We participated in meetings in Brussels

On Wednesday, March 20, ZSA foreign policy expert Valters Zelčs participated in a meeting in Brussels organized by Roberts Zīle (National Alliance list candidate No. 1 in the European Parliament elections who, if elected, plans to serve on the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee) and the Ministry of Agriculture Parliamentary Secretary Jānis Grasbergs, to which the rapporteur of the European Economic and Social Committee on CAP legislative proposals, John Bryan, and the director of the Irish Farmers' Association, Mr. Liam MacHale, were also invited. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Agriculture's Advisor Aivars Lapiņš, the industry advisor Dace Arāja, the Chairman of the Board of the LBLA Gustavs Norkārklis, as well as Baltic colleagues Roomet Sormus (Estonia) and Mindaugas Maciulevičius (Lithuania). The CAP topical issues were discussed together, and Latvia's opinion on the amount of Direct Payments, Rural Development financing, and a number of unacceptable new requirements was clearly expressed. It must be admitted that John Bryan understands the Baltic States very well, and the EESC's position also emphasizes the need to equalize CAP funding between member states, but the main fight lies in the hands of Baltic farmers and politicians themselves.

In the second part of the day, we met in a more intimate setting with COPA-COGECA Secretary General Pekka Pesonen. It must be admitted that due to the active work of the Farmers' Assembly, Pesonen knows and understands very well the problems and wishes of Latvian and Baltic farmers in the new planning period. However, this conversation was of great strategic importance, as the Secretary General provided his vision and opinion on the means by which Latvia can achieve greater funding in the next planning period. It should be mentioned that Pekka Pesonen is Finnish by nationality, and Finland has also received support for a long time that is well below the average EU level.