Latvian Political Monitor

🏛️ Today in Luxembourg we met in the circle of European Union justice ministers. The most important issue for Latvia was Russia's responsibility for the war in Ukraine. It is in Latvia's interest to ensure that Russia pays for the damage caused to Ukraine, that war criminals are held accountable, and that aggression does not become an acceptable instrument of international relations. That is why work was advanced on establishing a special tribunal and an international compensation mechanism. The goal is simple – that the aggressor cannot evade responsibility. Here, we Baltic ministers urged our colleagues to act much faster. An important issue was the protection of children's rights in Europe. Nowadays families live, work, and move between different countries. Therefore it is important that children's rights are protected regardless of which European country the child is in. Latvia's position is clear – the child's interests must be central in all decisions. Thank you to our Lithuanian colleague who raised the issue of European historical memory. Namely – for Latvia and the Baltics, this is not a theoretical issue. Our countries have experienced occupation, deportations, and propaganda. That is why we defended the need to prevent the distortion of history in Europe and attempts by aggressor states to justify their crimes. Member states also supported the planned Justice program of 798 million euros in the EU's multi-annual budget. This means that we will be able to work with great dedication on creating a digitalized justice system, which will promote judicial cooperation and access to justice for each of us. In short – all these discussions are united by one goal – a safer Latvia 🇱🇻, a stronger Europe 🇪🇺, and clear rules that protect people, not aggressors.

📍 @AndrisSpruds's resignation will not do anything bad to national security; 📍 The Defense Ministry's operations under Sprūds show that it is not ready for a real attack; 📍 @VARAM_Latvija and @VDAA_gov_lv have destroyed trust in state IT systems, and that is dangerous https://t.co/XILUHF9Ego

Another failure in @VARAM_Latvija's areas of responsibility - in the near future a significant number of ID cards may run out of validity for their electronic signature certificates, creating a risk of losing one of the card's most essential functions for an undetermined period.

The Artificial Intelligence Centre is doing important work for Latvia's long-term development. It is important that the most significant state institutions, including the Saeima, are partners of the centre, not deniers of new trends. There was a lively discussion on this in the Saeima's State Administration and Municipal Affairs Committee https://t.co/4eU2kyrtr3

Entrusting the creation of the Saeima election system to @mans_tet, LMT and @valstsmezi – that is a promising solution. Now it is important that @VDAA_gov_lv, which is under @VARAM_Latvija, does not mess everything up again, to put it in Latvian.