Events of the 32nd Session of the Baltic Assembly will be held on 28–29 November in Riga, giving a chance for the Baltic parliamentarians to address strengthening of cooperation in areas such as tourism, combating of organised crime, research and innovation, as well as establishment of a digital single market. During the Session, the Baltic Assembly will also award its prizes for literature, the arts and science, as well as medals for strengthening the unity of the Baltic States.
This year, the Session of the Baltic Assembly will be held on 29 November in the main building of the Saeima and it will be opened by Raimonds Vējonis, President of the Baltic Assembly, speakers of Baltic parliaments - Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima; Ene Ergma, President of the Riigikogu; and Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas; as well as Vice Presidents of the Baltic Assembly Laine Randjärv and Giedre Purvaneckienė.
“The Baltic parliamentarians regularly come up with new ideas which often initially seem unrealistic and economically ungrounded to our executive branches. However, the perseverance of MPs has yielded results. For example, cooperation in organ transplantation is no longer limited by borders of the Baltic States, and it has resulted in saving human lives. Medical staff in the border areas of Latvia and Estonia are responding to emergencies which occur closer to them disregarding the side of the border they are on. I hope that during this Session, the energy of MPs will give a momentum for further development of rail connections between Tallinn and Berlin, as well as implementation of other projects,” emphasised Raimonds Vējonis.
Among areas in which the potential of Baltic cooperation is untapped Vējonis mentioned research and innovation, finance, competitiveness of the region, as well as joint penetration of export markets and attraction of foreign investments.
During the 32nd Session, members of the Baltic Assembly will talk about developing a joint regional tourism concept and joint projects in resort and health-care sectors. Furthermore, it is planned to address issues related to proactive and intelligence-led approach towards fight against organised crime, cooperation in research and innovation, as well as establishment of a digital single market.
Within the framework of the Session, the cooperation platform between parliaments and governments of the Baltic States – the Baltic Council – will be held. During the Baltic Council, Daniels Pavļuts, Minister for Economy of the Republic of Latvia; Urmas Paet, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia; and Neris Germanas, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, will present their views on strengthening Baltic political and economic cooperation.
Traditionally the events of the annual Session of the Baltic Assembly begin with awarding the Baltic Assembly prizes for literature, the arts and science. This year the Prize for Science will be awarded to Dr.Hist. Renāte Blumberga; the Prize for Literature - to Donaldas Kajokas, and the Prize for the Arts - to composer Peeter Vähi.
The Baltic Assembly is an inter-parliamentary cooperation organisation of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania established with the aim to coordinate Baltic cooperation on parliamentary level, to address joint issues and projects, as well as to express joint opinion on political, economic, social and culture issues in the European Union and globally. The Baltic Assembly consists of 12 to 20 members from each country’s parliament.
Saeima Press Service