On Wednesday, 5 February, the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima unanimously approved Latvia’s national position for the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union (EU), where the situation in Ukraine will be discussed. Latvia’s position states that Latvia supports the signing of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine when Ukraine is ready to do so.

On Thursday, 30 January, the Saeima adopted in the final reading the Law on the Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism, thus making Latvia, as a member of the euro area, also a full-fledged member of the European Stability Mechanism.

Regarding the situation in Ukraine, the Saeima calls on the parties involved in the conflict to end the violence, refrain from provocations and solve the political crisis peacefully by finding a mutually acceptable solution. That was said on Thursday, 23 January, in the Resolution on the Situation in Ukraine adopted by the Saeima.

On Wednesday, 22 January, during its extraordinary plenary sitting, the Saeima approved Laimdota Straujuma as Prime Minister and gave a vote of confidence to her Cabinet of Ministers. There were 64 votes for, 27 votes against and 2 abstentions.

On Sunday, 18 January, members of the Presidium of the Saeima, members of the Education, Culture and Science Committee of the Saeima and staff members of the Saeima took part in the public campaign Chain of Booklovers – the Path of Light. The campaign was the central event in the opening of Riga 2014 in which thousands of people passed books from hand to hand from the old building of the National Library of Latvia to the new one.

On Thursday, 16 January, the Saeima adopted the amendments to the Diplomatic and Consular Service Law drafted by the Foreign Affairs Committee, setting forth that only persons with no other citizenship than Latvian can be diplomats.

On Tuesday, 14 January, while meeting with the Latvian Olympic Committee (LOC) to discuss our country’s preparations for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the members of the Sports Subcommittee of the Saeima also wished Latvia’s athletes endurance, success and a feeling of the Olympic spirit.

This year we are marking the 25th anniversary of the Baltic Way. A quarter of a century has passed since 23 August 1989, when two million people of the Baltic States joined their hands forming a 600-km-long chain which connected the capital cities of the Baltic States, thus manifesting their aspirations for freedom, self-determination and democracy. The Baltic Assembly (BA), an institution for parliamentary cooperation among the Baltic States, is urging young people to take part in an essay contest by viewing the historic events of that time from today’s perspective and expressing their reflections and feelings regarding the Baltic Way, said Raimonds Vējonis, Vice President of the BA.

“Introduction of the euro in Latvia proceeded like clockwork, and now we must prepare for managing equally successfully Latvia’s first presidency of the Council of the European Union by involving society, including the Latvian diaspora. This is a step forward in keeping the public’s attention focused on topical EU issues even after the presidency,” stressed Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima. On Friday, 10 January, the Committee met with EU affairs experts to discuss the accomplishments and planned future activities regarding foreign policy and EU issues before the Saeima’s annual foreign policy debate.