Speaker of Latvia's Saeima addresses MPs in Ukrainian, proposes to hold tribunal on Russia in Riga

The Speaker of Latvia's Saeima Edvards Smiltēns made this proposal at the meeting of the Ukrainian parliament on January 12, MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak reported on Telegram.

“The whole speech, which is about 20 minutes, was in Ukrainian,” said the MP.

According to him, the Speaker of the Seimas Edvards Smiltēns stressed that Latvia “proposes to hold a tribunal for the officials of the Russian Federation in Riga... Next to the flags of European countries, the flag of Ukraine will fly.” And he finished with the phrase: “Ukraine is above all.”

He recalled that “the Latvian Saeima recognized Russia as a terrorist country. In terms of GDP, Latvia is one of the world leaders in providing military assistance to Ukraine.”

The press service of the Ukrainian parliament also reported that the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk met with the delegation of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia headed by the newly elected Speaker Edvards Smiltēns. They discussed Latvia's support for Ukraine.

“Stefanchuk said that during the meeting, the parties discussed a number of matters regarding further cooperation between the two parliaments, in particular in terms of supporting Ukraine on the path to the European Union and NATO; Russia's responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine; the issue of international isolation of Russia and strengthening sanctions against the aggressor country,” the statement says. 

In his turn, Smiltēns noted that Russia's aggression is an attempt to arrogate to itself the right to use force as opposed to the force of law, and the entire civilized world must do everything to stop this destructive policy.

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