Madam Speaker, members of the parliament, ladies and gentlemen,
In 107 days from now voters will decide which political parties will govern Latvia in the next four years.
I
That is why my today’s intervention will not focus on education, science, culture, justice, healthcare or many other important sectors and will rather zoom in on three key areas that are very strongly linked with national security.
These areas are national defence and internal security, which also includes social integration challenges, energy crisis and necessary national support policies, and better governance that is crucial for Latvia in terms of more efficient use of national resources and crisis response.
I urge all political parties to offer clear solutions in these three areas in their manifestos. I also urge voters to evaluate which of parties offers the most reasonable solution when casting their vote on 1 October.
When selecting the next prime minister to lead the government, I will carefully evaluate whether candidates are proposing clear solutions and meaningful policies that will make Latvia safer and more resilient to crises.
II
Let me first speak about national defence.
Russia would never dare to attack a NATO member state. However, as long as it is ruled by ‘imperialistic’ Putin or any of his ideological followers, the world, Europe and Latvia will always be exposed to extra risk.
Our national armed forces have rapidly grown bigger and significantly boosted their combat capabilities since 2014 when a more coherent policy was introduced. It is important to know that our NATO Allies have also described our combat capabilities as very good.
Several thousand NATO troops from more than 10 allied countries are also currently deployed in Latvia. But it is clear that we need to continue to develop our defence capabilities due to threats posed by Russia.
That is why we must start by recruiting more troops for our armed forces and continue to upgrade their combat capabilities. Saeima has increased medium-term defence budget to 2.5% of the GDP. And the next Saeima will have to ensure that this funding covers all needs and maybe increase the share of the defence spending in the budget even further.
Secondly, the size of our National Armed Forces is as important as adequate presence of NATO troops here. Allow me to repeat. Since Russian invasion of Ukraine, presence of NATO troops in Latvia, both in scope of multinational battle group and bilateral arrangements, has considerably increased, especially in the past four months.
However, given the recent geopolitical developments, our long-term needs still remain unmet even with all the increases achieved in recent months. It is vital to further improve command and control structures and continue upgrading resources.
NATO presence in Latvia and the Baltics must be adequately reflected in the new Strategic Concept of the Alliance, which will be adopted during the Madrid summit in two weeks. Latvia and other eastern flank countries will use the summit to urge NATO provide adequate presence of its troops throughout the Eastern Flank countries.
It is not only our army that has the duty to take care of our national security. That is why I have urged on a number of occasions to prioritise internal security more in future. We have neglected it long enough. Infrastructure on our national borders is still weak. Units of the Ministry of Interior lack modern equipment and adequate infrastructure. Professional training and skills of interior staff are equally as important as hardware.
We must also prioritise internal security in our budget for the next several years. Internal security services must catch up with National Armed Forces and reach their level of development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Baltic Countries and Poland have been the most active supporters of Ukraine after the attack by Russia. Our understanding of the scope of threats posed by Russia, which West chose to ignore for many years, our position regarding sanctions and military support to Ukraine has been crucial in convincing the rest of the European Union on the necessary course of action. Our efforts have also been recognised by international experts. Latvia must focus on maintaining its international role in the next four years. It is vital for our own security.
In 2025 we will apply for a seat on the UN Security Council. It will be a great opportunity to directly promote democratic values and defend international law.
We, like other UN member states, support the rules and laws-based international order. As a member of the UN Security Council, Latvia would enjoy greater role on the international arena and also national security. To become a member of the Security Council, we must get the positive vote from 129 of 193 UN members. That will require some effort. Members of the Saeima and our foreign service will have to apply all their resources for Latvia to succeed in acquiring this important position.
Latvia is among those countries that strongly support international laws and putting Russia on trial in international courts. We call for special international tribunal to investigate Russia’s responsibility for the atrocious war against Ukraine.
