For Latvia, Azerbaijan is an important partner country in the South Caucasus, and while we have a successful political dialogue, this is not yet reflected in the volume of our mutual trade. We see promising opportunities to expand economic cooperation, as well as to develop contacts between municipalities and cooperation between universities, said Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, when meeting with Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, and Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Parliament (Milli Majlis), in Baku on Monday, 20 May.

“Moldova is successfully continuing its reform path. Tangible progress has already been made in a number of areas, including reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption. The result is also illustrated by the fact that last December the leaders of the European Union decided to start accession negotiations with Moldova,” said Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima head of the Latvian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, on Friday, 17 May, in the meeting of the PACE Monitoring Committee in held in Paris, France.

We share a common view on the security situation in Europe and appreciate Czech initiatives and contribution to strengthening our security, said the Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa on Wednesday 15 May, meeting with Markéta Pekarová Adamová, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.

In order to learn from Latvia’s experience, inter alia in regard to European integration issues, staff members of the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) will visit the Saeima on 16 and 17 May. 

“The development target of doubling the GDP is ambitious, yet attainable. Only by setting bold objectives can we motivate ourselves to be among the most developed countries,” the Speaker of the Saeima said on Thursday, 16 May, in her address to the Saeima at the economic policy debate about Latvia’s Stability Programme for 2024-2028. 

“From our own history, the occupation we survived, we know how important it is to maintain your national culture and identity, and also to educate the international community. A nation with its own unique identity is a hallmark of statehood,” Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, emphasised on Thursday, 16 May, at the opening of the photo exhibition “Symbol of a Nation. The Ukrainian Vyshyvanka” at the Saeima building. The exhibition is dedicated to the day celebrating the national treasure of Ukraine – the embroidered shirt called the vyshyvanka. 

“I thank all the people who feel this strength within, who appreciate the opportunity to be citizens of the European Union, and who protect our common home together,” said Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Thursday, 9 May, launching the Europe Day Picnic next to the main building of the Saeima. The event was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Latvia’s accession to the EU.

On Thursday, 9 May the Saeima adopted in the third reading amendments to the Criminal Law in order to criminalise attempts to influence the results of elections with the help of the so called “deep fake” technology and to ensure voters’ right to participate in fair and free elections.

According to the amendments to the Education Law adopted by the Saeima on Thursday, 9 May, students will be able to refuse to learn Russian as a second foreign language. If a student refuses to learn Russian until June 21, this year, they will be able to learn another foreign language from the next school year.

“It seems unbelievable that a country can transform from an occupied state to a strong and developed member of the European Union and NATO within a single generation. Our integration into a shared space of security and values has fostered our growth and development. It has allowed democratic values and principles to take deep roots within our society,” said Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Wednesday, 8 May, addressing the ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the European Union member states to the Republic of Latvia. The ambassadors gathered in the Parliament on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Latvia’s accession to the European Union.