Latvian Political Monitor

@Progresivie calls for LVM financial funds not needed for core operations to be transferred to the state budget. https://t.co/x0DimgWHs9

In its audit of Latvijas valsts meži, the State Audit Office found that the company has free financial resources that are not necessary for ensuring operations. 130 million. These are the funds that @Progresivie will call to be paid into the state budget this week.

Yesterday, Children's Days were celebrated in Doma Square, marking the International Day for Protection of Children. It must be said that the half-empty square contrasted markedly with the crowded narrow streets of Old Riga, where people usually flow to listen to some rapper's performance or protest against the 'theft of democracy' when the Saeima deliberates on the possible denunciation of the Istanbul Convention. I would like to hope that this is a coincidence, but hope is a fool's consolation — I rather consider it a visual manifestation of a long-standing childless policy, whose cause is incorrectly defined life values. Latvia has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe — only 1.2 children per woman. What does that mean? That a hundred parents will have only twenty-five grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. That Latvians are enough for only a hundred more springs. That the problem must be solved if we want to crawl out of the 'red book'. This is a very multifaceted issue, where each person, each couple, social groups may have different answers to the question 'why are we still not parents?', so I do not wish to discuss all sides of this issue. However, I will allow myself to put forward the thesis that the cause of the problem is policy content not oriented toward family life as a value in all spheres of life — art, culture, economy, philosophy, etc. From this arise unjustified political priorities that translate into demographically unhealthy decisions. I will be ironic, but, in my opinion, Latvia's main goal is to reduce CO2 emissions (I remind you that Latvia is one of the most forested countries in Europe). No other program in the last five years has been implemented with such targeted measures, such as the creation of the Climate Ministry with financial investments of equal scale (not to mention Rail Baltica and similar examples, which are projects of much older groundwork). The main problems are air pollution and internal combustion transport. The strategic goal is the electrification of the car fleet. Implementation methods — state support of many thousands of euros for the purchase of a new or used electric car. The average support is around five thousand euros. Moreover, the Climate Ministry has created a new support mechanism of forty million euros. It should be added that these mechanisms will most likely be used by more than well-off people, because electric car prices exceed the average costs that an average Latvian resident could afford. What happens in demography? Meanwhile, the first child birth allowance is six hundred euros, and the family state allowance for one (first) child is twenty-five euros. The biggest challenge for young families is purchasing or building a new home (dwelling area most often determines family size), the number of women of fertile age is decreasing, and the average age of first pregnancy is constantly increasing. The trend is unmistakable. It is even sadder in the context of Latvia's future if we add the one hundred thirty-one thousand third-country nationals who are currently officially (no one knows how many unofficially) visiting. When politicians claim there is no money — they lie. Everything is determined by priorities. Either car or family. The Climate Ministry's budget is about one hundred million euros, support for purchasing electric cars forty million euros. If we gave up such dubious schemes, a substantial sum would be freed up that could cover tax relief for families with children, housing construction programs, increasing the first child allowance, and other support mechanisms. Let it be! https://t.co/yhERQHiCNo

The unrest in Paris is a fact - the internet is full of videos. The 700 detained people cannot be deported anywhere, because for the most part they are descendants of second or third generation immigrants, born in France and being French citizens. Some football hooligans (especially the so-called ultras) are ethnic French. This phenomenon - destroying one's own city - I will never understand.

@aiga_balode @AndrisKulbergs At the time when I was Minister of Transport, support and additional information was provided to the prosecutor's office from the ministry's side. According to public information, KNAB has interrogated more than 60 people. The investigation continues.

@aiga_balode @AndrisKulbergs Yes, the criminal process regarding Rail Baltica implementation in Latvia was initiated in December 2024.

@suvajevs @Progresivie One of the supporters of the PRO draft law. Just for illustration. https://t.co/QJinAlf559

@AndrisKulbergs Can you clarify what you will do?

Upon taking office as Prime Minister, much has been promised. I will mention two things that @AndrisKulbergs said: 1) The warm-up period will be one day; 2) The fight against corruption. Andris's ability to act immediately in the case of the Ministry of Agriculture and LVM will show Kulberg's true desire to fight corruption (and the huge risks of being drawn into its grasp). You will ask - can the Prime Minister do anything? Yes, even immediately issue a prime ministerial resolution to the Minister of Agriculture to publish LVM financial documents and cash flows that would show the ways and extent of the Ministry of Agriculture's 'own pocket' management. Name all organizations and subordinate institutions that have fed from LVM's undisclosed and accumulated money. The task must be sufficiently broad and specific to expose the schemes practiced by ZZS to the public. Leaving everything as is, ZZS under the leadership of @uldisaugulis will continue to squander LVM and MoA finances.

The requirement for police to use the state language at work seems incomprehensible to the commenter. In general, this is common European practice: [link] [link]