Calling him a friend to Latvia, President Valdis Zatlers has congratulated Barack Obama on his election Nov. 4 as the 44th president of the United States.

Obama, a first-term U.S. senator from Illinois, defeated John McCain, a veteran Republican senator from Arizona. He becomes the country’s first African American president and will take office on Jan. 20.

“Barack Obama is a friend to Latvia, because he has earlier shown his support for Latvia,” Zatlers said in a press release from his office. “One confirmation of that is his participation in the U.S. Senate resolution on the 90th anniversary of Latvia, which notes the illegality of the decades-long occupation of Latvia.”

Obama on Sept. 8 became a cosponsor of the resolution, S.Con.Res.87, which congratulates Latvia on the anniversary of its Nov. 18, 1918, declaration of independence and calls on the U.S. president to ask Russia to acknowledge that the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states was illegal. The resolution was adopted by the Senate on Sept. 16 and sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. However, the House has yet to act on the Senate resolution or on its own, similar resolution, H. Res. 1405. Both documents are still before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Latvia has always enjoyed the support of both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations, Zatlers said, and he expects continued strengthening of relations with the United States. Latvia expects the election of Obama will promote even closer cooperation between North America and Europe, Zatlers added.

Latvian Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš sent a letter of congratulations to Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who was Obama’s running mate and becomes the next vice president of the United States. The letter, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, notes Biden’s role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Commiittee, his personal investment in promoting U.S.-Latvian relations and his strong support for Latvia’s membership in the NATO defense alliance.

A 29-year-old Latvian man has been missing since Oct. 27 from his home in the south-central Irish community of Cahir and now police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating him.

Jānis Pomerancis lives in Castle Street, Cahir, which is in County Tipperary. When last seen, he was wearing a silver and black baseball cap, a grey-colored jumper inside a green sleeveless jacket, and blue jeans, according to the Garda Press Office.

Pomerancis is described as 5 feet, 7 inches in height and of slim build. He has light brown hair.

Anyone with informatino about his whereabouts is asked to contact the Gardai office in Cahir, Ireland, at +353 52-45630.

President Valdis Zatlers will spend three days in Ireland, meeting with the Latvian communities in Dublin and Limerick as well as conferring with Irish government officials, his press office has announced. Zatlers and his wife, Lilita Zatlere, will be in Ireland from Nov. 2-4.

The president is scheduled to meet with the Latvian community of Dublin at 16:00 hours Nov. 2 in the European Union House, 18 Dawson Street, Dublin. During the event attendees will have the opportunity to add their names and wishes to the Latvijas vienotības josta (Latvian Unity Belt), a project celebrating the 90th anniversary of Latvia’s declaration of independence. The project is supported by the newspaper Latvijas Avīze, Latvian State Television and Latvian State Radio.

On Nov. 3, Zatlers is to meet with Irish President Mary McAleese and Prime Minister Brian Cowen to discuss European Union issues as well as international political trends and the global economic crisis. He will also meet with Limerick Mayor John Gilligan and present a speech about Latvia’s future in the European Union to the Institute for International & European Affairs in Dublin.

In Limerick on Nov. 4, the president is expected to visit a local high school and meet with Latvian students and their families. He also will visit the medical technology company Crook Ireland, where a number of Latvians work.

Zatlers will meet with the Latvian community of Limerick at 18:00 hours Nov. 4 in City Hall, Merchants Quay, Limerick City. A traveling exhibit about the history of the Latvian Popular Front, “Dziesmotā Revolūcija. No Atmodas līdz Eiropas Savienībai” (The Singing Revolution: From Awakening to the European Union) is scheduled to open during the president’s visit.

Estimates for the number of Latvian citizens now living in Ireland range from about 13,000 to 37,000 or more, according to official Irish and Latvian government statistics.

The president will be back in Rīga by Nov. 5, where his schedule calls for dealing with paperwork.