On 13 October, President Edgars Rinkēvičs met with the Minister of the Interior Rihards Kozlovskis at the Riga Castle to discuss the priorities of the State Budget of the Ministry of the Interior for 2024, the progress of the border construction on the Latvian-Belarusian and Latvian-Russian borders and the issue of border protection, as well as the problems of remuneration and staffing of the internal affairs system.
"The Ministry of the Interior needs and must provide for a substantial increase in funding already in the draft state budget for 2024, because at present, due to low salaries, it is impossible to attract staff with the current salary level," said President Rinkēvičs at the meeting.
The parties discussed security conditions in Latvian educational institutions. Officials agreed on the need to develop a common algorithm for dealing with various crises. In this context, cooperation with municipalities is important for rescue, security and crisis management. "The internal affairs sector has a major responsibility to maintain a safe environment in Latvia, including by ensuring prompt information and notification of the public in the event of threats to public order and personal safety. This is an issue that needs to be improved," said E. Rinkēvičs.
