Vice-president Šuica underlined that the main goal of visiting Latvia and other member states is to find out the opinion of citizens from different member states on these issues. Citizens’ dialogue is vital for bringing the European democracy and demographics to a new level.
President Levits offered detailed description of citizens’ rights to participate in shaping of their future provided in Satversme (Constitution). He underlined that Latvia and Switzerland are European countries whose constitution offers the broadest range of possibilities for democratic participation. President of Latvia also mentioned the social dialogue between the government of Latvia and non-governmental sector organisations and talked about opportunities and threats to democracy in digital age. Vice-president expressed her pleasure about such support for civil rights and said ‘I am impressed by democratic participation processes in Latvia – other member states could also benefit from Latvia’s approach.’
Egils Levits and Dubravka Šuica also discussed factors that influence demographic change in Europe and what needs to be done to mend the situation. These factors include migration, climate and economy. According to President Levits, it is necessary to achieve balance between resources invested by member states in, for example, educating their citizens and feedback from member states to which these mobile European citizens then move and put their skills and knowledge to use. President Levits and Vice-president Šuica also underlined that it is important to boost the accessibility of housing for young families. Both agreed that additional support instruments are needed to solve this challenge.
