On 11–12 December 2012, Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, paid his first official visit to Riga at the invitation of Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. During the visit, the Speaker of the Seimas was accompanied by Mārtiņš Virsis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the Republic of Lithuania, as well as Ričardas Degutis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Latvia, together with the delegation of the Seimas Members: Benediktas Juodka, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Vincė Vaidevutė Margevičienė, Member of the Seimas.
“Latvia is our closest neighbour, we are the two centuries-old Baltic nations, we have to foster our cultural and historical heritage and to establish the Baltic identity, and, being EU and NATO Member States, we have to jointly shape the future of our states and nations,“ the Speaker of the Seimas emphasised. “I believe that parliamentarians from both countries will help to achieve these objectives by developing inter-parliamentary relations, working together in the Baltic Assembly and using other avenues of parliamentary cooperation,” Vydas Gedvilas said.
On the first day of his visit, the Speaker of the Seimas met with the representatives of the Lithuanian business community, and in the evening he attended an official dinner hosted by Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima. On 12 December, an official meeting between the Speakers of the Parliaments took place in the Latvian Parliament, which was followed by the meetings with Andris Bērziņš, President of Latvia, and Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of Latvia. Members of the delegation also visited the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia and the Lithuanian Secondary School in Riga.
During the meeting with Solvita Āboltiņa, the Speakers of both Parliaments agreed to develop bilateral and regional cooperation with a view to achieving mutually beneficial solutions by making active use of all forms of parliamentary cooperation for that purpose. The meeting discussed the continuity of the bilateral agenda between Lithuanian and Latvia. Next year Latvia will hold the Presidency of the Baltic Assembly and Lithuania will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Romualds Razuks, Chairman of the Latvian Group for Inter-parliamentary Relations with Lithuania, extended an invitation to members of the Lithuanian Group for Inter-parliamentary Relations with the Republic of Latvia to visit Latvia in the near future and to discuss how parliamentarians from both countries could contribute to the implementation of certain recommendations concerning prospects of cooperation between Latvia and Lithuania.
Erika Straigytė,
Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, Secretariat of the Speaker of the Seimas, tel: +370 5 239 6004; +370 698 42376
