#Kariņš #resigns #position #Minister #Foreign #Affairs #due #special #trips #Article
He announced this on Thursday, March 28, after a conversation with Prime Minister Evika Silina (“Jauna Vienotība”), which lasted about an hour.
Kariņš will leave his post on April 10 so that the Saeima can vote for a new minister on April 11. He did not comment further on this decision, after the announcement he did not answer journalists’ questions and left.
Krišjānis Kariņš announces his resignation as Minister of Foreign Affairs, 28.03.20240min
After Kariņš’s statement to the media, Siliņa said that Kariņš acted as a responsible statesman, taking into account the criminal proceedings initiated by the General Prosecutor’s Office regarding the flights, and took political responsibility. But Siliņa emphasized that he used the flights exclusively to defend the interests of Latvia, but in order to remove any shadow of doubt that he could somehow use the situation for his own benefit, a decision has been made to leave his post.
The Prime Minister revealed that Kariņš had already come to the meeting with her with a request to support his resignation.
Siliņa explained that Kariņš will leave his post on April 10 so that Latvia does not remain without a foreign minister for a long time. She also claimed that currently the party does not yet have a candidate for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Evika Siliņa on the resignation of Kariņas, 28.03.20245min
“Is and will be part of our team”
The Prime Minister revealed that Kariņš continues to run for the European Parliament elections, “puts himself in the hands of the voters, so that they evaluate this action of his as a politician, taking responsibility”.
The Prime Minister stated that Kariņš was active in politics. “And I wish him to remain like that – active and responsible in politics,” said Silina.
On the other hand, the head of the “Jaunas Vienotības” Saeima faction, Edmunds Jurēvics, assessed in a statement to the media that Kariņa’s resignation “is a dignified and responsible decision of a statesman to prevent opponents from using this situation to attack the Silina government and “Jaunas Vienotības” in general, so that we can continue to work and complete the started and planned jobs”.
“Such events are a difficult time for any person, but Krišjānis Kariņš is and will be part of our team, and I am sure that he will continue to invest his knowledge, experience and energy, successfully working for Latvia,” said Jurēvics.
Krišjānis Kariņš
- Prime Minister of Latvia from January 23, 2019 to September 14, 2023.
- Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia since September 15, 2023.
- Candidates in this year’s European Parliament elections from the list of “New Unity” as number 2.
- Chairman of the party association “Jaunā Vienotība” since its foundation in 2018.
- Member of the board of the party “Vienotība”.
- One of the founders of the party “Jaunais laiks”, which later turned into “Vienotiti”.
The chair of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which Kariņš has held since Creation of Silina government last September, even more so squirmed after the General Prosecutor’s Office started and handed over to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) last week for investigation criminal proceedings for the possible waste of financial resources on a large scale in connection with the use of charter flights during Kariņš’s premiership.
Reacting to the started criminal proceedings, “Jaunā Vienotība” held a closed session last weekend, to which Kariņš was also invited, but he did not come. The party board also decided on Monday what to do, and one of the options was to demand Kariņš’s resignation. However, the party leaders spoke evasively about this possibility in public, leaving the decision up to Prime Minister Silina.
Meanwhile, Siliņa has established a service inspection commission to evaluate the circumstances indicated by the prosecutor’s office, the actions and responsibility of officials.
Political scientist: The late reaction
Riga Stradins University professor, political scientist Ilga Kreituse said in the “Pēcpusdiena” program of Latvian Radio that Kariņas’ resignation is overdue by 3-4 months.
In her opinion, Silina’s statement that Kariņš acted as a responsible Western politician is “poorly played theatre”, because resigning just now is absolutely not consistent with the proper behavior of a Western politician – such decisions are made immediately when the politician’s actions start to be questioned, not when the prosecutor’s office is already involved, and even then you have to talk to the prime minister to understand that he does not fit the position and undermines the party’s reputation.
Riga Stradins University professor, political scientist Ilga Kreituse
Kreituse also reasoned that the party members understood to what extent Kariņš was a nuisance, because with his self-confidence and political conceit that he was an irreplaceable, genius and smart politician, he undermined not only the party’s image, but the government’s as a whole.
The political scientist also pointed out that Kariņas’ resignation is definitely the party’s decision, not the government’s or Silina’s.
She also added that it will be interesting how “New Unity” will present to the European Parliament elections the fact that the second number on the list resigned due to inappropriate behavior.
CONTEXT:
During his four-year premiership, Krišjānis Kariņš went on 36 foreign visits with for private planes, which cost more than 1.3 million euros, of which more than 600 thousand came from the state purse, while more than 700 thousand euros were covered by the European Union. In several cases, the expensive flights were used so that Kariņš could return to Latvia on Friday evening, before the holidays.
Karins it justified with the need to represent Latvia and effective time planning, because the prime minister must also deal with domestic policy issues in parallel with foreign policy issues.
Karin’s flights caused a wide resonance in the society, former coalition partners – “The United List” – unsuccessfully tried to submit to the Saeima request to the Prime Minister on this issue, but political scientists believe – Karin should resign. Check carried out by the State Audit Office and also by the General Prosecutor’s Office, which initiated and handed over to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) investigation of criminal proceedings about the possible waste of financial resources on a large scale in connection with Kariņš’s special trips.
State Chancelleryin response to the sharp reaction about Karin’s flights, plan to change travel arrangements for officials.
Despite the hype, Kariņš himself announced at the end of last year that because of this scandal is not going to resign from the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
