RIGA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs held talks with his Lithuanian counterpart Mindaugas Sinkevicius in Riga on Thursday, with discussions focusing on bilateral relations, regional security, the protection of the EU's eastern border and major transport projects.
The two-day visit is Sinkevicius's first foreign trip since taking office in July.
According to local media reports, Sinkevicius also met with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics and the two prime ministers had also been scheduled to visit the Latvia-Belarus border, where Latvia has stepped up measures against illegal migration, but the trip was cancelled because of adverse weather conditions.
Security and defense were high on agenda of the talks. Lithuania is expected to send 20 border guards, along with service dogs and special equipment, to assist Latvia in protecting its eastern border.
Sinkevicius said protecting the border was not only a national issue but also part of safeguarding the EU's external border and eastern flank.
Kulbergs, for his part, said Latvia would also be ready to assist Lithuania in countering illegal migration used as a hybrid threat. The two sides also discussed plans to hold a joint meeting of the Latvian and Lithuanian governments once a year.
The talks also covered Rail Baltica, the European-gauge railway project intended to connect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with the wider European rail network.
Kulbergs stressed the need to establish a Baltic cooperation team that would meet regularly to discuss the project. Sinkevicius also stressed that Rail Baltica is not a project of any single country but a regional project. He welcomed the fact that the leaders of all three Baltic states had demonstrated the political will to work together to advance the project.
The three Baltic governments have reaffirmed their commitment to completing the project's first phase by 2030, but Rail Baltica continues to face major financing, construction and implementation challenges. An EU implementing decision adopted in 2025 set 2030 as the target for completing a continuous railway connection from Tallinn, through Latvia and Lithuania, to the Polish border.
The talks also touched on the financial situation and future role of Latvia's national carrier airBaltic. Kulbergs said he wanted to explore whether the airline could be organized in a way that would more fully reflect the interests of all three Baltic states, including through potential investment, although he stressed that no concrete proposal was currently on the table.
Latvia has previously invited Lithuania and Estonia to consider acquiring stakes in airBaltic, but Lithuania has so far made no commitment to investing. The issue is also important to Lithuania because airBaltic operates a significant number of routes from Lithuanian airports, while Sinkevicius has stressed the need to maintain the country's air connectivity, particularly ahead of Lithuania's EU Council presidency in the first half of 2027. ■