Latvian, Ukrainian and EU flags raised at Riga Castle to mark Europe Day

Published date09 May 2022
Publication titleLETA

RIGA, May 9 (LETA) - The flags of Ukraine and the European Union were raised at the Tower of Holy Spirit at the Riga Castle on Friday to mark Europe Day, which is also the day of remembrance for the victims of the war in Ukraine, while the Latvian flag was raised at half-mast.

President Egils Levits, Ukrainian Ambassador to Latvia Alexander Mishchenko, and the European Commission's Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis participated in the ceremony, as the President's Chancery informed LETA values.

Latvia has been celebrating Europe Day for 18 years, said Levits. The EU was founded after the war, and one of the objectives was to ensure that there would never be another war in Europe, so that the countries that had fought among themselves could build a new Europe together.

"This promise worked for a long time, but we see that now it has been broken, and we, the EU, must be on Ukraine's side, which is a victim of aggression, and support Ukraine in every possible way," said Levits.

The EU is the strongest political and economic union in the world, and Latvia is a member of the EU, said Levits. The president calls on everyone to be aware of their shared responsibility for the fact that the people, while building Latvia, are also building Europe. "We want to live in a Europe that is free, democratic, based on the rule of law, and well-developed".

Ukrainian Ambassador to Latvia Mishchenko emphasized that today was the 75th day of the war in Ukraine. A bloody Russian dictator decided to repeat Soviet history in the center of Europe, but the Ukrainian...

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