On Thursday, 3 March, the Saeima adopted in the third and final reading amendments to the Saeima Election Law, the Elections to the European Parliament Law and the Law on Political Parties, stipulating that henceforth political parties or unions thereof wishing to run in elections of the Saeima or the European Parliament must have at least 500 members.

On Thursday, 3 March, with 49 votes for and 45 against, the Saeima appointed Juris Jansons as Ombudsman for the second consecutive term.

“The mission of a journalist is to drive the world, rather than merely reflect. I wish all media in Latvia, and public media in particular, to always have a clear vision of the direction in which you move the world and our country - Latvia,” said   Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, in her opening address at the discussion “Constructive news – responsibility of public media” held at the Saeima today. The concept of constructive news was presented by Ulrik Haagerup, Head of News for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. 

Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, expresses her deepest condolences to the people of Turkey regarding the terrorist attack committed on 17 February in Ankara.

On Thursday, 11 February, the Saeima held an extraordinary plenary sitting, during which it approved the new Cabinet of Ministers lead by Māris Kučinskis with 60 votes for and 32 votes against. 

On Thursday, 11 February, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Energy Law setting out the principles for opening the natural gas market to all sellers and providing households with the right to freely choose their gas supplier. The amendments also stipulate how the final phase of reforming the natural gas market is to be implemented.

On Thursday, 11 February, the political parties represented in the 12th Saeima of the Republic of Latvia and the Cabinet of Ministers – the Union of Greens and Farmers, Unity, and the National Alliance “All for Latvia! – For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK” – will officially sign the cooperation agreement and the Declaration on the Intended Activities of the Government lead by Māris Kučinskis.

On Tuesday, 2 February, in Kiev Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, met with Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, and stated that “the Baltic and Nordic countries have always strongly supported Ukraine and will continue to do so in future. This commitment is demonstrated by the joint visit to Kiev of the highest-ranking officials of the parliaments of the Baltic and Nordic countries. Occupation of foreign territory, oppression of the population, persecution and false imprisonment are unacceptable in the 21st century. The speakers of the parliaments of the Baltic and Nordic countries strictly abide by their position that the West must continue the sanctions introduced against Russia.”

On Friday, 29 January, the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima issued a statement regarding the gas pipeline project Nord Stream II. The statement says: “The Nord Stream II project will not serve to promote solidarity and good neighbourly relationships among EU member states, nor will it help diversify energy supply sources and routes. This project contradicts the external dimension of the common energy policy of the EU and will damage the Neighbourhood Policy of the Union, which, in turn, will weaken the EU as a whole.”