Development of Latvia’s long-term security is the priority that the next government and Saeima will have to address. Both the coalition and opposition. Determination required of them will be no less than that demonstrated by current Prime Minister and ministers of foreign affairs and defence.
III
Dear members of the parliament,
Energy supply is also one of Latvia’s national security concerns.
Current government has initiated crisis management protocols to find alternative sources to Russian gas as soon as possible. And that is a wise decision. However, we have been unforgivably slow with introduction of wind, solar, biomass and other alternative energy resources in our energy mix. We have not been far-sighted enough to start building national liquefied natural gas terminal in time, although such proposal was on the table.
Past decisions, or rather lack thereof, have made current energy crisis harder for us. It is also unacceptable that investors willing to build wind parks get lost in bureaucratic muddle, have to overcome administrative barriers or even go to court to be able to give us the energy that we need so much.
Ladies and gentlemen,
No doubt, the next winter will be tough. Energy prices are climbing, inflation is surging globally. And we all know why – because of Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Society is very much concerned about the uncertainty, insecurity and the effects of the crisis on our lives. But it is also clear that Latvian State can and will help its population.
That is why our state, which also means all the people, must solidarily be ready to provide targeted support to all households that will potentially be struggling with various bills. Let me reiterate. Targeted support. Prime Minister has also insisted on the need to create a targeted support system. Civil service must finally do what it has failed to complete in thirty years.
The existing benefits system is expensive and inefficient. Such view is also supported by international experts. It does not help reduce inequality, and Latvia remains last in European Union in terms of eradicating inequality. Targeted benefit system will help mitigate energy crisis. But it is also one of the immediate structural reforms that Latvia needs to implement to get rid of the inequality in the long run. We must set the system up this autumn.
IV
Dear members of the Saeima,
Crisis should not divert us from our long-term goals and other structural reforms vital for Latvia.
In terms of development, Latvia has been lagging behind Lithuania and Estonia for a while now. The gap is growing with each year. Statistics are very blunt. Lithuania ranks 15th, Estonia ranks 17th, while Latvia ranks 23rd in the European Union in terms of purchasing parity, placing us only five spots from the bottom. This is only because we have failed to implement the necessary structural reforms.
Obstacles impeding Latvia’s development and contributing to us lagging behind other Baltic states are pretty obvious: administrative requirements for foreign investors; insufficient funding of research and scientific activities, which holds exports back; inefficient labour re-skilling framework and lack of skilled workforce; weak housing policy that leads to poor labour mobility; credit squeeze; tax system that does promote economic growth.
I suppose you could add many more bottlenecks to this list. However, it is absolutely clear that all of these areas, again, require deep structural reforms.
V
Dear members of the Saeima,
Let me also briefly elaborate on one of these challenges – the public governance efficiency.
Our executive branch is based on a 19th-century model where ministries have narrow responsibilities and react to the needs of society slowly and inefficiently. It fails to meet the needs of the ever more complex 21st-century world where horizontal and cross-cutting cooperation between government agencies is key.
The incoming head of LDDK Andris Bite has indicated that ministries seem to exist in their own bubble and things begin to stall whenever several government departments are required to work together.
Even our defence minister who was temporarily substituting government colleague responsible for Ukrainian refugees has admitted that coordination between various ministries is difficult at times.
Let us take another example.
We have spent millions digitising government services. We have data lying in 180 different digital repositories but there is no shared smart platform for integrating them.
For two or more government agencies to be able to exchange data or plug into each other’s databases, we need a special provision in the law. Most data used by municipal social services is still collected manually. Prime Minister is right in criticising the collective failure of government sector to modify technologies for its needs – primarily collection and processing of data about residents and services they require.
We cannot continue this way.
Next government and parliament will have to adjust national digital governance policy and make it user-friendly, so that residents can benefit from easy, convenient and universal access to government services. There has to be a Cabinet-level official politically responsible for these matters. There should also be an official politically responsible for European Green Deal in Latvia and greening of the economy because these areas require horizontal coordination across multiple sectors.
