Baltic States – CIS, Energy, Gas, Latvia, Legislation, Lithuania

Photo: saeima.lv

As LETA was told at the Latvian parliamentary press office, the Latvian and Lithuanian parliament speakers voiced firm support for the creation of a regional natural gas market and the Baltic power grids’ synchronization with the rest of Europe.

While discussion regional security, Murniece told her Lithuanian counterpart that Latvia will continue to invest in its defense and that much attention is currently being paid to strategic communication and promotion of media literacy to counter the Kremlin’s information war.

Murniece said that Latvia and Lithuania have to be prepared that they will be targeted by aggressive propaganda and fake news during Russia’s upcoming Zapad-2017 military exercise. “We are closely following preparations for the Russian and Belarusian military exercise Zapad-2017 near the Latvian and Lithuanian borders. We can feel militarily protected thanks to the presence of NATO forces in our countries, but we still have to reckon with various risks,” the Saeima speaker said.

The Latvian parliamentary spokespeople also informed that the meeting between Murniece and Pranckietis dealt with legislative initiatives in the two countries’ parliaments, including tax reforms. Murniece and Pranckietis also discussed the upcoming annual meeting of speakers of Baltic and Nordic parliaments, which will be taking place from August 21 to 23.