Latvian Political Monitor

⚖️ Judges' time should be devoted to examining cases, not to unnecessary bureaucracy! Riga City Court is the largest and busiest first-instance court in Latvia. Every year it examines and processes: 🔹 approximately 10,000 civil cases 🔹 more than 2,000 criminal cases 🔹 more than 125,000 undisputed civil cases and land registry cases 🔹 and thousands of other matters. Such a workload requires practical solutions. Therefore, we must: ✅ accelerate the automation of standardisable and technical processes ✅ purposefully introduce artificial intelligence solutions ✅ reduce bureaucracy in the daily work of judges and court staff ✅ strengthen human resources and legal support for judges. Technology must make court work easier while preserving human control and all legal protection guarantees. Today we discussed these practical solutions at Riga City Court together with the court president Anda Briede and her deputies. The goal is clear – a faster, high-quality and predictable court process that protects people's rights and strengthens trust in the rule of law.

I personally don't have such conviction. But here it is - as long as one lends and the other borrows, what's my part? Even at 1000%.

@lifesound22 @E_Stendzenieks There it's like through the clouds (because planes also fly in clouds). At first they publicly said that 225 million is needed, now they will borrow up to 257, I've heard even larger sums. The rich don't count money 🤡

@LaSharikovcousi @E_Stendzenieks Won't recover, of course. The money invested earlier has long been burned. I suggest an experiment. Take a 50 euro banknote and throw it into the fire. No, better a 200 euro banknote. If you haven't learned elementary school material, then you have to learn it this way.

In Germany, a terror attack against the electricity supply system. Short circuits were created in two different places in the high-voltage network, as a result of which power plants disconnected. Such events show how truly unprotected the electricity supply system is. For us it was just wind, trees fell, but in Germany saboteurs simply took firecrackers and shot wires across overhead lines, created a short circuit. It costs practically nothing and it seems practically impossible to protect against such actions.

@E_Stendzenieks Let them borrow. That is not Latvian taxpayers' money. Principally, the only thing that interests me is, I quote: 'The planned interim financing does not depend on Latvia's state financial participation'.

Impressive. In Sweden, applications for new nuclear power plant construction 11GW. https://t.co/CGfxVFKJrr

📍Development of Latvia's national economy; 📍EBRD involvement in the development of the Baltic capital market; 📍Security in the region. Today in Riga we discussed these and other important issues with the EBRD Head of the Baltic Office, Ahmad El Mokadem. https://t.co/Paitp3zu5J

Almost 100 million euros invested in the passenger terminal expansion project at @riga_airport are not simply expenses. It is an investment in Latvia's future — our ability to attract people, businesses, new flights and new opportunities. https://t.co/yg9LAH1fxx

@VRudzitis Well, that's also the focus question. Sector management. Ministerial responsibility. Ministers change, but the approach doesn't. They shout in the public space with the usual 'give new money' slogan, but it's like a black hole. And experts have been saying this for a long time - without internal reforms, money won't solve anything.

Day No.69 in the prime ministerial chair - September 1st, School reform, VILKATIS against immigrants, Restored electricity, VILKATIS2 September 1st - students return, homework returns to parents, traffic jam season returns SCHOOL REFORM - we will not pursue rapid changes, education needs stability. Chemistry and physics must return, opportunity to correct one grade should be given. The government adopted a school funding model, more flexible funding allocation for salaries. VILKATIS - migrants are deterred at the border. ~480 attempts were repelled, 4 transporters detained, 2 tunnels found. 63 fence sections damaged in the storm. VILKATIS is extended for another month. ST has restored electricity to all storm victims, 9 crews are going to help 🇱🇹 to connect the remaining 11k disconnected households. The government adopted amendments to compensate the monthly electricity connection fee (5-10€ for apartments and 15-35€ for private houses) for all who had power outages over 72 hours. The Ministry of Climate and Energy approved an improved support program for heating modernization. From now on, you can keep the old system as a safety alternative in crisis conditions if you install a heat pump, batteries, modern pellet boiler, etc. Support for 3+ Honor Families increases from 70 to 85%. VILKATIS2 - task for the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence to come up with a proposal for a month-long operation to address illegal migration within Latvia, both pseudo-students and illegal migrants in employment.

