On Monday, 24 March, Jānis Vucāns, Chairman of the Latvian delegation to the Baltic Assembly, met with Karin Åström, President of the Nordic Council, and Hans Wallmark, Vice President of the Nordic Council. In discussing the situation in Ukraine, Jānis Vucāns noted that since the Eastern Partnership is one of Latvia’s foreign policy priorities, it is logical for our state to be ready to continue sharing its experience with Ukraine in implementing reforms and strengthening democracy, as well as supporting Ukraine in these efforts. This commitment is essential particularly now, when Ukraine needs support in maintaining its sovereignty and territorial integrity, strengthening national unity and stabilising the overall situation in the state.

Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, sent a congratulatory letter to Eiki Nestor on his election to the position of President of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia.

On Thursday, 20 March, the Saeima adopted in the final reading the amendments to the Electricity Market Law according to which households will be able to purchase electricity in a free market as of 1 January 2015 instead of 1 April 2014 as previously planned.

“With great concern we observe the critical situation in Ukraine, where an act of aggression has been committed against a European country by the military forces of the Russian Federation. Today, the international community is confronted by the most serious challenge to global security since the end of the Cold War”; so declares the Statement adopted by the speakers of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regarding the situation in Ukraine.

On Friday, 14 March, in Rome, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, addressed the participants of an international conference What Europe Stands For – Growth, Jobs and Rights: Will the European Union Rise to the Occasion? In her address, Speaker Āboltiņa emphasised that under conditions of global competition, it is difficult to imagine a competitive Europe with many small currencies and with just as many competitive strategies. In order to remain competitive, small countries like ours have to integrate their economies, and by virtue of being a member of the euro area, we are far less vulnerable to outside economic pressures.

The amendments to the Energy Law which the Saeima adopted in the third and final reading on Thursday, 13 March, envisage that the consumer gas market in Latvia will not be opened before April 2017.

On Thursday, 6 March, the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia adopted the Statement on Russia’s Aggression in Ukraine declaring that the Saeima strongly condemns the Russian Federation’s military aggression in Ukraine and stressing Latvia’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the legitimate power of the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine.

On Monday, 3 March, the European Affairs Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima adopted the Joint Statement on Russia’s Aggression in Ukraine strongly condemning the Russian Federation’s military aggression in Ukraine and stressing Latvia’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the legitimate power of the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine. Both committees also called upon the Presidium of the Saeima to convene an extraordinary plenary sitting during which the parliament as a whole would also adopt such a statement.

Latvia strongly stands for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and is of the opinion that any measures aimed at splitting Ukrainian society and questioning the territorial integrity of the country must be condemned in the strongest terms possible.