The upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit will be a turning point in relations between the EU and its eastern neighbours. Georgia is a leader among the Eastern Partnership member states in implementing reforms; therefore, it has a special role in strengthening this policy, said Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima, on Monday, 7 October, at the international parliamentary conference Georgia Before the Vilnius Summit: Role of the Parliament in EU Integration Process held in Tbilisi.

On Friday, 4 October, the Joint Jury convened in the Saeima to evaluate nominees for the Baltic Assembly prizes, and it decided to award this year’s Prize for Science to Renāte Blumberga.

On Wednesday, 2 October, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, met with Leonid Kozhara, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and emphasised that Latvia fully supports Ukraine’s striving to develop closer relations with the EU and that Ukraine can count on our support in concluding the Association Agreement with the EU, which might take place within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Summit scheduled to take place in Vilnius in November.

An increasingly large number of Latvian citizens live abroad and will continue living there in the future. Thus, in order to create a cohesive nation, we have to look beyond our borders towards the diaspora. This is one of the main conclusions reached on 30 September at the seminar on Representing Diaspora Interests in Their Homelands, stressed Ilmārs Latkovskis, Chairman of the Social Cohesion Committee of the Saeima.

Friday, 27 September, was the last day of internship at the Saeima for two German students – Melanie Frank and Sebastian Reiter. During the month-long internship the students had a chance to gather information for their research and to learn about the work of the Latvian parliament and MPs.

“Tax evasion and tax fraud undermine the tax base and make honest citizens and businesses pay the taxes avoided by frauds. Tax fraud affects the economy and finances of every country, and it is a problem for the entire European Union. As a result of tax fraud and tax evasion, every year the EU loses at least EUR 200 billion, which is half of the EU’s budget,” said Raimonds Vējonis, President of the Baltic Assembly, on Friday, 27 September, as he opened the parliamentary seminar of the Baltic Assembly and the Benelux Parliament on Coordinated Strategy to Improve the Fight Against VAT Fraud in the European Union held in the main building of the Saeima.

On Thursday, 26 September, the Saeima supported in the first reading amendments to the Diplomatic and Consular Service Law which were drafted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and which envisage that only persons with no other citizenship than Latvian can be diplomats.

On Wednesday, 25 September, the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee of the Saeima examined the government’s annual report on issuing temporary residence permits to foreign investors and decided that provisions for issuing temporary residence permits to foreigners investing in capital companies need to be changed.

During Open Door Day held on Monday, 23 September, visitors of the Saeima showed great interest in the unprecedented opportunity to send a postcard bearing a postage seal of the Saeima to any place in Latvia.

On Tuesday, 10 September, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, met with Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland, who is in Latvia on a state visit. During the meeting, the Speaker pointed out that relations between Finland and Latvia were formed several centuries before our statehood was established in our present territories. She added that as neighbours, we share the Baltic Sea, as well as similarities in our history, ideology and culture.