Washington, DC - Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Doug Frantz will travel to Riga, Latvia and Berlin, Germany, May 2 – 7.

In Riga, Assistant Secretary Frantz will represent the United States at UNESCO World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) events. He will attend the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize ceremony, participate in WPFD Conference Session 7 Under Fire: Challenges for Journalists and Editors in the World’s Hotspots, and meet with international journalists and NGO representatives attending WPFD events. While in Riga, Assistant Secretary Frantz will discuss media freedom and integrity in journalism with students, prominent Latvian journalists, and officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Assistant Secretary Frantz will then proceed to Berlin, where he will have a series of meetings with leading German media and members of civil society organizations to discuss the changing media landscape in Europe. He will also participate in a panel hosted by the Bertelsmann Foundation to discuss current challenges to press freedom and meet with alumni of U.S. Department of State exchange programs.