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We must not lose a single day or even a minute in hesitation to support Ukraine. As people of the Baltic States, we understand this well, and we are the advocates convincing our allies to take similar action. We must also send the message to our people that we are unwavering and tireless, said Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Friday, 6 October, to her Lithuanian colleagues during a working visit to the country’s capital Vilnius.

During the visit, Speaker Mieriņa met with Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and Kęstutis Masiulis, Head of the Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the Republic of Latvia.

The Speakers of the Latvian and Lithuanian parliaments agreed that all the necessary support for Ukraine must continue to ensure its victory as soon as possible. This is key to our security as well. Čmilytė-Nielsen affirmed that we are not just friendly neighbours, but also close allies, including in our steadfast support for Ukraine.

Security is a common priority of our countries. “We need to progress towards a larger national defence budget, and the current government has agreed to gradually increase the defence budget to reach three per cent of GDP,” said the Speaker of the Saeima. Latvia is planning to develop new defence capabilities and strengthen the State Defence Service.

The Speaker of the Saeima praised the neighbouring country’s solidarity and practical support in countering the hybrid attacks on the border with Belarus. “We are sincerely grateful for the assistance of Lithuania’s border guards, this is meaningful support,” said Mieriņa. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania commented that acting in solidarity is self-evident, and, likewise, Latvia helped its neighbour when Lithuania faced a similar situation.

“Mobility of people is important for Latvia, both internally, promoting connectivity between regions, as well as with our closest neighbours,” noted the Speaker. Latvian and Lithuanian MPs highlighted the Rail Baltica rail network as the region’s most important connectivity project, which is in need of additional funding. “The estimates are discouraging, expenses have clearly grown. According to preliminary calculations, the costs have risen several times,” stated Mieriņa, urging her colleagues to hold joint talks with the European Commission about ways to cover the cost increase.

Parties agreed that we could bring our countries even closer by introducing our neighbour country’s language classes in schools near the border. It would be a good solution, considering Latvia’s decision to stop teaching Russian as the second foreign language in schools.

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Saeima Press Service