BERLIN, January 16. /TASS/. The development of cooperation with Russia is necessary in the face of the growing threat of Islamist terrorism to effectively combat this evil, Latvian President Andris Berzins said in an interview to German weekly Focus, excerpts of which are published on Friday.

“Russia is also threatened by terrorism,” he said. “I believe we must now much cooperate more closely with Moscow to jointly combat the Islamist threat,” said the president of Latvia.

According to him, “stable and predictable relations with Russia meet European Union’s interests.” “In the long term, they are more important than powerful armies and security systems,” Berzins said.

Latvia that currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union “seeks to improve relations” with the Russian Federation, the president said. According to him, next Monday EU foreign ministers will discuss the format of EU countries’ participation in Moscow on May 9 in the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the World War II Victory.