Above photo: Ambassador Andrejs Pildegovics with Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. On February 3 the Embassies of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Malta and South Korea organized a reception at the U.S. Senate to honor the admission of these countries to the U.S. Visa-Waiver Program (VWP). The event was organized to highlight the importance of this achievement and to thank the U.S. Administration, Congress and think-tanks for their support to these countries toward reaching this goal. Senator G. Voinovich, Congressmen R. Wexler and D. Kucinich – all strong supporters for the admission of these countries to the VWP – addressed the participants. In conversations with Senator Voinovich and Congressman Kucinich, Ambassador Andrejs Pildegovics personally thanked them for their support to Latvia and the other Baltic countries. Latvia joined the VWP on November 17, 2008. The VWP allows citizens of Latvia to enter the United States without a visa for the purpose of business or tourism.