Press releases
Since convening for its first plenary sitting on 17 October, 11th Saeima has adopted 53 laws, including 5 new laws and amendments to 48 laws.
As Christmas approaches, a busy and eventful year is coming to an end. Hence we cherish this warm family holiday for bringing peace into our bustling everyday lives, making us forget our worries and calling on us to have faith, love and hope.
On Thursday, 22 December, during its extraordinary sitting, the Saeima did not forward to its committees the Draft Law on the Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia which envisages granting the Russian language the status of an official language of the Republic of Latvia.
On Wednesday, 21 December, members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima elected Ojārs Kalniņš (Unity) as the new Chairman of the Committee. Kalniņš was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee during the previous convocation of the Saeima.
On Thursday, 15 December, the Saeima decided to extend the service of soldiers from the Latvian National Armed Forces (NAF) in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
On Thursday, 15 December, the Saeima adopted in the final reading the Law on the State Budget for 2012 and amendments to 29 budget-related laws.
On Friday, 2 December, the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima adopted two declarations urging the institutions of the European Union (EU) to find a solution regarding unequal distribution of EU’s direct payments to farmers and Cohesion Policy funding.
Latvia wants the European Union to shape a fair agricultural policy which would provide equal direct payments to Latvian farmers, who would then be able to compete in the common market with farmers from the so-called old EU member states on equal terms. This position was voiced by the delegation of the Saeima in Brussels during its meetings with Janusz Lewandowski, Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget; Georg Häusler, Head of the Cabinet of the Commissioner on Agriculture and Rural Development; and members of the European Parliament.
On Wednesday, 14 December, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, sent letters to Sabine de Bethune, President of the Belgian Senate, and André Flahaut, President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, offering her condolences in regard to the deadly rampage at a Christmas market in the city of Liege.
On Thursday, 8 December, the Saeima supported in principle the draft state budget in the first reading and pursuant to the Rules of Procedure of the Saeima recognised it as urgent.
