New stage of cooperation between Lithuania and Latvia: ambulance services in the border area will be provided free of charge

Press release, 12 January 2018

Photo of the Office of the Seimas (author Džoja Gunda Barysaitė) 

On 12 January 2018, at 9 am, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, met in his office with Members of the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly: Prof. Jānis Vucāns and Dr Romualds Ražuks. The meeting discussed the activities of the Baltic Assembly and the key matters under consideration, including energy and security cooperation and the Rail Baltica project.  

The meeting also focussed on the launch of negotiations on the draft treaties on the trial period of free of charge ambulance services in the border area between Lithuania and Latvia following the approval by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Latvia in November 2017. The trial is projected for the period of up to three years.  The period will be used to evaluate the practical application of the agreement between Lithuania and Latvia.   

‘We regard the Baltic Assembly as a mediator between our countries enabling mutually beneficial solutions to avoid any delays in implementing important projects. The provision of ambulance services in the border area is a perfect example of cooperation. Soon, both Lithuanians and Latvians residing or visiting the area at the common border will be taken to the nearest emergency hospital in a case of emergency without incurring any additional costs,’ said the Speaker of the Seimas in his briefing after the meeting.    

The Baltic Assembly is an international organisation for cooperation among the parliaments of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Latvia, and the Republic of Estonia, founded on the basis of the Joint Decision adopted by the members of the Supreme Councils of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in Vilnius on 1 December 1990.  As an entity governed by international law, the Baltic Assembly was established in Tallinn on 8 November 1991.  The Secretariat of the Baltic Assembly is located in Riga, Latvia. The parliament of each of the Baltic States appoints from 12 to 16 parliamentarians to the Baltic Assembly (national delegation, including its chairman and vice chairman).

Paulius Žeimys, Assistant to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 2396030,

mob. +370 612 26 440, e-mail: [email protected]