Today, at the first meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima, its members elected Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš as the Chairman of the Committee.

Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš was elected to the Saeima from the Unity Party.

In the previous two convocations of the Saeima, Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as a member of the European Affairs Committee and the Baltic Affairs Subcommittee. In the 10th Saeima Kalniņš headed the Latvian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean, while in the 11th Saeima he was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee and the Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Rihards Kols (National Alliance) was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Committee, and Sergejs Potapkins (Concord) was elected as Secretary. 

The rest of the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee will be Guntis Belēvičs (Union of Greens and Farmers), Jānis Dombrava (National Alliance), Atis Lejiņš (Unity), Sergejs Mirskis (Concord), Artis Rasmanis (Union of Greens and Farmers) and Raimonds Rubiks (Concord).

The Foreign Affairs Committee deals with legislation pertaining to foreign affairs and carries out parliamentary scrutiny over the foreign affairs sector. The Committee decides on international treaties, Latvia’s accession to international conventions, as well as other foreign affairs issues prior to their consideration at a plenary sitting.

The Committee coordinates national position on foreign policy and proposals for developing relations with other countries. The Committee reviews and approves candidates for the post of ambassador of Latvia; its opinion is advisory for the President of Latvia, who appoints ambassadors.  

In accordance with The Rules of Procedure of the Saeima, there are 16 standing committees in the parliament.

The committees of the Saeima deal with legislation in a specific sector, exercise parliamentary scrutiny over the work of the executive branch and handle other tasks within the sphere their competence. On the basis of resolutions of the Saeima, the committees prepare issues for consideration at a plenary sitting, as well as examine draft laws, proposals and submissions. 

An MP may be a member of not more than two standing committees and three subcommittees at a time.



Saeima Press Service