"Together we must stand firm for Ukraine and international law. Over the 70 years of the existence of the Council of Europe, it has been an outstanding, standard-setting body in areas such as human rights, the rule of law, and democracy. Unfortunately, today the authority of the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is in jeopardy. The illegal annexation of Crimea, the armed conflict in Donbas, the occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the flagrant violations of the freedom of speech and assembly, and the persecution of human rights activists are issues the avoidance of which undermines the public trust in the Council of Europe and the values for which it stands," said Speaker Ināra Mūrniece, addressing the audience at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of the member states of the Council of Europe.

On Thursday, 24 October, Saeima in the final reading adopted amendments to the Packaging Law, which provide a regulatory framework for the operation of the deposit system. This system will become operational on 1 February 2022.

On Thursday, 24 October, the Saeima appointed Santa Purgaile as the Chair of the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC).

On Thursday, 17 October, the Saeima in the final reading and as a matter of urgency adopted the amendments to the Energy Law, with the goal of overcoming obstacles to the creation of a regional natural gas market and ensuring that the common entry-exit tariff system of Finland, Estonia and Latvia is operational from 1 January 2020.

On Thursday, 17 October, the Saeima adopted in the third and final readingthe Draft Law on Termination of Granting the Non-Citizen Status to Children. It stipulates that from 1 January 2020 newborns shall no longer be given the non-citizen status.

"There is broad support in the Parliament of Latvia for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration. We are following the developments in Ukraine, and you can always count on strong support from Latvia's Parliament for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, on Wednesday, 16 October, addressing the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during his official visit to Latvia.

Latvia is ready to share its experience regarding democratic changes and parliamentary work, as well as to support Kyrgyzstan in further reforms, stressed Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, on Tuesday, 15 October, at the Saeima in the meeting with Dastanbek Dzhumabekov, Speaker of the Kyrgyz Parliament, who is currently on an official visit to Latvia.

On Friday, 11 October, an international panel of judges, having gathered at the Saeima and assessed the nominees for the Baltic Assembly (BA) Prize, decided to award the 2019 BA Prize for the Arts to conductor Normunds Šnē for his performance at the concert in honour of the centenary of the Baltic States with the Chamber Orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga” and Tallinn Chamber orchestra - event that took place at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm last year

“The Baltic States and the Nordic countries should work in close cooperation to defend their common European values, democracy, and human rights,” stressed Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, in a meeting at the Parliament of Latvia with Andreas Norlén, Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden, during his official visit to Latvia.

Heads of five delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Georgia – signed a joint statement today, on 1 October, in Strasbourg. In the statement, the representatives of the five countries drew attention to the compromised values of the Council of Europe, as the PACE majority turns a blind eye to continuous violations of human rights, the occupation and annexation of territories, war waged by the Russian Federation against its neighbours, as well as countless other violations that the Russian Federation continues to commit after the restoration of its voting rights in the PACE.