funds in order to balance out the initiatives that have been pursued regarding State aid, and we believe (and it seems to me that, also on this, we are in agreement with the Prime Minister) that environmental sustainability is fundamental, but it is important that this goes hand in hand with social and economic sustainability.

Then, with regard to our bilateral relationship, I would like to say that Italy and Latvia are doing a fantastic job together: trade between us has increased by 30% since 2020 and I believe this can improve further, especially with regard to infrastructure and defence. As you know, there are Italian companies working on the major rail project to connect the three Baltic capitals to the rest of Europe. Italian companies are making significant investments in the steel industry. I believe that, with our renewed relationship, also on a personal level between myself and the Prime Minister, even more can be done, and better.

Then there is our wonderful cooperation in the cultural field. Our universities and research centres are working more and more together; there are important projects, such as the one at Riga Technical University, Latvia’s leading university, which will open the first Italy-Latvia cooperation centre and expand Italian language teaching and, of course, also Latvian courses for the Italian community in Riga, which in the meantime is beginning to grow.

This is the dimension of two nations that are also very close on a cultural level, on their defence of identity and tradition, at a time when there is a need for Europe, a need for our civilisation, a need for our ideas and a need not to lose the level of rights we have built on our continent.

From this point of view, on this and much more, myself and the Prime Minister are on the same wavelength. I really wish to thank him and hope to see him soon in Rome.
Thank you.

[Courtesy translation]