Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš announced his resignation on Monday (14 August), blaming a breakdown in relations with parts of his multi-party governing government.
“This Thursday I will submit the resignation of myself and this cabinet to the president,” he told a press conference.
Alongside its Baltic neighbours Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia is a leading voice in pushing the European Union and NATO to increase pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Kariņš’ centre-right New Unity party won a national election in October 2022, gaining 26 of 100 seats in a fractured parliament where seven parties are represented.
Centre-right alliance advances to first place in Latvian elections
The centre-right JV (EPP) alliance of Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš was able to advance to the first position in Latvian election. In 2018, the party only came in the seventh position but was the only parliamentary group which managed …
He blamed coalition partners “blocking the work for prosperity and economic growth” for Monday’s decision, according to a posting on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Kariņš’s party governed the European Union nation of 1.9 million, with support from the conservative National Alliance and the United List of smaller parties giving him a narrow parliamentary majority.
But relations with the coalition soured after it failed to field a joint candidate a presidential election in May.
On Friday, Kariņš made an abortive attempt to bring more parties into government.
They included the left-leaning Progressives party and the Greens and the Farmers Union, a coalition of conservative groups fronted by Aivars Lembergs, the mayor of port town Ventspils who was put on a US sanctions list for alleged corruption in 2019.
Kariņš’ New Unity party plans to select its candidate for prime minister on Wednesday, he said.
President Edgars Rinkevics has responsibility for giving a mandate to a new prime minister to try to form a government. That candidate would also face a parliamentary vote of confidence.
Latvia’s next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2026.
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Thousands march in Bosnia after man streams partner’s murderThousands of people marched in Sarajevo and other Bosnian cities Monday (14 August), days after a woman was murdered by her partner who livestreamed her killing on social media before killing two men and himself.
Source: euractiv.com
