On Thursday, 18 May, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments, which had been deemed urgent and by which a directive of the European Commission is to be transposed, establishing restrictions on placing flavoured heated tobacco products on the market.

“We are grateful to Spain for its significant contribution in strengthening NATO deterrence and defence capabilities in the Baltic region. Latvia and Spain share excellent bilateral relations and cooperation within the European Union and NATO,” Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, noted during his working visit to Spain.

“Russia is testing different approaches to weakening the existing international order and trying to offer alternatives appealing to authoritarian regimes around the world. It is dangerous for democracies and threatens the values that we all believe in. We must strongly defend the rules-based international order," said Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, at the meeting of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Seville, Spain.

On Thursday, 11 May, the Saeima supported the government’s decision to extend the state of emergency in the Latvian-Belarusian border area.

“Today, the most valuable affirmation of our patriotism and love for our country, people, and state is to vigilantly safeguard parliamentary democracy, to protect the most sacred values—our freedom, independence and democracy,” said Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Thursday, 4 May, addressing participants of the ceremonial Saeima sitting on the occasion of the Day of Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia.

“At a time when the divide between democracies and authoritarian regimes is growing more and more apparent, as we witness increasingly severe attempts to disrupt the security, stability, and unity of democratic countries, inter-parliamentary cooperation is of crucial importance, especially concerning foreign affairs and security matters. Democratic countries must cooperate; it is the only way to prevail in this struggle—by giving a united and powerful response to the challenges and issues we are facing today,” underlined Rihards Kols, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima, in London, the United Kingdom, during a conference on European security.

“21 years ago in Prague, Latvia received an invitation to join NATO, and now we are discussing the restoration of justice regarding Ukraine on the very same premises. Today more than ever we need the same courage and wisdom to eliminate the grey area of political ambivalence in Europe. Back then, we did not want to remain in the shadow or on the sidelines, and we do not want this to happen to any other nation. Russia’s neighbours in Europe cannot afford to stay neutral,” emphasised Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 24 April, at the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments in Prague, the Czech Republic.

“Without question, the main challenges at present are security, energy independence, neighbourhood policy, and EU enlargement,” said Andris Sprūds, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima, on Monday, 24 April, at the opening of the meeting of the chairs of the European affairs committees of the parliaments of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine.

On Friday, 21 April, Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima addressed the members of the 10th Youth Parliament saying: “Politics is a process that impacts society with the intention of improving its life. In this sense, politics is often all around us, because it starts with the small things in school, in our neighbourhood, non-governmental organisations, municipalities. It is starts with an open heart and a seeing mind, the ability to identify a problem, see the opportunity to do things better, find solutions and be committed to implementing them.”