Press releases
On Monday, 4 May, when Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, met with Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, she said that Latvia holds in high esteem democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and regards it as an obligation to share its experience in achieving democratic reforms with European countries in which this process has just begun.
Along with the parliaments of 11 other EU member states, the Saeima showed a ”yellow card” to the proposal for a Council regulation on the exercise of the right to take collective action within the context of the freedom to provide services. National parliaments of Latvia and 11 other states concluded that the proposal for a regulation violates the subsidiarity principle.
On Thursday, 31 May, in her address to participants of the 16th High Council meeting of the Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, stressed that “Latvia will once again become a stable and predictable place for business and investment, a place where people can live in security, stability and prosperity”.
On Thursday, 31 May, the Parliament of Latvia (Saeima) in the second and final reading adopted the draft law whereby Latvia ratifies the so-called EU Fiscal Compact. The Compact was ratified with 67 MPs voting for, 29 voting against, and one abstaining.
On Wednesday, 30 May, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, met with Ewa Kopacz, Marshal of the Polish Sejm. The Speaker stressed that excellent bilateral relations between Latvia and Poland and their close cooperation help both countries to jointly defend their vital interests at the EU level, including access to cohesion and agricultural funding, as well as to solve regional development issues.
On Tuesday, 29 May, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, held a meeting with Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, during which she stressed that Latvia is Georgia’s trustworthy ally in its quest for integration into NATO and the European Union.
Ewa Kopacz, Marshal of the Polish Sejm, along with a delegation of Polish parliamentarians, will visit Latvia on 30 and 31 May upon the invitation of Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima.
During the subsidiarity check, the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima concluded that EU’s proposal for regulation regarding the exercise of the right to take collective action within the context of the freedom to provide services violates the principle of subsidiarity. On Tuesday, 22 May, the European Affairs Committee sent its reasoned opinion to the European Commission indicating that by adopting the regulation its aim will not be attained, and therefore the proposal for this legislative act should not be supported.
On Thursday, 10 May, the Saeima unanimously approved a concept of national defence that focuses on a radical paradigm shift whereby Latvia is transformed from a security consumer into a security provider within NATO.
Latvia’s Presidency of the European Union (EU) in 2015 is our country’s opportunity to be noticed and to promote our interests in setting the EU agenda. Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, emphasised this on Wednesday, 9 May, at the presentation in the Saeima of the publication “Latvia’s Interests in the European Union”, which is dedicated to the opportunities of small countries to be heard and to affect decisions at the EU level.
