OREANDA-NEWS. May 23, 2012. While on a working visit to the United States, President of Latvia Andris Berzins met Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on May 21 for a bilateral meeting. President Berzins congratulated President Niinisto on his election and also offered a brief review of economic growth indicators in Latvia. Mr Berzins said that Finland’s support for Latvia’s goal of joining the euro zone in 2014 is of key importance, because Finland is in the euro zone already.

President Niinisto, in turn, congratulated Latvia on its achievements in overcoming the economic crisis, saying that Latvia has set a good example of success for other European Union and euro zone member states. He promised to support Latvia’s accession to the zone. The two presidents agreed that it is very important for Latvia to make sure that current problems in the euro zone and attempts to solve them will not hinder Latvia’s ability to implement the euro. The formal requirement is to implement the Maastricht criteria, and Latvia has every opportunity to satisfy them. President Berzins insisted that Latvia hopes that the enlargement of the euro zone will occur in accordance with EU regulations which say that once a country has satisfied the criteria, it must be admitted to the zone: “The rules of the game must be clear. The application of understandable, clear and economically justified criteria in the enlargement of the euro zone will serve the interests of all countries therein,” said the President.

The two presidents also discussed the ongoing situation in the EU in terms of problems in the euro zone, admitting that the situation at this time is rather unstable not just in economic, but also in political terms.

President Niinisto said that Finland experienced 1% GDP growth during the first months of this year, adding that this is fairly positive in the EU context. He added, however, that future prospects are quite unclear, and they largely relate to export markets. Finland has extensive experience in exporting goods to third countries, including Russia. President Berzins invited his Finnish colleague to consider ways in which Finland and Latvia can work together in seeking out new export markets and making offers to third countries.

The presidents also exchanged views on administrative and territorial reforms in their countries and the importance of such reforms in terms of providing local residents with the services that they need.

President Niinisto invited President Berzins to make a working visit to Finland on July 23. President Berzins thanked his colleague and accepted the invitation.