On Thursday, 2 November, Arvils Ašeradens, the Minister for Finance, met with Christian Lindner, the Minister for Finance of Germany, who is visiting Latvia. During the bilateral meeting at the Ministry of Finance, the ministers discussed the current affairs of the financial sector, including the current economic management reform in Europe, the multi-year budget of the European Union (EU) and cooperation between the two countries.
"Latvia and Germany are united in the need of increasing funding for defence and strengthening the security of the region at both national and international level. Likewise, we have a similar vision of the need to ensure such fiscal rules that reduce the national debt and deficit until it falls sufficiently below the 3% limit, thus allowing countries to increase defence funding in the short term. We also discussed the revision of the EU’s multi-year budget framework, and we agree on the issue that these amendments should provide for sufficient funding for Ukraine so that it can balance revenues with expenses," emphasizes Arvils Ašeradens, the Minster for Finance.
"During this visit, I visited a highly innovative country, which in parallel prefers a non-bureaucratic, efficient and serious public administration. I consider it an extremely appealing model. Today we have discussed the general political situation and, in particular, the situation in the security sector, which has completely changed following the terrible and unprovoked Russian attack on Ukraine in violation of international law. Both our countries support the Ukrainian people. Ukraine must receive support in its efforts to defend itself. This is a great challenge for the international community. I am convinced that it is not only Ukraine that is being protected, but also the peace and freedom of Europe. As finance ministers, we also have a responsibility to improve our own military capabilities. I assured my colleague that Germany will meet NATO's 2% target even outside the framework of the Special Programme," indicates Christian Lindner, the Minister for Finance of Germany.
The ministers also discussed a number of other issues, such as the development of the economy in both countries, the preparation of the budget, the resilience of the Latvian financial system against cyber threats, the development of the fintech field, as well as the fact that both Latvia and Germany are applying for the seat of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). The Minister for Finance of Latvia emphasized that Latvia has extensive and internationally recognised experience in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, so the opportunity to host an agency of this level in Riga would strengthen Latvia’s status as a European competence centre in the field of money laundering and prevention of terrorism and proliferation financing.
Latvia and Germany are traditionally united by active economic cooperation. Germany is one of Latvia’s largest foreign trade partners.
