On Friday, 27 April, the members of the 2nd Youth Parliament, guided by Ojārs Kalniņš, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima, created a group for interparliamentary relations with the USA in order to promote interest among youths about collaboration opportunities with the United States of America (USA). Next week the members of the group will visit the U.S. embassy to meet the U.S. Ambassador in person.

“It was a pleasure to see how keen the youths were to participate in the interparliamentary relations group and the degree of interest they displayed in foreign affairs in general. In my talk with the youths, I stressed that the USA is a strategic partner for Latvia and that we have excellent relations,” Kalniņš remarked. The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee said he was also pleased that the essays written by the youths contained many viable ideas on how to promote Latvia’s collaboration with the USA.

The members of the group for interparliamentary relations with the USA are members of the 2nd Youth Parliament who participated in an essay contest organised by the Saeima and the U.S. embassy in Latvia expressing their opinions on collaboration opportunities for Latvian youths with the USA. The essays include suggestions that opportunities should be given for Latvian youths to attend camps in the USA and to participate in exchange programs.

Twenty-four essay authors will visit the U.S. embassy on 2 May to meet with Judith Garber, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia, and ask her questions that interest them. During the visit, Garber and Kalniņš will present awards to the authors of the best essays. 

The three best essays will be published on the website of the Youth Parliament www.jauniesusaeima.lv.

On Friday, 27 April, 100 youths from all the regions of Latvia met in the Saeima building to experience first-hand the work of the legislature and to defend their ideas from the rostrum of the parliament.

The 100 members of the Youth Parliament were chosen by a public vote. The candidates competed for the support of voters with their ideas on how to promote the development of Latvia. The toughest competition took place in the Riga constituency, where 64 candidates vied for 30 MP slots. Altogether there were 196 candidates for the Youth Parliament, and their ideas received a total of 5,747 votes.



Saeima Press Service