On Friday, 20 November, participants of the 34th Session of the Baltic Assembly (BA) in Vilnius, Lithuania, adopted the Final Document of the 34th Session and agreed on prioritising activities aimed at ensuring a secure, united and open Baltic region.
“The Latvian parliament and delegation will assume the Baltic Assembly presidency with full sense of responsibility and strong regional awareness,” Jānis Vucāns, the newly elected President of the BA and head of the Latvian delegation underlined.
In the conclusion of the 34th BA Session Vucāns presented the priorities for 2016, pointing out that the Latvian presidency will focus on ensuring that the Baltic parliaments and governments implement an increasingly inclusive and cohesive policy, thus promoting regional growth and stability, benefiting all three Baltic States.
The first priority of the Latvian presidency – a secure Baltic region - includes promotion regional security by means of improving strategic communication and strengthening cybersecurity. The agenda will focus on European security, closer cooperation of border guard, and supporting of the EU Eastern Partnership countries. This priority also includes contribution of the Baltic States in the creation of the EU single digital market.
The second priority – a united Baltic region – will include a focus on cooperation in higher education, research and culture. The Latvian presidency will put an emphasis on strengthening the Baltic identity, promoting joint activities in attracting foreign students from third countries, as well as the creation of a Baltic security (service) academy.
The third priority – an open Baltic region – will focus on promoting the creation of a single business environment across the Baltics. This includes harmonisation of taxes and joint activities in combating of tax fraud, implementing of the Rail Baltica project, development of joint health care projects, strengthening of digital security, and promotion of sustainable use of natural resources.
Latvia will be the presiding state of the BA throughout 2016, and will be hosting the next BA session on 27-28 October in Riga. Jānis Vucāns, Head of the Latvian delegation and Vice-president of the BA, was elected the President of the BA, and will hold the office until the end of 2016.
About the Baltic Assembly:
The Baltic Assembly is an interparliamentary cooperation organisation of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania established on 8 November 1991. Each national parliament of the Baltic States is represented in the Baltic Assembly by 12 to 20 members of parliament. It is a coordinating and consultative organisation which has a right to express its opinion to the national parliaments and governments of the Baltic States, as well as the Baltic Council of Ministers, in the form of resolutions, decisions, declarations and recommendations; it also has a right to request the above-mentioned bodies to provide information on cross-border issues that are high on the Baltic Assembly’s agenda.
Photos from the event
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Saeima Press Service