2009 Programs and Events
New U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Will Arrive in Riga on Monday
Riga, August 18, 2009. - The new U.S. Ambassador to Latvia, Judith G. Garber, was sworn in at the State Department last Friday. Ambassador Garber is expected arrive in Riga with her family on Monday, August 24. She will begin her official duties after presenting credentials to the President of Latvia on August 25th.
President Barack Obama nominated Judith Garber to be Ambassador to Latvia on June 25. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 7.
Prior to the nomination, Ambassador Garber served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the Department of State with responsibility for Nordic, Baltic and Central European countries. In this position, she visited Latvia twice in 2008 and 2007. A career Foreign Service Officer, Garber joined the Foreign Service in 1984. Her previous diplomatic assignments include Economic Counselor in Madrid, Spain, Deputy Economic Counselor in Tel Aviv, Israel, Economic Officer in Prague, Czech Republic, Economic Officer in Mexico City, Mexico, and Vice Consul in Seville, Spain. Her Washington assignments include Director for North Central Europe in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Director for Overseas Development Finance in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, and the Department’s Executive Secretariat staff. Garber holds a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University. She is married, and has three children.
At her confirmation hearing Garber said that Latvia embodies the success and potential of the U.S. vision of a Europe whole, free, and at peace. She pledged to dedicate herself to advancing America’s interests in Latvia while promoting America’s values and ideals. In particular, she will focus on support and encouragement for collective security objectives in Afghanistan and beyond, deepening bilateral economic ties and Latvia’s own pursuit of sustainable economic growth, strengthening energy security and building new energy links to Europe. She will also support Latvian government’s outreach efforts with the Russian and other minority communities and work with the government and local Jewish community to address Holocaust legacy and property restitution issues.
U.S. Embassy, Riga, Public Affairs Section
Smilšu iela 7
Rīga, LV 1050
Phone: 371 67509022 ; 371 67509037; 371 29405048
Internet: www.riga.usembassy.gov
Media specialist’s e-mail: Ruklisk@state.gov; kreilek@state.gov