Addressing her colleagues at the Conference of Speakers of the European Union (EU) Parliaments in Spain, Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, invited the parliament speakers of EU Member States to attend the third Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform to take place in Riga in October.

We live at a time when democratic values are under threat. There is a need for political determination to fight for them. As long as we in Europe do not use our political and economic potential to take care of our own security, we allow the vulnerability that our systemic rivals and the aggressor state are happy to exploit. This was said by the Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa, addressing the speakers of parliaments of the European Union (EU) in Spain.

The more women we had in high positions, the more peace there would be in the world. It would also promote gender equality and address other issues related to this area that are on the agenda for us, the entire Europe and the world. This was said by the Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa at the Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the European Union (EU) held in Spain, addressing the participants of the round table discussion “Women’s Leadership”.

“We are counting on Congress to make the right decision and approve the assistance package to Ukraine that it so urgently needs. For the sake of standing up to tyrants and aggressors and for the sake of our collective security. Supporting Ukraine is an investment in our collective secure future,” states an open letter signed by Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, Lauri Hussari, Speaker of the Riigikogu, and Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas.

On Friday, 19 April, the Saeima expressed confidence in Baiba Braže as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, unanimously approved a resolution on support for the reconstruction of Ukraine. The Assembly’s decision was taken in the presence of the President of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, who stressed the importance of the resolution his address to the Assembly.

With the participation of a delegation from the Saeima, on Tuesday, 16 April, in Strasbourg, France the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) elected Artūrs Kučs as a judge of the European Court of Human Rights.

In order to promote new investments, including for energy-intensive projects, the distribution system operator will cover 50% of the construction costs also for high capacity connections. This is provided for in the amendments to the Energy Law adopted by the Saeima on Thursday, 11 April, as urgent in the second reading.

“A solution is needed for achieving balance between the protection of intellectual property rights, universal access to medicines, and opportunities for different companies to produce them,” stated Edmunds Cepurītis, Chair of the Saeima European Affairs Committee, on Wednesday, 10 April.

Ukraine can count on Latvia’s unwavering support at all levels, including on the issue of Ukraine’s requisite accession to the European Union (EU). We are actively working with our EU colleagues to ensure that accession negotiations would start already in June this year, said Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Thursday, 4 April, meeting with Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, at the Latvian parliament. The Speaker also informed that the Saeima would develop a knowledge transfer and training programme for the Ukrainian parliament administration to help promote Ukraine’s integration in the EU.