On Thursday, 22 April, volunteers who have offered their assistance during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s (PA) Riga Session are invited to attend the first training seminar at the Saeima. 

Vaira Paegle, Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO PA, will address the volunteers at this first training seminar. The volunteers will learn about the history of the NATO PA, as well as its organization and activities; they will also be introduced to the basics of protocol and etiquette. 

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. 

During the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) in Riga, Latvia, several high foreign officials will address the plenary session.

NATO PA President, U.S. Congressman John Tanner, and Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General, plan to address participants of the plenary session of the NATO PA Riga Session on 1 June.

Latvian high officials will be represented by Mr. Gundars Daudze, Speaker of the Latvian Saeima, and Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis, Latvian Prime Minister, who will also give their addresses at the plenary session.

On Tuesday, 20 April, in Bekši (Ozolaine Rural District, Rēzekne County) a pottery kiln was opened, and black pottery mugs were taken out – they are part of the gift box which will be presented to the guests of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) upon their arrival in Latvia at the end of May.

The mugs were made by four craftsmen representing the Latgale potters’ group Pūdnīku skūla (Pottery School) – Staņislavs Viļums, Pēteris Gailums, Ilmārs Vecelis and Aivars Ušpelis – in accordance with traditions cultivated over thousands of years. In the manufacturing of black pottery, traditional clay treatment methods, as well as human- and nature-friendly technology are used. Each of the 400 mugs manufactured for the NATO PA guests is entirely handmade.

Mrs. Vaira Paegle, Head of the Latvian delegation to the NATO PA commented on the choice of the gifts: „We want to show our guests what we ourselves are proud of and what is characteristic of our country and people. We have chosen very simple and natural, yet at the same time emotionally imbued things that come from Latvia’s countryside – things that are dear to every Latvian’s soul.”

The meeting of the 2010 Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Rīga, Latvia, at the end of May will not make headlines around the world, but it will have an impact on all our lives.

But it’s the kind of impact people tend to take for granted and don’t think much about. After all, we create armies to protect us and as civilians involved in business, culture, politics (or just living for its own sake), we are more than happy to let the men and ladies in uniform do all the heavy lifting when it comes to national security.

And yet, the militaries of the 28 countries that make up the NATO security alliance couldn’t do what they do very well if they didn’t have full civilian support as well as political direction. The parliaments of the 28 NATO member-states provide that support and direction, and they get together twice a year to make NATO a more effective alliance.