On Wednesday, 25 September, the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee of the Saeima examined the government’s annual report on issuing temporary residence permits to foreign investors and decided that provisions for issuing temporary residence permits to foreigners investing in capital companies need to be changed.

During Open Door Day held on Monday, 23 September, visitors of the Saeima showed great interest in the unprecedented opportunity to send a postcard bearing a postage seal of the Saeima to any place in Latvia.

On Tuesday, 10 September, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, met with Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland, who is in Latvia on a state visit. During the meeting, the Speaker pointed out that relations between Finland and Latvia were formed several centuries before our statehood was established in our present territories. She added that as neighbours, we share the Baltic Sea, as well as similarities in our history, ideology and culture.

On Tuesday, 10 September, the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee of the Saeima expressed conceptual support for a new draft law which sets forth rules on how a public entity must manage its capital shares and capital companies. 

For the third year, within the framework of the International Parliamentary Scholarship programme, two students from Germany are doing an internship at the Saeima. Until 27 September, the youths will have an opportunity to get acquainted with the work of the members of parliament, parliamentary groups and committees. They will also attend lectures at the University of Latvia.

It is important to strengthen the sense of belonging to Western policies and values among the Eastern neighbours of the European Union; therefore, an active dialogue with countries across the Eastern border of the EU should be continued, stated Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Friday, 16 August, when addressing Nordic and Baltic colleagues at the annual meeting of the parliamentary speakers of the Nordic Countries and Baltic States (NB8).   

Local governments that are well-informed about the social problems of a specific area are irreplaceable partners for the national government, and without their help the state cannot fulfil all of its tasks; therefore, development of effective dialogue with local governments is a matter of honour and prestige of national policy. This was expressed by Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Friday, 9 August, in her address to the 24th Congress of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments.

“The Jewish community has become a vibrant and integral part of Latvian society. It is very important for people of all ethnicities to feel comfortable in Latvia and to maintain their culture and traditions whilst still remaining loyal to Latvia’s statehood and independence,” Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, said on Tuesday, 30 July, when meeting in the Saeima with Shimon Peres, President of Israel, who is on an official visit to Latvia. During the meeting, the Speaker of the Saeima pointed out that Latvia’s Jewish community recently celebrated its 450th anniversary and is the second largest in the Baltic States.