Today Riga Graduate School of Law hosted a meeting for Education Ministers from the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The meeting was organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, and it had participation also by representatives of the External Action Service of the European Union, as well as representatives of from ministries and institutions of the EU member states, as well as the diplomatic corps.
The purpose of the meeting was to present the RGSL Advanced Programme in Law and Economics, which is provided for the benefit of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries and Central Asia. Mr. Andrejs Pildegovičs, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Mārtiņš Mits, Prorector and Associated Professor at RGSL greeted the delegates and presented the Advanced Programme, as well as the role of RGSL and its teaching partners, and also the success that several participants have experienced in their professional careers after attending the programme.
The visit took place within the framework of an informal meeting organised by the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU, with the aim to facilitate the policy dialogue on education in the region and to strengthen cooperation with the EU. Education is seen as being of strategic importance for economic and social development in the Central Asian region, and the support in this area from the EU is greatly appreciated.
The Advanced Programme in Law and Economics provides training that has focus on relations between on the one hand the international community and the European Union, and on the other hand the ENP countries and Central Asia. It also provides a knowledge transfer that is based on the experience of Latvia and the other donors in their international relations. The programme is supported by the governments of Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and USA.
For the next session of the programme, in the autumn of 2015, applications are welcomed from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The application procedure is currently open and has been extended to 13 July 2015.