On Thursday, 25 June, the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia issued a joint resolution on the proposal submitted to the Russian State Duma to revoke and invalidate the resolution of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR of 24 December 1989, which condemns the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The position of the Chairs of Committees is that the proposal constitutes an attempt made by the Russian Federation to distort history.
Press releases
Saeima adopts law on real estate agent activities (12.06.2020.)
On Thursday, 11 June, the Saeima adopted in the final reading the Law on Real Estate Agent Activities in order to establish a legal basis for the activities of real estate agents and supervise their professional activity. From 1 July 2021, only persons included in the Real Estate Agent Register may provide intermediary real estate services.
Saeima: at least 80 percent of additional programmes included in TV packages must be in EU languages (11.06.2020.)
On Thursday, 11 June, the Saeima adopted in the third reading amendments to the Electronic Mass Media Law. According to the amendments, television programme distribution service providers must ensure that at least 80 percent of additional programmes included in the basic television package contain content whose original language is an official language of the European Union or the European Economic Area.
Saeima adopts administrative-territorial reform (10.06.2020.)
Latvia will have 42 municipalities instead of the current 119 after the 2021 municipal elections. This change comes with the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas adopted in the final reading by the Saeima on Wednesday, 10 June.
The Saeima is one of the first parliaments in the world to fully shift to remote work during the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to the new e-Saeima platform, plenary sittings can now be held remotely, with MPs participating from outside the parliament premises.
On Thursday, 14 May, the Saeima held an extraordinary sitting and approved the decision by the Cabinet of Ministers to ease the restrictions imposed during the state of emergency that were introduced with the aim to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Saeima: municipalities required to ensure opportunity of receiving education in Latvian language in all preschools (14.05.2020.)
On Thursday, 14 May, the Saeima in the third and final reading adopted amendments to the General Education Law, thus legally obliging municipalities to ensure that children have access to Latvian language education in all preschools.
"During the state of emergency caused by COVID-19, there are serious concerns when it comes to certain member states of the Council of Europe about the balance between the introduced restrictions and human rights, as well as the maintenance of a balanced separation of powers, which is the basis of democracy. When facing new challenges, we must not derogate from respecting the principle of the rule of law, and parliaments must maintain their right to scrutinise the work of the executive branch,” emphasised Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Chair of the Latvian delegation to PACE, on Thursday, 7 May, following a remote sitting of the Bureau and the Standing Committee of the Assembly.
On Thursday, 7 May, the Saeima adopted a statement on the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the need for a comprehensive view in Europe and on a global level. It emphasises that Europe cannot be united as long as its collective memory remains divided and expresses concerns about the attempts of historical revisionism regarding the Second World War on the part of Russia.
On Thursday, 7 May, the Saeima adopted in the final reading urgent amendments to the Law on Measures to Prevent and Overcome the Threat to National Security and Its Consequences Due to the Spread of COVID-19, thus easing employment conditions in order for companies to remain in business and safeguard existing jobs during the emergency situation caused by the virus pandemic.