On Friday, 4 March, Speaker of the Saeima Ināra Mūrniece participated in an extraordinary remote meeting of the Speakers of Parliaments of the European Union (EU) at which the attendees heard from the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, as well as expressed a position against the war initiated by Russia. Speaker Mūrniece stressed that Europe is experiencing the worst times of the 21st century.
We must step up our diplomatic, political and economic pressure to force Russia to stop military aggression against Ukraine. Russia must be excluded from those international organisations whose fundamental principles it violated, said Mūrniece.
Ukraine is paying the highest price for its sovereign right to choose its internal and foreign policy direction, emphasised Mūrniece. The choice made by Ukraine must be respected. Latvia fully supports the path of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration. Members of the Saeima yesterday unanimously approved the granting of the EU candidate state status to Ukraine, Speaker Mūrniece informed her counterparts.
Mūrniece said that it was necessary to continue working on legal solutions to bring Russia to justice for breaking international laws, potential war crimes, and crimes against humanity. There is a need to investigate the damage caused to civilians as a result of Russian military action, as well as the damage caused to civilian infrastructure.
Likewise, Latvia condemns the actions of Belarus. Strong sanctions against Belarus have already been put in place, and need to be further strengthened in view of Belarus’ involvement in military aggression against Ukraine, said Mūrniece.
Saeima Press Service
