Latvian Political Monitor

@janisdombrava https://t.co/TJ3fLvg8RF

PRO rank-and-file members for the second day in one breath are proclaiming that @JanisDombrava is a 'threat to Latvia's security' and that he is unjustifiably 'lecturing Spain,' that they feel 'ashamed on behalf of others' and that any moment now Spain's NATO contingent will leave Latvia. It is precisely their hysterical tone that is why I will comment on this at all. The only difference is that, unlike PRO & co, I have not merely heard of some letter from 'Panorāma's' account without content or references - I know the letter's content and context. First, about the method that must be eradicated from Latvian politics. Every time the adoption of some political decision turns out to be disadvantageous or unpleasant for someone, the same card is played - 'the allies will take offence,' 'the allies will leave.' We heard this when we considered Latvia's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention - the same characters who today cry over Dombrava's letter to Spain threatened that Canada would reconsider its NATO presence in Latvia. Now - the Spanish. This rhetoric is not any concern for security; it is discrediting allied reliability to score political points - as if our NATO partners were frivolous and capricious dilettantes who determine their commitments to Latvia by how much they like one minister's letter to another minister. If anyone really thinks that about Spain or Canada - that is an insult to them, not to Dombrava. On the content, which none of the shouters has read, yet they know everything well enough to comment. The letter is not an ultimatum and creates no new obligations for Latvia - on the contrary, it expresses solidarity with Spain over the victims in Ceuta, offers technical assistance and the experience Latvia has gained in five years of hybrid war conditions on the Belarusian border. This aligns exactly with what government representatives said in January during the Saeima foreign policy debate: Latvia is ready to share experience within the solidarity mechanism, but we will not accept new migrants and will not pay for them. The letter also names the core of the problem - the legalization of more than half a million illegal migrants in Spain, which Latvia rightly does not consider merely a Spanish internal affair, because the consequences of this decision will affect the entire Schengen area. Latvia has just also joined a letter from 22 EU leaders calling for coordinated action to address this crisis - at the same time as Italy, Finland and Denmark openly demanded Spain's exclusion from the Schengen area. The 22 EU leaders warned about exactly the same thing - that the legalization of illegal migrants has sent a signal that illegal entry can turn into legal residence. By itself, a letter from one EU member state's minister to another country's minister is nothing unusual - interior ministries in Europe regularly communicate and coordinate with each other - that is daily practice, not a scandal. And last. This letter arose on the basis left as a legacy by the previous government - the question of the migrant solidarity mechanism within the EU migration pact, unresolved at the political level for nine months. It is a direct failure of former interior minister Kozlovskis. Most likely in autumn Latvia will have to make payments precisely because Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain have not wanted the alternative (technical) support Latvia offered - because this issue was never raised at the political level. Dombrava finally did that with the help of this letter. I will remind that in international diplomacy such mutual working correspondence between officials is not usually published. Unless it has been deliberately politicized or leaked. Here everyone can speculate about the reasons and how this information reached the media. This way PRO will not succeed in washing their own ugliness with the Rasima affair into oblivion.

The Progressives, hand in hand with the Šlesers supporters and the Rosļikov supporters, will vote for my dismissal. Already when starting work at the Ministry of the Interior, I said that supporters of Russia and immigration will hate me, but that doesn't bother me. I want to be confident that I have done everything possible to make our country safer. I care that our nation endures through time, rather than being replaced by other nations.

🏳️‍🌈 Let us join hands, people of progress, to stand against political persecution of a daughter and mother who drove from Viļāni to Rīga every evening to spend the night. Doesn't @KNABinforme watch @ltvpanorama, which clearly informs that in this party there are no and cannot be any violations? #Fui #TeNekasNavJākonstatē https://t.co/zT5VY2EPiP

Friends, in Latvia all problems are finally solved! Now the time has come to roll up our sleeves and also lift poor Spain into the sun! Latvia can! https://t.co/HfQUkRaOlQ

As elections approach, it is increasingly important to ensure that voters' choices are determined by facts, not disinformation or foreign influence. Today I had a valuable meeting with judges, discussing election security and democratic resilience. Thanks for the discussion! https://t.co/Al3qV9uK8Y

KNAB has launched an inspection into the compensation for MP Rasima's housing rental expenses (16)

🎾 “Latvijas attīstībai” - 11th list https://t.co/YagZevMuKv

🇺🇦 “The visit of Latvian Foreign Minister @Braze_Baiba to Kyiv took place at the invitation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. At the beginning of the press conference, he noted: Ukrainians greatly appreciate that Latvian officials are not afraid to go to Ukraine even when Russian attacks are ongoing.” https://t.co/5g5vNHlQqP

@FOXXXIC @ltvzinas Here you have to ask @DaigaMierina, because this is a Saeima question, not the government's.

As I promised, changes will be made and the proposals of the Riga Heat investigation commission and the State Control will be put into use to reduce the heat tariff in Riga. Thank you @JanisVitenbergs and KEM VS @LigaKurevska for a very well-developed plan with clear deadlines and responsible parties to make the necessary changes in the short and long term.

⚖️ Not all family disputes need to be resolved in court. Mediation helps people choose dialogue instead of mutual conflict. This is especially important in family disputes, where parental conflict often becomes a burden on the child. At the same time, mediation helps reach a solution faster and relieves the courts, allowing judges to dedicate more time to cases where reaching an agreement is impossible. Today, with the Council of Certified Mediators, we discussed how to make mediation more accessible across Latvia, especially in the regions, so that people can use this opportunity already at the beginning of a conflict, rather than when relationships have fully escalated. 📌 Already now, the state provides 5 free mediation sessions for families whose disputes affect the interests of the child, and 7 sessions for poor and low-income families.

@io7246 https://t.co/AjpQm3Bhrm

I am talking about Levits' initiative to push for the establishment of an international tribunal for Russia's war crimes. Given that much attention from Russia was also devoted to undermining Levits' reputation, I assume that his activities sufficiently alarmed someone in Russia. https://t.co/4v9Blego6g https://t.co/K99FZsQYYE

It is hard to hide what a person is truly passionate about. Even though Šlesers's party is called 'Latvia First', one cannot fail to notice the zeal that Mr. Šlesers shows when it comes to reducing the influence of Russia or Belarus in Latvia. There is no shortage of examples, but the opening of the Moscow House in Riga and its defense stand out especially vividly in my memory. Have you apologized for opening this nest of Russian spies in Latvia? For twenty years this place was the rotten heart of Russia in the center of Riga, until it was closed under pressure from 'Austošā Saule Latvijai' (Rising Sun for Latvia). Later, the VDD carried out searches and started a criminal process against the institution's managers for violating EU sanctions. I can promise that in the Saeima we will also weed out the remaining remnants of Kremlin influence from Latvia - whether Šlesers likes it or not.

This is almost even more important than that referendum on a second national language back then. Hopefully, the self-preservation instinct has not yet died in all Latvians. https://t.co/XhnHYbjIpf