“Every day, every hour, every minute that Russia occupies Ukrainian land, it commits crimes and atrocities there, killing civilians. Today was just another demonstration of the Russian modus operandi. Deliberately destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine is an act of ecological terrorism. Russia is a terrorist state,” stressed Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, in a statement released on Tuesday, 6 June.

NATO members are expected to present a strong vision of how allies will ensure lasting peace in Europe, including a clear, credible and irreversible marking of Ukraine’s path to NATO at the upcoming summit in Vilnius in July. This was emphasised by the Speaker of the Saeima Edvards Smiltēns on Friday, 2 June, in Vilnius, Lithuania, before the upcoming NATO summit, addressing his counterparts at the meeting of Speakers of Parliaments of the member states of the Alliance.

On Thursday, 1 June, the Saeima adopted a statement expressing support for Ukraine at the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius and urging for a decision to invite Ukraine to join the alliance.

On Wednesday, 31 May, the Saeima elected Edgars Rinkēvičs to the office of President of Latvia. Edgars Rinkēvičs was elected in the third round in an open ballot using ballot papers with 52 votes “for” and 35 “against”.

“You are a dream team, you managed to accomplish the impossible. Bear the Latvian flag with honour, we know that this is just the beginning," said Speaker of the Saeima Edvards Smiltēns, on Monday, 29 May, in a solemn ceremony held in the Riga Castle welcoming Latvian men’s hockey team — bronze medal winners of the 2023 World Ice Hockey Championship.

On Wednesday, 31 May, the Saeima will hold an extraordinary sitting, scheduled to start at 9:00 with presidential elections on agenda. Members of Parliament have nominated Elīna Pinto, Uldis Pīlēns, and Edgars Rinkēvičs as presidential candidates.

On Sunday, May 28, the Saeima adopted in the final reading urgent amendments to the law “On Public Holidays, Commemoration Days, and Celebration Days”, designating 29 May a public holiday in honour of the Latvian ice hockey team’s 2023 World Ice Hockey Championship bronze medal win.

It is the responsibility of the international community to do everything to find and return the Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia to their homeland,” said Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, Head of the Latvian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian PACE delegation on Thursday, 25 May.

On Thursday, 25 May, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the European Parliament Election Law, which set out the possibility for voters to vote at any polling station. 

“Energy strategy decisions cannot be taken by select ministries; they must emerge at the Saeima and with broad political participation, as decisions concerning energy are a matter of national security, the lifeblood of economy, attracting investments, and growth,” emphasised Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 22 May, at the opening of an energy forum at the Parliament.