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.

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 Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

“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.

On Tuesday, 14 February, Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš, Chairman of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee, during a meeting at the Saeima with Victor Dolidze, State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, congratulated Georgia on the European Parliament's support for the introduction of the visa-free regime and stressed that it is a tangible result of the reform process.

On Thursday, 2 February, the Saeima adopted in the third and final reading amendments to the State Ensured Legal Aid Law, which provide that henceforth Latvian nationals living abroad will be able to obtain state funded legal assistance in solving legal disputes abroad pertaining to child custody rights (temporary or permanent revocation). 

On Thursday, 2 February, the Saeima ratified the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aimed at strengthening the global movement to counter climate change. 

On Wednesday, 1 February, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, met at the Saeima with Marek Kuchciński, Speaker of the Polish Sejm, who, accompanied by a delegation, is in Latvia on an official visit. Speaker Mūrniece noted that defence and security issues are at the heart of the cooperation between Latvia and Poland, that the two countries are close allies, and that Poland is one of Latvia’s most important partners within NATO.