Members of the Latvian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA)—Head Raimonds Bergmanis, Deputy Head Ainars Latkovskis, and Permanent Representative Irma Kalniņa—are in Brussels until 22 February to discuss current security issues with parliamentarians from NATO countries.

"This year has been a great challenge for us, and it has brought our nation together, but for Ukrainians it has been immeasurably harder and more difficult. Now is the right moment to say thank you to our friends, but also to realise that our friendship needs to be strengthened further and we need to help Ukrainians even more," said Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, at an award ceremony on Monday, 20 February, presenting Saeima certificates of appreciation to representatives of civil society and organisations for their support to the Ukrainian people.

"Latvia is providing comprehensive assistance to Ukraine and there is strong, unwavering support in society, including on a practical level. Latvia will support Ukraine until its absolute victory. Russia must be held accountable for these bloody atrocities. The guilty must be punished. It is a question of whether the world will be governed by the power of law or the law of power," said Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, meeting Olena Kondratiuk, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine on Monday, 20 February.

“A true democracy cannot be realised without the representation of the people and without the parliament — a place where different people, ideas, beliefs meet. A place, where people may come and go, but fundamental continuity and absolute balance of power are ensured," said the Speaker of the Saeima Edvards Smiltēns at the ceremonial opening  of the second  supplemented edition of a book by Gunārs Kusiņš “Parliamentarianism in Latvia: An Overview” on Thursday, February 16, in the Saeima.

On Thursday, 16 February, the Saeima in the second reading supported the draft Law on the National Defence Service and the related draft laws, which provide for the establishment of the National Defence Service. The first conscription to the National Defence Service is planned on July 1, this year.

On Thursday, February 16, the Saeima adopted urgent amendments to the Law on Assistance to Ukrainian Civilians. They provide for the possibility of transferring the state-owned vehicles free of charge to the Ukrainian government — for general support to Ukrainian society.

On Thursday, February 16, the Saeima supported the government’s decision to extend the state of emergency in the Latvia-Belarusian border area, i.e., the state of emergency in Ludza, Krāslava, Augšdaugava, and Daugavpils is extended until 10 May 2023.

On Thursday, 2 February, the Saeima approved in the final reading urgent amendments that extend the deadline for the dissolution of the free port authorities of Riga and Ventspils.

Latvia and Poland have historical ties, and our security is closely interlinked. Strategic cooperation between Poland and the Baltic States is particularly important in the new geopolitical situation. This was underlined by Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, when he received Andrzej Duda, President of Poland, at the Saeima on Wednesday, 1 February. The President of Poland is in Latvia on an official visit.

Since its establishment 14 years ago, the Saeima Visitor and Information Centre has received almost 26 thousand visitors.