Participants of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Riga Session will be able to become familiar with our country’s history and cultural traditions by taking excursions to famous places in Latvia.

“After intensive work at committee meetings, we will offer our guests excursions to popular tourist sites in Latvia. It will be an opportunity to show our country in one of the most beautiful seasons to top-level politicians from more than 40 countries, as well as to tell them about Latvia’s history and culture. We have arranged opportunities for parliamentarians to purchase souvenirs and various articles made by Latvian artisans and craftsmen so that they can take home with them something that is typically Latvian,” reports Mrs. Vaira Paegle, Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO PA.

Delegates to the NATO PA Session will be able to choose one of four tours: to visit the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum; to tour Rundāle Palace and Bauska Castle; to see the picturesque sights in Sigulda and Turaida; to hike on nature trails or to visit the underground bunker in Līgatne, which is a relic from the Soviet era.

On 13 May, another training seminar will be held for volunteers who have applied for participation in organising the NATO PA Riga Session.

During the third training seminar the volunteers will be familiarised with the plans of the NATO PA Spring Session venues, as well as their responsibilities at the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre, at the airport and at the hotels where delegates and accompanying persons are accommodated.

Before the start of the NATO PA Session at the end of May, four training seminars are planned in order to give the volunteers a thorough understanding of the programme of the NATO PA Session and of their job responsibilities.

The photo contest for schoolchildren, My Secure Latvia, held by the Saeima has ended. Ten of its participants have an opportunity to take an unforgettable trip on board a Navy war ship on 23 May.

Alise Sala, a 12^th-grade schoolgirl at Talsi Secondary School No. 2, has written in the essay accompanying her photograph: “I can feel safe in Latvia because we have a future – our young people. They prove this by their voluntary participation in the National Guard and in the Young Guard. I have quite often encountered such pure patriotism specifically among young people that I can really be sure about our land, I can feel safe in Latvia.”

Aija Višņevska, a 12^th-grade schoolgirl at Dagda Secondary School, also expresses the conviction that young people are the security basis for the future of Latvia: “I think our future depends on them; we have to rely on them and trust them. Young people have young minds that contribute and discover something new and that are able to find new solutions to old problems.”

This contest has been organised by the Saeima Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee, which is preparing for the Spring Session of the NATO PA 2010 to be held in Riga. Students submitted their digital photos showing their concept of security regarding their family, friends, school, and the entire country. They also included a short description of their idea with the photo.

In preparing for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s (PA) Session, which will take place in Riga at the end of May, several member states of the organisation have sent our country video greetings in which they emphasise the Assembly’s role in the global security system, as well as Latvia’s role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

In his video greeting, Bruce George, head of the United Kingdom’s delegation to the NATO PA, asserts that Latvia’s participation in the NATO PA strengthens this organisation: “The expertise you have comes to us, and we benefit from it,” says B. George. He also emphasises the importance of the Assembly by stressing that this organisation influences NATO, and on many occasions it has acted proactively outpacing decisions adopted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.