850 Danish soldiers now defend NATO’s eastern flank 🇩🇰🪖 The battalion started its arrival in Latvia this week, serving under Canadian command in NATO’s multinational brigade, deployed through January 2027. Denmark’s core defence spending reaches approximately 3.49% of GDP in 2026, close to 5% including broader security investments. That covers major purchases of U.S. equipment and substantial support to Ukraine. Denmark continues to scale up its defence spending and its contributions to allied security, in line with its commitment to transatlantic burden-sharing. 📸: Forsvaret, Magnus Terp
@MartinsKriekis@liana_langa Yes, awkward language. The council wise men of the 2010s had decided that the management fee for assistance apartments (received by the manager) is a rent fee, and that was both in decisions and contracts. Accordingly, legally one could twist that the rent fee consists of several components.
@pucej@attistibai Sad. A party that until now positioned itself as anti-socialist has slipped into the socialism loop. I don't think that the workplace of Saeima deputies elected from Latgale is in Riga. It remains in Latgale. And Riga is not all of Latvia; there should be fair transport and housing compensation.
Come to Grīziņkalns Park and meet MMN's Riga list candidates. @J_Hermanis is in favor of proper renovation work in state administration, i.e., a general cleanup. https://t.co/vnRfhGiV4z
@SlesersAinars That's good. Announce that to all of Latvia's Russians. Firmly. So they don't think they can wriggle out as has happened so far. I await an announcement addressed to non-Latvians.
That's nothing – for sick children's medicine, the public media will again organize a donation drive for Christmas. People will donate. https://t.co/JPWqYdca4r
APVIENOTAIS SARAKSTS - Latvijas Zaļā partija, Latvijas Reģionu Apvienība, Liepājas partija · Ministru prezidents
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Day No. 51 in the prime minister's seat 🗓️ - NGO Day in the Cabinet of Ministers 🤝 Meeting with President @edgarsrinkevics - we discussed current national security issues and what's happening in the Cabinet and the coalition. 💰 Deputy compensation. Again a question that demands responsibility, not excuses. I believe manipulations with compensation will always exist. That is not a reason not to oversee them. Control and transparency must be strengthened. Deputies' salaries are adequate, so compensation must be really justified and verifiable, not interpretable. Such an approach exists throughout the democratic world, and the compensation system itself is normal practice. ✍️ The other topic - J. Dombrava's letter to Spain. I have already discussed this situation with the Minister of the Interior. The letter initiated by Italy and Denmark, signed by 22 EU member states, addressed to the EU leadership, was a clear and unambiguous gesture on behalf of the state. I signed it on Saturday. 🇱🇻 Latvia is represented in foreign affairs by three officials: the President, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. No matter how fast everything is happening in the world now, it is important to follow specific guidelines. 🏛️ The meeting with NGOs (non-governmental organizations) at the Cabinet of Ministers, which I initiated, showed one thing: clearly, NO ONE FOLLOWS UP ON USEFULNESS. 🧩 Why did I say the prepared presentations are SHIT? Because they did not give the full picture of the situation. The data are fragmentary, fragmented. Even the responsible ministries cannot obtain a full picture within a month. The collected data give NO (!!!) overview of where the state's tax money goes. ❓Reports, documents, calculations, and audits are already being made. The papers are clean, but does anyone check whether it matches state priorities? Are the measures taken useful? Did the budget funding reach the goal? Where do audits and their reports end up? Which official draws CONCLUSIONS? The goal is one - a strong and independent NGO sector that is not bureaucratic or formal, that does not simply absorb funds but works for the good of people and the state. Such NGOs will always have my support. 🤍 Being strong first means being independent. One behind which stand members, supporters, communities. It is not good if the state is the only source of income and provider of the NGO's existence. That weakens NGOs, not strengthens. 🙄A very interesting nuance - I also got a sexism accusation from a representative of “Sievietei paveicās”. For that I allow myself to ask a question to the head of the Civil Union. It turns out that you cannot talk to women about the use of the state budget. 🤷♂️ 📋 Next steps, where I expect a result in a month: 1️⃣ All ministries to identify what is granted to NGOs: amount of funding, recipients, legal basis, specific goal. 2️⃣ The Ministry of Finance, when reviewing budget expenditures, must separately evaluate expenditures related to NGO funding, their justification, effectiveness, and alignment with state priorities. 3️⃣ The Ministry of Culture together with the Ministry of Finance must develop clear, transparent principles for allocating NGO funding. 4️⃣ The Ministry of Finance must develop proposals for improving the NGO funding system and increasing private sector participation, including tax instruments that would motivate people and companies to support NGOs. Wherever there is public money, asking about its use is normal. ⚠️ It is alarming if elementary questions about the use of funds are called signs of authoritarianism or even fascism. Maybe that is why some politicians tried to use this discussion about NGOs for their own ends. 📰 Afternoon interview with POLITICO, a broad conversation with @politico journalist Max Griera. We discussed both security issues and the proximity of the upcoming elections, my plans for the prime minister's post, and much more. I will share the interview soon. 🎙️ 💭 At the end of the day, I want to emphasize once again that responsibility is not loud words. It is daily work with details that others do not want to see. That is why I will continue to ask: where does the money go and who is responsible for it.
