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On Monday, 10 June, during her meeting in the main building of the Saeima with Glauk Konjufca, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, and his delegation consisting of staff members of the Assembly and representatives of NGOs, Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, said that Latvia has accumulated valuable experience in promoting dialogue with society and cooperation with NGOs and is ready to share this experience with Kosovo, which aims to shape a high-quality dialogue with civil society.

When welcoming the guests to the Saeima, Lībiņa-Egnere indicated that this is a historic day because it is the fifth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Latvia and Kosovo. Latvia supports Kosovo’s European integration aspirations and is ready to share its experience in implementing reforms, streamlining legislation and facilitating dialogue with civic society. The Saeima is already involved in the capacity of expert in the EU’s twinning project Support to Kosovo Assembly, which is being implemented by the Hungarian Assembly.

The Deputy Speaker of the Saeima emphasised that a democratic state should have an open parliament whose work is transparent; plenary sittings and committee meetings which are open to public, as well as regular provision of information to society on parliamentary activities, mark our path towards this goal.

In order to facilitate the dialogue with society and to ensure open parliament, every year the Saeima and NGOs hold a joint forum. When describing collaboration with the non-governmental sector, the Deputy Speaker of the Saeima highlighted the involvement of NGOs in the routine work of the parliament, which includes voicing of their opinion on topical items considered during committee meetings. The delegation of the Assembly of Kosovo welcomed the declaration on the development of civil society in Latvia and cooperation with NGOs adopted by the Saeima in 2006.

During the meeting, Lībiņa-Egnere informed colleagues from Kosovo that a significant step towards greater involvement of society in the legislative process in Latvia was introduction of a collective submission procedure, which enables people of Latvia to file with the Saeima a legislative initiative signed by at least 10,000 citizens.

Deputy Speaker of the Saeima emphasised that the Saeima is actively trying to promote civic participation of the youth and raise their awareness of the work of the parliament. Among these efforts, Lībiņa-Egnere indicated the Youth Parliament – a project organised by the Saeima which enables youths to address topics significant for them on a parliamentary level. In addition, the Saeima is actively involved in Job Shadow Day, which allows active and eager Latvian students to learn about daily routine of MPs and staff members of the Saeima, as well as to broaden their vision by getting a first-hand impression about the parliament and law making. The Saeima also organises educational school programme Meet the Saeima, which offers young people an opportunity to understand the everyday work of the parliament and to learn about political processes in Latvia. Within the framework of this programme, representatives of the Saeima visit schools all around Latvia.

The delegation from Kosovo is in Latvia from 10 to 12 June within the framework of a study visit organised with support of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and aimed at learning from Latvia’s experience and best practices in ensuring cooperation of the parliament with civil society and NGOs.

Photos from the meeting are available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/sets/72157634041065249/
Video from the meeting is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXZmP3VppMM
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Saeima Press Service