On 21 – 22 October, the 29th Session of the Baltic Assembly (BA) will be held in the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. During the Session, parliamentarians will discuss joint health-care projects and challenges to public safety. Furthermore, as part of the Session the BA prizes for literature, the arts, and science, as well as the BA medals for contributions in strengthening the unity of the Baltic States, will be awarded.

On Friday, 22 October, the annual Baltic Assembly (BA) Prizes for Literature, the Arts and Science were awarded. The Prize for Science was awarded to academician Jānis Stradiņš (Latvia), the Prize for the Arts to artist and sculptor Antanas Žukauskas (Lithuania), and the Prize for Literature to poet and prose writer Ene Mihkelson (Estonia). The Prizes were awarded  in Riga as part of the 29th Session of the Baltic Assembly. 

On Thursday, 14 October, the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima assessed the draft directive of the European Union regarding the residential conditions of seasonal workers and requested the Council and the European Parliament in their further discussions to specify the provisions of the new legislative act so that it fully complies with the principle of proportionality. 

On Thursday, 14 October, the Saeima decided that the service of soldiers from the Latvian National Armed Forces in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan will be extended for another year.

On Friday, 24 September, the Joint Judging Committee convened in the Saeima to evaluate nominees and decided to award the Prize for Science to Jānis Stradiņš, the Prize for the Arts to Antanas Žukauskas, an artist and sculptor from Lithuania, and the Prize for Literature to Ene Mihkelson, a poet and prose writer from Estonia.

On Friday, 24 September, two German students had their last day of a three-week internship at the Saeima. The internship was arranged as part of the International Parliament Scholarship Programme.

The Memorandum of Understanding on support in strengthening the administrative capacity of the Moldovan Parliament, which was signed on Wednesday, 4 August, between the Chancellery of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia and the Secretariat of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, envisages that during future visits, seminars and conferences, the staff of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova will regularly become acquainted with the experience of the Saeima in EU integration. 

On Monday, 26 July, while reviewing the new Insolvency Law, the Saeima changed provisions related to natural persons repaying their liabilities. The period of settling their debts will be from one year to three and a half years, depending on the natural person’s income.

On Monday, 12 July, during reconsideration of the Law on Electronic Media, the Saeima changed the rules regarding the use of the official language and the inclusion of European audiovisual works in the broadcasts; the Saeima also specified the amount of commercials acceptable in the public electronic media and in social procurement broadcasts.

Mrs. Vaira Paegle, Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA), is gratified by the smooth proceeding of the Riga Session; she pointed out that as a result of selfless labour, the organisation of the event was of very high quality.