“Regardless of the aid we have hitherto provided to the Eastern Partnership countries, it needs to be continued in a better targeted way. Whenever we are discussing the future of Europe, the Eastern Partnership must always be on the agenda,” said Jānis Vucāns, Vice President of the Baltic Assembly (BA), during his remote address at the autumn session of the Benelux Parliament, in which parliamentarians from the Baltic, Benelux, and Nordic countries talked about the future of Europe.

On Friday, 2 October, an international jury held a partially remote meeting to evaluate nominees for the Baltic Assembly (BA) Prize, and decided that this year, the BA Prize in Science will be awarded to physicist Roberts Eglītis. Eglītis, Member of the Latvian Academy of Science, will receive the award for the research cycle, entitled “Theoretical predictions of new materials for energy storage and harvesting”.

On Thursday, 1 October, the Saeima adopted a statement on the legitimacy of the mandate claimed by the president of Belarus, in which it does not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus.The Statement reiterates that the Belarusian presidential election held on 9 August 2020 was neither free nor fair, that Latvia does not recognise the election results published by the Belarusian authorities and that the mandate based on these results cannot be considered to be obtained in a democratic way and thus legitimate.

On Thursday, 1 October, the Saeima adopted in the second and final reading urgent amendments to the Law on the Management of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection. The Law provides for the use of a new information system to reduce the threat of COVID-19 spreading and to ensure the monitoring of persons in home quarantine or isolation.

Latvia and France have close relations, and a strong and united Europe is important for both countries. Latvia supports France’s efforts towards a better integrated European Union (EU), and it is important that we protect European values together, emphasised members of the Saeima on Wednesday, 30 September, in a meeting with the delegation of the Parliament of France.

The Baltic States need to be more active in insisting on a common regulation at the European Union level to fight disinformation more efficiently, said Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, on Wednesday, 30 September, at the Latvian Parliament during the meeting with Urmas Reinsalu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, who is on an official visit to Latvia.The Speaker of the Saeima and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia agreed on the threats posed by disinformation and praised the work of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. Both sides expressed their satisfaction over the close cooperation of the Baltic States in the field of defence and stressed the importance of NATO’s military presence and its contribution to reinforcing the security of the Baltic region.

On Thursday, 24 September, the Saeima approved the new State Defence Concept. It is a document prepared on the basis of military threat analysis outlining the strategic core principles, priorities and general measures taken for military defence of the state in time of peace, threats, and war.

Latvia expresses firm support to the Belarusian people in their demand to respect democracy and hold a new, free and fair presidential election, emphasised Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, at the video conference of the speakers of parliaments of the Baltic states and Nordic countries (NB8) on Tuesday, 22 September. The conference was also attended by the Belarusian presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

On Thursday, 17 September, the Saeima decided in the third and final reading that the state-owned real estate property located in Riga, Riharda Vāgnera iela 4, shall be transferred to the Riga Richard Wagner Society (RRWS) free of charge.

On Thursday, 17 September, the Saeima adopted in the final reading urgent amendments to the Electronic Communications Law, stipulating that providers of electronic communications services shall communicate information provided by the State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to the public.