Latvia, Legislation, Real Estate, Society

The motion, signed by opposition MPs and members of All For Latvia-For Fatherland And Freedom/LNNK, said the cabinet of Ministers should submit a report to Saeima regarding all aspects of the accommodation of refugees in Latvia.

The motion was originally reviewed at a Saeima meeting on July 9, but it was not passed as the meeting was not quorate, and postponed until the parliament's fall session.

During the vote on the motion today, 29 opposition members voted for the motion, Unity's 23 MPs voted against it, whereas 29 representatives of VL-TB/LNNK and the Union of Greens and Farmers abstained.

Forwarding the matter to the Saeima National Security Committee was also turned down – the committee's chairwoman Solvita Aboltina (Unity) said that the proposal was not in line with the idea that discussions about refugees in Latvia should be public, as the committee's meetings were closed to the public.

As reported, the government agreed this past July that Latvia would take a total of 250 immigrants within the next two years. This caused disagreements within the ruling coalition as VL-TB/LNNK opposed taking in refugees.