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On Thursday, 30 October, Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa met with Prime Minister of Lithuania Inga Ruginienė at the Parliament to discuss cooperation between the two neighbouring countries in defence and the progress of the “Rail Baltica” infrastructure project.

“Victories can only be achieved when we are united in our position,” underlined Speaker Mieriņa. The Lithuanian Prime Minister agreed, emphasising the special importance of Baltic unity at a time when the region faces increasing geopolitical challenges and hybrid attacks by Russia.

Speaker Mieriņa emphasised that Latvia and Lithuania are bound by close and friendly relations at all levels of cooperation – the most active cooperation takes place within the Baltic Assembly, while both countries are also close partners in the NB8 format, the European Union, the United Nations, and NATO.

“Our countries are like-minded, and we understand that strengthening defence requires adequate resources,” stressed the Speaker of the Saeima referring to the ongoing work on next year’s state budgets in Latvia and Lithuania. She pointed out that Latvia is moving towards allocating five percent of its gross domestic product to defence, reaching 4.91 percent next year, and in this regard our countries can serve as examples for other European states.

The discussion also covered other budget priorities of both countries, including demographic challenges that affect both Latvia and Lithuania. Speaker Mieriņa underlined that tackling demographic issues requires a comprehensive approach – ensuring not only financial support for families with children but also access to health care and housing.

Both sides reaffirmed the importance of the “Rail Baltica” project for enhancing regional security and economic growth.  Both the Speaker of the Saeima and the Lithuanian Prime Minister expressed readiness to continue close cooperation on this strategically significant project.

Deputy Speaker of the Saeima Antonina Ņenaševa, Secretary of the Saeima Edvards Smiltēns, and Deputy Secretary of the Saeima Jānis Grasbergs also took part in the meeting with the Lithuanian Prime Minister.

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Saeima Press Service