On June 14, 2007 at the State Department, Artis Pabriks, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, together with the Estonian and Lithuanian Ministers of Foreign Affairs, met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to celebrate 85 years of diplomatic relations between the Baltic countries and the United States. During their meeting, the officials noted the active and regular political dialogue to date, which allowed the Baltic states to achieve high rates of development. Dr. Rice commended Latvia's achievements toward implementing a visa-free regime with the U.S., and expressed her support in that regard, pointing out that the final decision on that issue will need to be made by the U.S. Congress. During their meeting the officials discussed international issues, including the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, relations with Russia, and cooperation between states as members of international organizations. All were in agreement that the basis of real and successful cooperation is reliance on common values, ideals and principles. At the conclusion of the meeting the officials agreed that a further meeting at the Foreign Ministers' level should be convened at the earliest possible opportunity. Click here to watch a US State Department video of the bilateral meeting between Secretary Rice and the Baltic Foreign Ministers. Below are Secretary Rice's public remarks: "I'd like to welcome the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Baltic States. They are here to celebrate 75 years of -- it has been 85 years -- (laughter) -- 85 years of unbroken relations between the United States and the Baltic States. The United States stood by the Baltic people even when the days seemed very dark. I remember very well that one of the phrases that I used most often in my time in the National Security Council was the United States does not recognize the forcible incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union. It was on that date since then the long history of friendship that we were delighted and gratified to see that freedom maintained its (inaudible) in the Baltic States until they could be freed and the United States recognizing these states. And now Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are allies, allies in NATO, allies in the global partnership around the world, and most importantly, allies in the promotion of and support for democracy for people who have not yet attained it. And so thank you very much for being here. We're actually going to have a business meeting, so we have many issues to deal with. But we wanted to acknowledge this (inaudible) before going into our meeting. Thank you." July 28, 2007 marks the 85th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Latvia and the United States. To celebrate this anniversary, the U.S. State Department held a reception, which was attended by government representatvies, foreign diplomats and friends of the Baltic states.