On Thursday, 15 May, the Saeima confirmed Aigars Strupišs as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, 15 May, as part of the Monitoring Committee session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (hereinafter – the Assembly) held in Riga, a public international seminar titled “Resilience and Preparedness of Civil Society in the face of Crises” took place. Opening the event, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima and Chair of the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, underlined the vital role that civil society plays both in times of crisis and in their prevention.

Today, 15 May, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) begins its work in Riga under the chairmanship of Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima. As part of the session, the President of the Assembly, Theodoros Rousopoulos, is visiting Latvia.

“In today’s world, democracy and human rights must be at the top of the agenda. Democracy must be defended every day—and continuously invested in,” emphasised Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa on Thursday, 15 May, during a meeting at the Saeima with Theodoros Rousopoulos, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

“The brutal aggressor has been waging war in Ukraine for more than three years. Russia is our shared long-term threat. Its behaviour has remained unchanged for centuries. We must strengthen our defence capabilities, develop our military industry, and reinforce the resilience of our societies,” stated Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa on Monday, 12 May, addressing participants at the Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments in Budapest, Hungary.

On Saturday, 10 May, in a spring clean-up marking the 35th anniversary of the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence, members of the Saeima Presidium, Saeima members, and staff worked to tidy the grounds of the Čakste family home “Auči”.

“By standing up for democratic processes, we are working not only for Europe, but for the entire world. These values must be upheld with conviction. We remain as committed as ever to supporting you and defending democratic principles in Belarus,” said Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa on Friday, 9 May, during a meeting at the Saeima with the leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

“Living and thinking with foresight will shape the future of our country’s development,” said Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa on Thursday, 8 May, during an extraordinary sitting of the Parliament dedicated to the Fiscal-Structural Plan Progress Report.

On 5 May in Washington, D.C., during her working visit to the United States, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica met with Republican Party congressmen Keith Self, Chair of the Subcommittee on Europe of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Ryan Zinke, member of the House Committee on Appropriations and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as the leadership of the public policy think tank The Heritage Foundation. The conversations during the meetings underscored the close partnership between Latvia and the U.S. in defence, technology, and the economy and reaffirmed Latvia’s unwavering commitment to strengthening collective security within NATO and supporting Ukraine.