About spending money. I remind what an outstanding economist, Nobel laureate Milton Friedman said. There are 4 ways of spending money. The most irrational way is when people spend other people's money on other people. This way is so popular that there is a special, relatively well-paid profession called politics. You can spend more than you can count zeros. The more zeros, the higher the salary and importance for oneself. The next most irrational way is when one calls for spending other people's money on oneself. This gives rise to various initiatives, activism. They call for providing oneself with a service at other people's expense. This is also very popular - practiced by wide masses of people. It is called socialism, which ends with communism. It ends when other people's money runs out. Both are justified by good (undoubtedly the best) intentions and both together are called democracy. It is a charming, supportable, but at the same time very expensive affair. It squanders everything, but the process gives immense satisfaction and enjoyment. That is why practically all countries are in terrible debts and stop only when money and the possibility to take a loan run out. Then a state called crisis sets in. In Latvian, crises are glorified, so oxymorons like Dižķibele (Great Trouble) are found. Great trouble, words with opposite meanings. Spending one's own money on oneself is the most effective way. A very everyday phenomenon, sometimes with quite nice consequences. It is called investment. An investment is when the spent money comes back with interest. But that requires an unpopular practice called thinking with one's head. Investments are not popular, but useful. People practice them individually, they are very rarely noticeable in the public space. Almost no one votes for such things, so those elected rarely practice them. Although in rare cases it happens by accident.

@citskovskisj I hadn't heard before, Jāni, that, for example, mass alcoholism can be called capitalism and that one lives longer from it.

@sidsloth261949 Half of society works and earns money. The other half would accordingly disagree with you.

I'll illustrate with the same health issue. We are one of the poorest EU countries. From our small GDP we collect about 34.9% in taxes, which is also a lower percentage than the EU average. Put both together - the total tax money is relatively low, of course. But. That medical equipment costs the same as elsewhere. Salaries? Top doctors earn well, otherwise they'll leave. Nurses - well, they'll also leave with a certain difference, and many do leave. The cost of the service here is cheaper than in rich countries, but not so cheap that we could finance much from the meager tax sum. In any sphere. Education, health included. And the recently added +3% for defense actually empties the room. In the Baltics, 7% of GDP is spent on health, the EU average is 10%. That difference is those 3%. With a poor country, such are the the benefits, the state-paid services. Poor. Want richer and better? It simply won come from public money. This is not about imagined notions of fairness or offense, but about means.

@GalvGatis Large companies are being swept into the budget. 90% of profits go to the budget. That was a capitulating decision, because there is nothing left to take.

Practically everyone expects the government to save everyone. That it is even capable of doing so. That's why we must cry as loudly as possible. Surely they'll give money. Every day I see delegations of criers. But there is an objective thing. There really is no money anymore. And there won't be, as before and until now, when they gave. Because there simply is no money anymore. Everything is allocated and spent. For example, today I sat in a meeting where they cried and gave speeches. That if they don't give more, then we'll shut down health care. Then let survival laws win! Trade union and other representatives at Brīvības 72 held a meeting. Heartbreaking speeches. When the speeches ended, Hosams said that that's why we are here, to solve. I said this - if we continue to cry, then survival laws will really win. The criers will leave first. Next year they need 729 million for the health sector, taking it away from others! Yes, they probably meant to liquidate the education sector. That's the 'other'. There's a billion and 200 million a year. Schools, sports, liquidate everything. I listened to the speeches, turned on the calculator, divided 700 million by the number of workers. And I offered. Each crier at the table (they have normal to very good salaries) - we pull from our own pockets and pool into policies. About 80 euros a month. And in general the only solution is to finance the shortfall ourselves, because state reserves are exhausted. Completely now. The tax base has long been overspent, we have to borrow. After my remark I was forced to leave the criers, because I had to go to another meeting, where they discussed something more important - the funeral date. There the money has also run out, the coma apparatus is working. As a society we want 2 things. Low taxes and state-paid services as in paradise. Well, socialism doesn't work, it doesn't. But only a few seem to understand that anyway. In vain have I been telling this here for years.