“The Baltic States share a similar view of security challenges and our cooperation strengthens regional security,” Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, highlighted on Friday, 19 May, in the Estonian capital of Tallinn when meeting with Lauri Hussar, Speaker of the Parliament of Estonia, and Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Parliament of Lithuania.

“We are grateful to Spain for its significant contribution in strengthening NATO deterrence and defence capabilities in the Baltic region. Latvia and Spain share excellent bilateral relations and cooperation within the European Union and NATO,” Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, noted during his working visit to Spain.

“Today, the most valuable affirmation of our patriotism and love for our country, people, and state is to vigilantly safeguard parliamentary democracy, to protect the most sacred values—our freedom, independence and democracy,” said Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Thursday, 4 May, addressing participants of the ceremonial Saeima sitting on the occasion of the Day of Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia.

On Friday, 21 April, Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima addressed the members of the 10th Youth Parliament saying: “Politics is a process that impacts society with the intention of improving its life. In this sense, politics is often all around us, because it starts with the small things in school, in our neighbourhood, non-governmental organisations, municipalities. It is starts with an open heart and a seeing mind, the ability to identify a problem, see the opportunity to do things better, find solutions and be committed to implementing them.”

At the NATO Summit in Madrid, the Allies acknowledged Russia as the most significant and direct threat to the Alliance. Latvia and Romania are among the countries who are most directly affected by this threat. As like-minded countries, we must work together to implement the decisions of the Madrid Summit, strengthening the defence and deterrence capabilities of the eastern flank of NATO, underlined Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 20 March, at a meeting with Parliament and government officials in Bucharest, capital of Romania.

To prevent the foreign policy agenda and decisions of others from overtaking our everyday life, we—both Latvia at the national level and the European Union—must be active in shaping the foreign policy environment where we will live, underlined Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Friday, 17 March, at the opening of the conference “Baltic‑Nordic EU Conversations 2023: More United than Ever?” at the Latvian Parliament.

“We learn who our true friends are in times of hardship, and Canada has consistently shown that we can fully rely on it. We are close partners with excellent relations throughout history, and, at this time when the security of NATO’s eastern flank is the number one priority, we feel the friendly and strong support of Canada,” underlined Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Tuesday, 14 March, at a meeting with George J. Furey, Speaker of the Senate of Canada, who is on an official visit to Latvia.

“A true democracy cannot be realised without the representation of the people and without the parliament — a place where different people, ideas, beliefs meet. A place, where people may come and go, but fundamental continuity and absolute balance of power are ensured," said the Speaker of the Saeima Edvards Smiltēns at the ceremonial opening  of the second  supplemented edition of a book by Gunārs Kusiņš “Parliamentarianism in Latvia: An Overview” on Thursday, February 16, in the Saeima.

Latvia and Poland have historical ties, and our security is closely interlinked. Strategic cooperation between Poland and the Baltic States is particularly important in the new geopolitical situation. This was underlined by Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, when he received Andrzej Duda, President of Poland, at the Saeima on Wednesday, 1 February. The President of Poland is in Latvia on an official visit.

“If we want to safeguard our values, the rule of law, our way of life, we must be aware that our battlefield includes raising awareness of Russia’s aggression among the wider international community, and support for holding Russia accountable. The unity of our foreign policy objectives and actions is a matter of national security. Foreign policy is not only the responsibility of diplomats. We all serve as diplomats", said Edvards Smiltēns, Speaker of the Saeima, on Thursday, January 26, during the annual parliamentary foreign policy debate, reminding that freedom, independence and democracy are never to be taken for granted.