President Hamid Karzai Meets Latvian President and Dutch Prime Minister
On September 9, President Hamid Karzai met with President of the Republic of Latvia Valdis Zalters in Kabul. During a pres conference following the meeting, President Zalters reaffirmed his country's commitment to reconstruction and security in Afghanistan. "The people of Latvia will continue to stand by the people of Afghanistan in difficult situations," he said.
President Karzai welcomed President Zalters to Afghanistan and said, "Afghanistan has friendly relations with Latvia . The people of Latvia have continued their assistance to Afghanistan's security and reconstruction in the past five years. They have sent their sons and daughters to Afghanistan who are currently serving at the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the province of Faryab.”
President Karzai thanked President Zalters for his country's assistance to Afghanistan and said, "I hope the friendly relations between the two countries will further strengthen."
President Zalters thanked President Karzai for the hospitality. "Latvia will continue its assistance to the people of Afghanistan. The progress Afghanistan is making is of huge importance to the people of Latvia, and we will try our utmost to help the Afghan people rebuild their
country," he said.
On September 11, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenede met with President Hamid Karzai and participated in a joint press conference.
In his opening remarks at a joint press conference, Prime Minister Balkenende said, “It is the obligation of the international community to help Afghans for a better life and security in their country. That is why the Netherlands is a partner with the people of Afghanistan.” He added his government is investing and involved in training the Afghan National Army and urged that it's important that the international community stays active in Afghanistan, because it is not only about Afghanistan itself, it has a worldwide dimension.
President Karzai thanked people and the government of the Netherlands for the assistance and contribution and called it among countries “on the forefront of assistance to Afghanistan.”
President Karzai stated that million of dollars in assistance by the Netherlands has helped Afghanistan in its efforts for better security, building institutions and developing its economy. "The Netherlands has sent its soldiers here, putting their lives at risk for security in
Afghanistan, so with all what the Netherlands is doing in Afghanistan, naturally Afghanistan will try its best to keep the Netherlands forces and the Netherlands assistance in Afghanistan for a longer time, until we can get back on our own feet," he said.
