Latvian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Normans Penke departed for his country Wednesday after what he called a productive visit with his Costa Rican counterpart Edgar Ugalde, among other officials, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
Ugalde and Penke, who had been visiting Costa Rica since April 15, signed a memorandum to promote cooperation between the two countries through diplomatic channels, and Penke also pledged Latvia’s support for Costa Rica’s candidacy for the U.N. Security Council, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
Ugalde called the memorandum “an example of the excellent ties of friendship and good relations that unite Latvia and Costa Rica,” the statement said.
Since late last year, Costa Rica has been garnering support for Costa Rica’s bid for one of the rotating, non-permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council for the Jan. 1, 2008-Dec. 31, 2009 term (TT, Sept 29, 2006). So far, the list of supporting countries includes Norway, Guatemala and Morocco.
Additionally, Costa Rica offered its support of Latvia’s candidacy for the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
Penke said he had an “intense and productive” visit to Costa Rica, during which he also met with Vice-President Laura Chinchilla, Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides and Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade Amparo Pacheco.
Costa Rica established diplomatic ties with Latvia in May 2003.
