Estonian PM congratulates Latvia on forthcoming OECD, eurozone entry

Photo: Elmo Riig / Sakala

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip congratulated Latvia on forthcoming accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and euro adoption at an informal meeting on Friday with the head of the Latvian government, Valdis Dombrovskis.

"Latvia's public finances and economy are in good order and I am very glad that the eurozone is gaining a strong member state," Ansip was quoted as saying by the government's communication unit.

Estonia also has consistently supported Latvia's accession to the OECD, the communication unit said. On May 15 the OECD Council held an enlargement-themed meeting as a result of which a resolution to invite Colombia and Latvia to start accession negotiations with the organization began to be prepared. The accession decision will probably be announced before the end of this month.

The prime ministers also talked about the location of a planned regional liquefied natural gas terminal. Ansip explained that the Estonian and Finnish ministers of economic affairs asked the European Commission at the beginning of this week to conduct an independent assessment of the specific locations proposed in Estonia and Finland and informed his Latvian colleague that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso agreed on Thursday to act as independent arbiter as both governments have promised to accept the results of the assessment.

The heads of government further discussed the Visaginas nuclear power plant and Rail Baltic high-speed railway projects. The prime ministers will continue the discussion next week in Riga where the Baltic Development Forum and an informal meeting of the Baltic heads of government will take place.

After the meeting the prime ministers went on to attend the opening of the Lennart Meri conference. The Latvian prime minister is scheduled to speak at the conference on Saturday.