We need flexible government, capable of reacting to immediate needs of the society at any given time, especially when coordination between several sectors or departments is required. If it does not go beyond one sector or department, everything goes fine. But, as soon as several department and sectors are involved, we start stalling.
I will request the potential prime minister candidates to produce a clear, well-balanced and justified reform plan that will pull our public sector out of the dark. And it is best to keep the crude, populistic suggestions to yourself.
VI
Dear members of the parliament,
I would like to conclude with some thoughts on main social integration challenges.
Decision to demolish the occupation monument in Pārdaugava marks a symbolic turning point. It puts an end to Russia’s efforts to cultivate imperialism by spreading its ideology and rituals in our country, right here in Latvia.
I also support the decision to shut down Russian TV channels that spread propaganda. Anti-democratic propaganda is incompatible with freedom of speech.
However, from a historical perspective, one of probably most important decisions of this Saeima was to end the imposed division lines in the society and switch to official language-only education in 2025 after a swift transition period. Today, in the first reading you will debate the respective amendments to the Education Law.
We have political organisations that have consistently supported the switch, and there are also other political groups that have resorted to various excuses to postpone the reform or get it totally abandoned.
We tackled the problem first in 2004 when minority schools had to introduce partial education in Latvian. In 2011 a referendum on Latvian-only education was proposed, but it flopped.
Now, more than three decades after we restored our independence, we will put this matter to end. This also does not mean that subjects like minority languages and culture will be discontinued.
I am also forced to speak again about the labour discrimination of ethnic Latvians. Another issue that has been extensively debated in the parliament. We have the official language that we can use in all life situations or professional settings. Employers must respect the fact that Latvia is a European nation state with one official language for all. Foreign language skills may only become a mandatory requirement if the job description indicates that, for instance, when working with foreign travellers or state and private entities.
There must be an explicit provision in the Labour Law. Done before the next general elections. The only exception would apply to English as the lingua franca of international communication. We need it to communicate with our northern, southern, eastern and western neighbours. And the rest of the world. Yet, the idea of making it mandatory is still up for discussion.
Latvian society is open to everyone who wants to join it and would treat the core values written in our constitution with respect. Latvian as the only official language, Latvia with its identity of a nation state, part of the Western democratic world – these are our core values. Many minorities living in Latvia have chosen to support them and become part of Latvian society. They have also condemned Russian invasion of Ukraine. They are all loyal to Latvia and have no objections to one official language for all or the Latvian identity of our country.
There are also many families that speak Russian at home. They are going through a kind of an identity crisis. The cradle of their culture – Russia – is going through a moral degradation. And they are still grappling with all kinds of simple revelations of who or what caused the war and war crimes that occur in Ukraine.
It reminds us of the many Germans outside Germany who had to go through similar pain in 1933 when Nazi’s came to power. It is not easy to accept that your country of origin has turned criminal. By talking to them we can help them recalibrate their political and moral compass.
And Saeima has taken several welcome decisions recently. Decisions that will nullify efforts to publicly glorify Russian imperialistic ideology and undermine the Latvian State and its population.
Latvia is a democratic country – no one is pressured into making any choices, but we do offer an opportunity to be part of a modern, democratic and inclusive society.
It is a nuisance to accuse democratic Latvia of failure to integrate Putin’s passionate fans. Their mind is made up. They want freedoms and opportunities of Europe, while living in the same old aggressive imperialistic ideology of Russia. They are not suitable for integration unless they change their mindset.
***
Dear members of the Saeima,
Next Saeima will have four years to try to achieve the national goals of Latvia no matter the circumstances. These goals are to guarantee the existence and development of the Latvian nation, its language and culture throughout the centuries, and to ensure freedom and promote welfare of the people of Latvia and each individual.
That is the main purpose of the Latvian State that is set down in Satversme, our constitution. The goal will never change and will always remain relevant.
Thank you!
