On Thursday, 27 April, the Saeima supported the draft decision on granting Latvian citizenship to the world famous artist Mikhail Baryshnikov for special merit in promoting Latvia.
Press releases
On Friday, 21 April, concluding the 7th Youth Parliament, the title of the Future Politician was awarded to Gints Jankovskis, Katrīne Lankrete, Elīna Smetaņina and Ieva Strupa. These young people were particularly active in sectoral committees and involved in discussions on draft declarations of the Youth Parliament.
Ināra Mūrniece: Latvia and China need to turn successful political dialogue into economic prosperity (20.04.2017.)
Latvia and China enjoy a very good political dialogue, and we are ready to further our cooperation in trade, investment and transport. Speaker Ināra Mūrniece stressed this on Wednesday, 12 April, at the Saeima, during a meeting with Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the National People's Congress, who, accompanied by a delegation, was on an official visit to Latvia. The previous visit of this level took place 17 years ago.
By resisting the Russian aggression and implementing reforms, Ukraine has manifested its nation's strength. Latvia calls on Ukraine to continue carrying out reforms. Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, stressed this on Tuesday, 4 April, at the Saeima, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who is on an official visit to Latvia.
We appreciate the Slovenian parliament's decision to send the country’s troops to the NATO battle group in Latvia. This action confirms Slovenia's solidarity and support for our region. Speaker Ināra Mūrniece stressed this on Tuesday, 28 March, at the Saeima, during a meeting with Milan Brglez, President of the Slovenian National Assembly, who is on an official visit to Latvia.
Rules for purchasing agricultural land revised (23.03.2017.)
On Thursday, 23 March, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on Land Privatisation in Rural Areas, thus updating the rules for purchasing agricultural land. The amendments were necessary due to European Commission’s (EC) objections to the current agricultural land market regulation. The amendments will simplify the conditions for purchasing land for local farmers, while disallowing foreigners who are not permanently residing in Latvia to purchase agricultural land.
On Thursday, 23 February, the Saeima ratified the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part. The SPA will provide a framework for multilateral political cooperation in the field of foreign and security policy, as well as economic and sectoral collaboration.
Saeima ratifies EU-Canada free trade agreement (23.02.2017.)
On Thursday, 23 February, the Saeima ratified the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.
Lolita Čigāne: Audiovisual Media Services Directive should provide effective tools against fake news (23.02.2017.)
“Proposals for the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive must be rooted in the realities of current situation – taking into account trends in the dissemination of fake news and interference with democratic processes in sovereign countries. For instance, member states must be given the right to promptly restrict the activities of audiovisual service providers that contain hate speech, threats to national security and public order, including cases where reports about offences are received from another member state,” says Lolita Čigāne, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima.
On Thursday, 16 February, members of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee met with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the European Union Crab Fishing Association to discuss the case of a Latvian snow crab fishing boat arrested in Norway. Latvia hopes to find a diplomatic solution, although international litigation cannot be excluded.