On Wednesday, 27 March, the Saeima adopted in the final reading the Defence Industry Law, aimed at ensuring the secure supply of goods and services necessary for fulfilling the state defence tasks of the National Armed Forces and international obligations, while also fostering the growth of the defence industry.

Latvia is and will remain one of the strongest supporters of Moldova's European integration. We consider that the accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine need to start in the coming months, during the Belgian Presidency, said Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, during a meeting with Igor Grosu, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, at the Saeima on Tuesday, 26 March.

In order to improve social guarantees for persons working in Latvia and Moldova, on Thursday, 21 March, the Saeima in the second and final reading supported a draft law ratifying the Latvia-Moldova Social Security Agreement.

On Thursday, 21 March, the Saeima in the third and final reading adopted amendments to the Energy Law aimed to facilitate the installation of high-voltage external engineering networks, by simplifying procedures to coordinate the rebuilding with the owners of the affected land.

Senior officials of local governments will have to receive a special permit for access to official secret. This is foreseen by the amendments to the Law "On Official Secret" and changes to the Local Government Law supported in the final reading by the Saeima on Thursday, 21 March. Changes in laws have been initiated by the President of Latvia.

The third Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform will convene in Riga this October and will be co-hosted by Speaker of the Saeima of Latvia Daiga Mieriņa and Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk.

In light of the Russian presidential elections set to take place this weekend, on Thursday, 14 March, the Saeima adopted a Statement categorically condemning the holding of the elections in the temporarily occupied and illegally annexed territories of Ukraine. According to Members of the Saeima, such actions carried out by Russia within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine are illegal, and the results of the elections will not be recognised.

On Thursday, 14 March, the Saeima adopted in the third and final reading amendments to the Animal Protection Law with the aim of improving animal welfare. The new requirements concern the keeping, breeding, and surrendering of pets. In addition, the amendments facilitate animal traceability.

On Thursday, 14 March, the Saeima adopted amendments to the Law on Higher Education Institutions, establishing a new model for doctoral studies, changing the funding procedure, introducing remuneration for doctoral students for the duration of their studies, and creating a unified doctoral degree conferral procedure.