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.

On Wednesday, 12 May, Mr. during a meeting with Ms. Chantal Poiret, the new Ambassador of France to the Republic of Latvia, Gundars Daudze, Speaker of the Saeima, discussed interpaliamentary relations between the two countries, as well as preparations for the upcoming NATO PA Spring Session.

Both parties shared the opinion that parliamentary cooperation plays a large part in political relations of the two countries. Ms. Chantal Poiret praised the contribution of the Saeima in organising the Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which will take place on 28 May – 1 June in Riga. The Ambassador also reported that 11 parliamentarians from both chambers of the French parliament will attend the Session in Riga, and she expressed her conviction that the NATO PA Session will have a positive impact on interparliamentary relations between both countries.

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.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Riga, Latvia for the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.  In Riga you can see so much of the history of the region as well as an example of the vibrancy and modernity of the Baltic States today.   For hundreds of years, Riga stood at the crossroads of commerce in northern Europe, and that trading spirit is still alive and well in Latvia ’s capital.

Latvia is one of the newer members of NATO but it is an old member of the European family of nations.  For many years, larger states fought over Latvia ’s territory and divided the spoils of war as they saw fit.  That history weighed heavily on Latvia in the 20th Century, but since 1991 it has been a truly independent state and a welcome part of this Alliance since 1999. 

Latvia ’s membership in the transatlantic Alliance crystallizes much of what NATO is all about: providing a collective defence guarantee for a community of nations with shared values and beliefs.