The Embassy of Latvia in Moldova held a concert on the occasion of the taking over by Latvia of the presidency of the Council of the European Union. At the Organ Hall in Chisinau, the public could enjoy a recital by soprano Inessa Galante (Latvia-Germany) and pianist Greta Erharter Sargsyan (Germany), IPN reports.
Vita Dobele, ad interim charge d’affaires of the Embassy of Latvia, said that it is for the first time that Latvia took over the presidency of the EU Council. “We are slightly overwhelmed, but we hope to compensate this by exuberant energy, productivity and readiness to cope with all the challenges, and by determination,” she stated.
The logo of the Latvian presidency centers on the grindstone that is rich in connotations. “The grindstone is the symbol of work, while the EU’s prosperity and success is due to productive and creative work. The grindstone is also the symbol of integrity and unity. These are the values of the EU and the ideals on which the European Union is built. We would like the EU’s contribution to this presidency to be exactly like the grindstone – fundamental, stable, productive and focused on development,” said the representative of the Embassy of Latvia.
The European presidency of Latvia has three key priorities – facilitation of European competiveness as factor for increasing the economic level and for creating workplaces; full exploitation of the digital potential of the European economy, and re-fortification of the EU’s role on the international arena. “Within this last aspect, we consider that the Eastern Partnership is one of the basic elements. We will make effort to strengthen the EaP within the EU’s neighborhood policy, to build up the principle of differentiation and to appreciate the progress made after the Vilnius Summit,” stated Vita Dobele.
The ad interim charge d’affaires also said that Moldova is a very important partner in the cooperation with the EU within the Eastern Partnership and, at the Riga Summit of this May, Moldova’s accomplishments and the implementation of these results in accordance with the Association Agreement could be appreciated and the next steps could be set there.
“Culture is an area where we can understand each other without words. This concert is a part of the Latvian cultural program designed to familiarize the public with Latvian artists who are real pearls of our culture and who enjoy everyone’s attention,” noted Vita Dobele.
At the beginning of this year, Latvia took over the half-year presidency of the Council of the European Union from Italy and will then pass it on to Luxemburg (July – December 2015).
