Press releases

Youth Parliament will convene on Friday
On Friday, 27 April, one hundred young people will gather at the Saeima in order to learn about the everyday work of the legislature through personal experience and defend their ideas from the rostrum.
Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica: EU Cohesion funding has a crucial role in Latvia’s economic growth
On Monday, 23 April,  Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee, participated in the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs held in Copenhagen,  where she emphasised that growth of Latvia’s economy is directly linked to the ability of the Baltic region and the EU in general to form balanced national budgets. It is equally essential to assume joint ownership and funding of regional projects, especially transport and energy infrastructure projects, and to ensure equal competition for Latvian entrepreneurs, farmers and scientists in the common EU market.
Solvita Āboltiņa: Allowing Latvia as a trustworthy state which has implemented reforms to join the euro area will increase the trustworthiness of the euro
“Latvia believes that allowing it as a trustworthy EU member state which has implemented wide-scale reforms to join the euro area when in complies with the Maastricht criteria will increase the trustworthiness of the euro,” said Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on 21 April at the Conference of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the European Union when discussing the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union and its implications for the European Union parliaments.
On Thursday, 19 April, the Saeima supported in the final reading the draft law whereby Latvia is to ratify amendments to Article 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (EU), or the so-called Lisbon Treaty. The amendments establish the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) for the purpose of ensuring financial stability of the euro area.
On Wednesday, 18 April, the Social and Employment Matters Committee of the Saeima accepted amendments to the Law on State Pensions submitted by the government envisaging an increase in the retirement age as of 2014 and forwarded them for the consideration in the first reading by the Saeima. Six members of the Committee supported the relevant Draft Law, three voted against and two abstained.
Kalniņa-Lukaševica: Latvia’s chances to receive more financing from the next EU budget are increasing
Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima, when asked to evaluate the work of her Committee during the parliament’s winter session, pointed out that as Latvia’s position is actively explained, our chances to receive more financing within the new Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU are increasing. Kalniņa-Lukaševica emphasised that cooperation among the three Baltic States, to which the Committee pays serious attention, will be a decisive factor in the continued negotiation process.
On Thursday, 12 April, members of the three Baltic parliaments met in Tallinn, where they adopted a declaration urging that direct payments of the European Union (EU) be equalized faster than proposed by the European Commission and that the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) be reformed so that equal competition conditions are guaranteed to farmers in all the member states.
Ojārs Kalniņš: Saeima can play a significant role in shaping foreign policy
Ojārs Kalniņš, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima, when asked to evaluate the work of his Committee during the winter session of the parliament, affirmed that members of the Saeima can influence foreign policy through interparliamentary contacts, as attested by success in defending Latvia’s interests with regard to the European Union’s (EU) sanctions against Belarus.
On 26 March, the Saeima will host an international conference on How to Couple Fiscal Discipline with Growth? aimed at providing a forum in Latvia for a high-quality discussion on the EU’s treaty on fiscal discipline signed by 25 EU member states. High-level politicians from the parliaments of the Baltic States and Poland, the European Parliament (EP), as well as economists and political scientists, will take part in the conference and will elaborate further economic growth scenarios for the EU.
On Tuesday, 20 March, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Saeima decided to submit the proposed amendments to the Satversme (Constitution) for parliament’s consideration. The amendments are intended to limit the scope of MPs’ immunity and to revoke the secret ballot procedure for electing the President of Latvia and judges of the Constitutional Court.
Ceturtdien, 28.martā
10:00  Saeimas priekšsēdētājas biedres Zandas Kalniņas-Lukaševicas tikšanās ar Vācijas Federatīvās Republikas ārkārtējo un pilnvaroto vēstnieku Latvijas Republikā V.E. Christian Heldt