Latvian Television in Strasbourg explained what each of the eight Latvian MPs has done in these five years – who was the most diligent and who was the laziest.
A little slower than usual, the deputies came out of the last plenary session of this convocation. Some of them, of course, will not be re-elected. Latvian deputies may not have been the most active speakers, although speaking from the podium is not the only evaluation of a deputy’s performance.
Andris Ameriks (“It’s an honor to serve Riga!”) has climbed the podium three times in five years, Inese Vaidere (“New Unity”) – five. For comparison, Tatjana Ždanoka (Latvian Union of Russians) and Sandra Kalniete (“New Unity”) – almost 60 times each.
Activities of Latvian MPs during the convocation of the European Parliament
Roberts Zīle (National Union), who is one of the 14 vice-presidents of the parliament, has been given the highest position among Latvian deputies.
and in this capacity he also regularly chairs plenary sessions, which are done in Latvian.
“I think that the fact that I became the first deputy from the Baltic states to become vice-president means that not only the Latvian language sounds good, but also the influence factor, how you increase your influence,” said Zīle. “Because in parliamentary democracies, it is extremely important for deputies how big your square is, with whom you can talk about the interests of your country.”
Zile has also been highly rated in the research platform “EU Matrix”, which evaluates not only the posts, reports and speeches of MPs, but a wider range of influence. Zile is the sixth most influential among 705 deputies – this is the best achievement ever for Latvians.
Kalniete has prepared five reports on foreign affairs in this convocation.
Becoming a reporter or a shadow reporter is an MP’s opportunity to influence the political direction of the parliament and also proves that his political group is quite influential and trusts the MP.
“These five years have passed for me in the sign of Ukraine. I consider my two reports on the interference of third countries in the democratic processes of the European Union using hybrid information warfare techniques, as well as the reports I have prepared on macroeconomic assistance to Ukraine, as well as on market liberalization, to be important for Ukraine,” Kalniete said.
For Ivar Ijab (For Development/ For!), this was the first term in the European Parliament, and young people have fewer choices than those who have been here repeatedly.
“The big things are, first of all, joint defense procurement for Ukraine and the rest of Europe at the beginning of Russian aggression, which was adopted last year and where I was a reporter,” Ijab said. “The second thing is the communication of digital systems across European borders. This is the Interoperable Europe Act, where I was a reporter. The third is that I have already been working with science and research files in various formats all these years.”
Only two of Latvia’s eight MEPs will no longer run for the next term – Andris Ameriks and Tatjana Ždanoka.
Statistics show that Ždanoka has not been particularly active in the work of the parliament in this term, however, she has held a lot of various events about violations of Russian rights in the Baltics.
She herself considers something else to be her greatest achievement. “I think it’s a directive on the minimum wage,” Ždanoka emphasized.
Among the Latvian MPs, the influential publication “Politico” casually mentions Ždanokus in its “no-list”, in connection with the discovery at the beginning of 2024 that she cooperated with the Russian special services. Since this news, a wide shadow of suspicion has been cast against Ždanoks, whom other Latvian MPs have not greeted for years.
“I understand that any artificial defamation results in something. But serious people do not accept it. Colleagues simply told me – we are under enormous pressure, so we apologize, we have to vote,” Ždanoka said.
On the other hand, Ameriks, who is not running for the next term, believes that his main achievement in five years was strengthening the majority of the European Parliament.
“If you ask what is mine or what I gave instead of getting… I would like to emphasize that we preserved the unity of the EU,” said Ameriks. “How did I influence? Each and every member of parliament does not perform any feats and no one can do anything alone. But the majority that currently provides – both when Great Britain left the European Union and the concern that another country might follow, but this the majority of deputies gave assurance that we and also Latvia will remain in the European Union.”
The second least vocal member from the podium was Inese Vaider, who has worked in the economic and environmental, health and food safety committees.
“Where I have contributed the most from my personal work, including reports, is my work with small and medium-sized companies, that is, reducing bureaucracy, easier access to financing, and what no other Latvian MP does – these are the so-called pilot projects,” he said. Wider.
This is not true –
Vaider’s current party member Dace Melbārde (“Jaunā Vienotība”) also works with pilot projects.
She was elected to the European Parliament from the National Union, but lost her positions when she switched to “New Unity” and the People’s Party group.
“The most important thing is that the media area is strongly marked on the agenda of the European Union, because I worked on a report that actually created a structure for the European Union to provide support to the media,” said Melbarde. “The first support instruments have actually been put into practice – there is a new financial instrument called NEWS, which provides support for these forms of media.”
On the other hand, Nilas Ušakovs (“Saskaņa”) owns the record – in Latvian requests for extradition to start criminal proceedings.
The first time, the European Parliament allowed it, but the second time, where the demand was with America, the European Parliament said no. It is true that this decision was prepared by a far-right French MP who is suspected of supporting Russia.
“I would name the financial regulation, where I was the permanent reporter, and in this regulation many norms have been adopted that are essential for Latvia. Which are essential in terms of how European money will be spent in the coming years at home,” Ušakovs said.
At the next convocation of the European Parliament, Latvia will be represented not by eight, but by nine deputies.
Tags: Messages influence sidelines Latvian MPs European Parliament years Article
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