Parliamentary Secretary: the work of translation experts has been important for Latvia to successfully defend its interests in the EU

On 10 November 2023, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the sixteenth annual conference entitled “The Latvian Language in the European Union: the aspects of language quality”. 

Linguists, translators and experts from other sectors exchanged views on cooperation between Latvian and European Union institutions in the development of legislation, editing texts and ensuring high quality of documents under the conditions of limited resources. The participants of the conference discussed terminology work, the quality of freelance translations, and the role of new technologies in translation and terminology development.

In his opening remarks for the conference, Reinis Brusbārdis, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that the coming year will see two decades since Latvia became a member of the European Union. He praised the important work done by Latvian translators and linguistic experts in the institutions of the European Union, as a result of which Latvia can formulate and successfully protect its interests in the European Union. The Parliamentary Secretary emphasised that membership of the European Union is not only about belonging to the European Union’s cultural space and values, including multilingualism, but also about strengthening our security. In views of the geopolitical tension caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the issue of the enlargement of the European Union will remain relevant in the coming years.

The participants were also addressed by the Head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia, Zane Petre. The conference was chaired by the Head of Unit at the Latvian Language Department of the EU Directorate-General for Translation, Liena Muskare. Sessions were chaired by the Director of the State Language Centre, Māris Baltiņš, and the Head of the Latvian Language Department at the EU Directorate-General for Translation, Mareks Graudiņš.

Presentations on topics of current relevance to language and translation were given by experts from Latvian and EU institutions.  

This year’s conference, which was again held in person after a three-year break, was an important event for all those involved in the work on EU documents on a daily basis: it was an opportunity to meet colleagues and discuss current issues, as well as getting acquainted with new partners for cooperation.

The conference was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in association with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation, the State Language Centre, and the European Commission Representation in Latvia.