Herman van Rompuy, recently elected the first European Union president, will visit Latvia December 2 as incumbent Belgian prime minister, the Chas newspaper reported on its website.

Van Rompuy, 62, was elected permanent president of the European Council by the 27-nation bloc's leaders at a meeting on Thursday evening.

Latvia has been hard hit by an economic crisis, with many enterprises going bankrupt. The government has asked international financial organizations for assistance, and they are ready to grant the republic a 7.5 billion euro ($11.2 bln) loan.

During his visit, van Rompuy will meet with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.

To take the office of EU president, elected for 2.5 years but not more than for two terms, van Rompuy has to resign as Belgian premier, which he has not done yet. He is to take the new office on January 1.

RIGA, November 24 (RIA Novosti)