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On October 24, in Iceland, a meeting of the Prime Ministers of the five Nordic countries: Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and the three Baltic States: Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania took place, and for the first time a meeting in this format was held in Iceland. The main topic of discussions of the eight Heads of Government was the past and future enlargement of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The Prime Ministers shared the view that the processes of EU and EEA enlargement should be in close conjunction. Aigars Kalvītis thanked the governments of Norway and Iceland for the financial support granted to Latvia and other new EU Member States in the framework of the EEA that was used in parallel to EU funding for various projects in Latvia. During the meeting, relations of the countries of the region with Russia and the new neighbours of the EU were discussed. The Prime Ministers unanimously noted the importance of meetings of the Nordic countries and the Baltic States in the format of six and eight countries. These meetings provide an opportunity to coordinate opinions, exchange thoughts and, although it is not always possible to agree on a common position, the meetings promote common understanding of topical processes. The Prime Minister will return to Latvia on October 25.
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