On Thursday, 6 October, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, welcomed Darko Pajovic, President of the Parliament of Montenegro, to the parliament of Latvia. Speaker Mūrniece praised Montenegro’s progress in its NATO accession efforts and expressed support to the country’s EU integration aspirations.

On Wednesday, 5 October, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, welcomed Jürgen Ligi, the newly-appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs of Estonia, to the parliament of Latvia. The Speaker of the Saeima congratulated the neighbouring country with its forthcoming presidency of the Council of the EU and encouraged Estonia to continue the initiatives launched during the Latvian presidency, especially the strengthening of the Eastern Partnership.

On Monday, 29 August, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, called on the Baltic Sea region countries to jointly contribute to the region’s peace and democracy, which is now more vital than ever to counter the conflict threats.

The new geopolitical conditions in Europe confirm that security threats are no longer a purely military phenomenon. We must join our efforts to seriously prevent hybrid threats, emphasised Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 22 August, at the annual conference of the speakers of parliament of the Baltic States and the Nordic countries (NB8), which this year takes place in the Latvian capital, Riga.

We owe gratitude to no one else but ourselves for the restoration of Latvia’s independence: it was our fight and our victory. The 1991 August events for Latvians, Estonians, and Lithuanians were a fight for their freedom, democracy, and independent state, as well as for values, said Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, on Sunday, 21 August, at the ceremonial event at the Monument of Freedom, as she addressed the audience on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the de facto restoration of the statehood of Latvia.

On Thursday, 26 May, the Saeima approved in the second reading the amendments to the Law on the Change of a Given Name, Surname and Nationality Record. According to these amendments, citizens of Latvia who are not ethnically Latvian but have permanently lived in the country for at least 15 years, have learned the official language, and affiliate themselves with Latvian culture, will be granted a right to change their nationality to Latvian.

On Wednesday, 25 May, within the framework of a working visit to Georgia, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, met with the highest officials of the state. Speaker Mūrniece said that “Latvia will continue to support Georgia and will urge for prompt introduction of a visa-free regime with the European Union. Georgia has diligently completed its homework and implemented various reforms so that its citizens may enjoy the advantages provided by a visa-free regime.”