We with Daiga Behmane comment on the personnel situation in the healthcare sector. @partijaMMN expertise shows that the healthcare sector has a high proportion of employees of retirement and pre-retirement age. This hampers quality generational replacement and transfer of experience. By the way, in Latvia 🇱🇻 the percentage of older medical professionals in the sector is among the highest among EU countries 🇪🇺.
Daiga Behmane and Jānis Hermanis on the caste system in healthcare. The quality of Latvia's healthcare system will be able to develop most effectively when interaction is established between young doctors with fresh knowledge and experienced doctors, professors. https://t.co/YjKCGBQRzU
This is the big question of how the votes and mandates will really be divided. One of the main questions will be whether New Unity will form a bloc with the Progressives, as has happened before.
Every Russian attack on Ukraine's 🇺🇦 civilians only reinforces the need for stricter sanctions. Latvija 🇱🇻 stands for continuous pressure on the aggressor also beyond the usual sanction rounds – continuous and targeted restrictions as long as Russia's attacks continue. #AtbalstuUkrainu
In a right-wing government there would be no place for such a price planner and profit controller. But socialism is in fashion and the LSM party supports it. The day before yesterday on the radio a journalist questioned a KP specialist and would not rest, whether KP had found where the rate reduction had gone. Tragicomic. https://t.co/QRKHnHmxFu
The KP commission states unambiguously: the excise tax reduction did not reach drivers. That is not acceptable. If the state gives up budget revenues to help people, no one has the right to keep that money for themselves. The Saeima made a mistake by rejecting my proposed windfall tax on fuel.
I just checked the latest salary calculators and conclude that 🇪🇪 this year's tax adjustments have given them a significant reduction in labor taxes. Although EE has raised the PIT rate (22%->24%), now all EE salary recipients, regardless of salary level, are entitled to a €700 monthly PIT allowance. This means that 🇱🇻 Latvia currently has the highest labor tax level at all salary levels. @partijaMMN will advocate for reducing labor taxes so that it is sufficiently competitive with the Baltic states.
Jaunā VIENOTĪBA · Juridiskās komisijas priekšsēdētājs
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The question is not about 'love', but about respecting and observing animal rights. 'Love' is not something that can be achieved through amendments to the law.
Jaunā VIENOTĪBA · Juridiskās komisijas priekšsēdētājs
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@UldisVarnevichs With pathos?? This is about government members who, half a year ago, while in opposition, called for punishing ministers for ethical violations, but now demonstrate their 'high' ethical standards.
Galkins yesterday at his 50th anniversary event in Dzintari Concert Hall said that he saw Šlesers' posters 'LET'S RAISE LATVIA' everywhere, next to which are also Galkins' posters. Galkins said he does not plan to run in the Saeima elections😂 I hope KNAB will not fine LPV for Galkins' events in Latvia😂
@guntarsv In Latvia, among political observers there are many specialists, many journalists and investigators, but very few politicians or politically minded people.
A somewhat ironic reflection on Plato's 'ship of state' analogy and what I observed last week. A ship is sailing, around it an endless sea. Everyone performs their function, and everyone knows something, perhaps better than someone else. Everyday life is monotonous and hard, and gradually a grumble builds up. At one point the sailors hold a meeting, the grumble has ripened. The argumentation is admirably logical — one is best at tying a knot, another at emptying a bucket, a third at reefing a sail, a fourth at using tar, a fifth at repairing a boom damaged in a storm. When these arguments are put together, the sum of skills looks grand. The sailors make a truly democratic decision — to improve the situation by throwing the captain overboard, and thereafter the ship will be steered collectively. Done as decided, but a small nuance — the illusory total of skills leads to the ship naturally running aground. Last week we had an illustrative situation with those NGOs. The grumble in society is big and long-standing and 'about everything'. That is why you can get worked up about anything, every day a different topic. To hold a meeting, a trigger is enough. It is enough for someone on the ship to say polundra (shit and birches!) and a meeting starts. It turns out someone knows how to make a prettier visualization. A rounded bar instead of a column. Someone finds an inconsistency in a number, again polundra. A third has an existential decree ready — everyone who doesn't support me overboard, I've been saying it for a long time! Great fun, but in the end the discussion was deemed unconstructive. By both sides. Peace, just peace. The good news is that we are on dry land, no one will disappear into the depths of the sea. When the meeting ends, we can resume work. As always, because similar thinking is everywhere, broadly on all topics. We have been carried away, each declaiming his only truth from his own sailor's pulpit, tearing the sail each in his own direction. My truth alone is the principle. But the truth probably is that as individual homesteaders we are pretty damn bad democrats.