Latvian President Valdis Zatlers will make an official visit to Germany from Jan. 21-22, his first trip to the country, according to the president’s press office.

Germany is among Latvia’s most important foreign trade partners, according to the Central Statistical Bureau.

Zatlers is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel; President Horst Köhler; Norbert Lammert, president of the German Bundestag, the national parliament; and Klaus Wowerei, mayor of Berlin. He also is to meet with representatives of the industry group Deutscher Bund der Industrie and with Latvian businesses active in Germany.

The Latvian president also plans to address the Körber Foundation, a private group supporting public interest projects. Zatlers is to speak about Latvian foreign policy issues.

The president also will visit the International Green Week Berlin trade fair for ecologically clean products.

Almost LVL 68,000 in support for Latvian diaspora organizations has been announced in the latest round of funding by the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration Affairs.

A total of 31 projects will receive funding ranging from LVL 130 to more than LVL 8,500, a secretariat spokesperson announced in a Jan. 10 press release. Funding decisions were made in December.

The largest sum, LVL 8,509.29, will go to support the 2X2 youth camp planned for summer 2008 in the United States. The smallest sum, LVL 130.80, will go for informational needs of the St. Petersburg Latvian Society in Russia.

Of the 31 projects, six are based in the United States, five in Ireland and four in Sweden. Most support went to established organizations with new or existing projects, but LVL 434 was given to form a new Latvian society in the autonomous Komi republic in northwest Russia. Organizations in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Russia also received funding.

Among other projects supported were:

• Publication of the book Zviedru-latviešu palīdzības komitejas darbība laikā no 1943. g. 15. oktobra 1945. g. 30. jūnijam by Leonīds Siliņš (LVL 1,793).
• A summer camp, “Vasariņa atnākusi,” being organized by the Latvian-Finnish Family Society LAIVAS (LVL 603).
• A conference, “Latvieša Roberta Kupča ieguldījums Gruzijas zinātnē,” planned by the Latvian Society of Georgia “Ave Sol!” (LVL 2,100).
• Rental of the ice hockey hall in which the Irish team Latvian Hawks plays its games (LVL 2,100).
• The “Sveika, Latvija!” and “Heritage Latvia” educational trips for youth sponsored by the American Latvian Association (LVL 6,540 and LVL 2,200, respectively). The Latvian Association of Australia and New Zealand received LVL 2,150 so youth from that region may participate in the “Sveika, Latvija!” tour.
• Participation in this summer’s Latvian Song and Dance Festival by the Toronto folk dance troupe Daugaviņa (LVL 3,447.50).

The total amount of funding requested was LVL 227,652, according to the secretariat. Requests ranged from LVL 400 to LVL 41,020.

The integration ministry’s program of support for the Latvian diaspora began in 2004. Further information about the program is available from the ministry’s Web site.

The well-known Latvian-American musical group Čikāgas piecīši will perform three concerts in Ireland from March 22-24, the portal baltic-ireland.eu reports.

The concerts are planned March 22 in Drogheda, March 23 in Dublin and March 24 in Limerick.

The Web site also notes the group wants to perform three songs with Latvian children in Ireland. Ingūna Grietiņa, director of the mixed choir eLVē, has agreed to teach children three songs from the Čikāgas piecīši repertoire.

Tickets will go on sale in March. Locations and times of the concerts have not yet been publicized.

The concert series is supported by baltic-ireland.eu, the Latvian weekly newspaper Sveiks, the Embassy of Latvia in Dublin, the Latvian Society in Ireland and the Latvian Society of Limerick.