LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer performed her second worldwide commerce mission of the 12 months this week, spending two days in Austria and Latvia assembly with each enterprise and authorities leaders.
Whitmer, who spoke with The Related Press upon returning to Michigan on Friday, mentioned the worldwide journeys are “an necessary a part of the job,” because the state seems to develop relationships and “safe extra financial alternatives for our state.”
In Latvia, the second-term Democratic governor and close ally of U.S. President Joe Biden met with Latvian President Egils Levits and different rating officers earlier than visiting Michigan nationwide guard troops stationed within the nation.
Latvia is “Michigan’s European ally,” Whitmer mentioned. The partnership between the nation and state has reached 30 years. Former Gov. Rick Snyder visited the nation in 2018 for the disclosing of a roadway being named “Michigan Avenue.”
Whitmer additionally used the go to to Latvia, which borders Russia, to point out assist for Ukraine in what she described in an announcement following the go to as “Russia’s unlawful struggle.”
“It has change into extra necessary than ever to assist our allies all over the world to guard democracy,” Whitmer mentioned within the assertion.
The feedback stand in distinction to these of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who characterised the struggle earlier this year as a “territorial dispute,” earlier than strolling again the remark. Whitmer advised the AP that it is “unhappy to see these political factors being scored with Kremlin speaking factors.”
In Austria, she met with enterprise executives at AVL Listing GmbH, a world automotive provider. The corporate’s North American headquarters are in Michigan, and Whitmer mentioned she mentioned future growth within the state.
Whitmer spent 5 days in Europe in January, the place she spoke at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and visited Norway. The journey, in keeping with her workplace, was important in securing a $400 million hydrogen facility in the state introduced by Norwegian inexperienced hydrogen firm Nel final week.
Whitmer has been continuously talked about as a future presidential candidate, however she shot down any hypothesis that the abroad journeys might sign any future ambitions.
“Nobody ought to learn something extra into it aside from it was an financial growth journey and a possibility to see our troops,” she mentioned.
