The dialogue between society and the state is a path leading to the achievement of jointly set goals. These goals can be reached in the shortest possible period only if we, as an active, thinking and responsible society, join our efforts, said Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 19 May, at the opening of the 8th Saeima and NGO forum on Involvement, Sustainability, Innovations. 

On 4 May, in her address to the participants of the ceremonial sitting held in honour of the 24th anniversary of the renewal of independence of the Republic of Latvia, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, indicated that today Latvia is stronger than ever before, and that we must promptly put this strength to use in order to safeguard the common future of Latvia and Europe.

On 25 April, during the main event of the 4th Youth Parliament, the young people who were particularly active in sectoral committees and who took the initiative in discussions on draft declarations of the Youth Parliament were awarded the title of Future Politician. 

On Friday, 25 April, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, for the first time welcomed Taavi Rõivas, Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, to the Saeima and noted that “good relations between Latvia and Estonia are based on successful interparliamentary cooperation on the bilateral, Baltic, and EU level, as well as within the framework of Nordic-Baltic cooperation. The fact that traditionally Latvia’s, Estonia’s and Lithuania’s highest public officials pay their first foreign visit to the closest neighbouring countries also attests to the friendship among the Baltic States.”

On Thursday, 10 April, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on National Referendums, Initiation of Laws and European Citizens’ Initiative, thus simplifying the participation of soldiers and national guards serving on international missions in national referendums, as well as signature collection for initiation of a national referendum or a law. The voting procedure in the Saeima and the European Parliament elections has already been simplified. 

“We, representatives of the European Union national parliaments, have to support the democratisation efforts of Eastern Partnership countries and share our experience with our colleagues. For the European Union to be strong, safe and secure, we have to recognise how important all our neighbours are, whether they are to the south or the east,” said Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 7 April, at the Conference of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the European Union held in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

From 4 till 6 April, Latvia will host a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The meeting will bring together the heads of national parliamentary delegations of NATO member states to discuss, among other issues, strengthening ties between national parliaments and NATO.

On Thursday, 3 April, the Saeima in two readings adopted urgent amendments to the Criminal Law. The amendments elaborated by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Saeima provide for criminal liability for failure to comply with the provisional prohibition to sell the so-called legal drugs. 

On Monday, 31 March, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, during her official visit to Georgia, met with David Usupashvili, Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, and emphasised that Latvia supports the signing of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Georgia as early as possible in 2014 because it would clearly signal the determination of both sides to deepen their relations on the basis of European and democratic values.