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On Monday, 24 November, the Baltic Assembly, the Nordic Council, the Benelux Parliament, the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly and the Visegrad countries held parliamentary consultations at the Saeima. The main item on the agenda was security in Europe and Central Asia.

“Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova are close partners, and we highly value our open and intensive dialogue. Likewise, we express unwavering support for the European aspirations of these countries. We have to realise that now when Ukraine’s security and democracy are threatened, we can be strong only if we stick together,” said Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, at the opening of the meeting. She emphasised that Europe does not need another Cold War; it does not need new walls and borders between states, but that does not mean that it will tolerate gross violations of international law.

“Latvia believes that any country has the right to choose its own foreign policy. At the same time, we also strongly support strengthening of relations between the European Union and its Eastern partners. Although the political situation differs among these countries, we need to have common values. Countries desiring to join the European Union have to ensure political pluralism, an effective and politically independent judiciary, as well as a strong rule of law,” emphasised the Speaker of the Saeima.

In his address, Atis Lejiņš, Vice Chairman of the Economics, Energy and Innovation Committee of the Baltic Assembly, indicated that the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will focus on the situation at the eastern border of the EU and Central Asia. Latvia also plans to hold the Eastern Partnership Summit. Lejiņš stressed that for Latvia and Lithuania – two former Soviet countries in whose freedom no one believed – it is an impressive achievement to be among the members of the EU and even to have the honour of presiding over the Council of the European Union.

During the meeting, parliamentarians of the Baltic Assembly, the Nordic Council, the Benelux Parliament, the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly and the Visegrad countries addressed issues such as security in Europe and Central Asia, the situation in Ukraine, the global and regional impact of the crisis in Ukraine, as well as ways for parliaments to ensure democracy, security and stability.

The Baltic Assembly is an interparliamentary cooperation organisation of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania established on 8 November 1991. Each national parliament of the Baltic States is represented in the Baltic Assembly by 12 to 20 members of parliament. It is a coordinating and consultative organisation which has a right to express its opinion to the national parliaments and governments of the Baltic States, as well as the Baltic Council of Ministers, in the form of resolutions, decisions, declarations and recommendations; it also has a right to request the above-mentioned bodies to provide information on cross-border issues that are high on the Baltic Assembly’s agenda.

Photos from the meeting are available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/sets/72157649381011136
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Saeima Press Service