After an Eastern break, architect, businessman and millionaire Uldis Pīlēns announced plans to run for presidency in Latvia. His plans, according to some, put at risk the stability of the government and even the state. A show is coming up – get your popcorn!
But it is good that at least the candidate himself does want to reduce tension in the coalition, putting an end to Ainārs Šlesers “wet dream”. No, Pīlēns promises, he will not chase away Krišjānis Kariņš in favour of a lembergian bulldozer-like government. Knowing the mutual discontent between him and the government, what he said definitely deserves some praise.
Not all ministers in Latvia have access to official secrets. The Constitution Protection Bureau is taking its time with the issue of permits to state officials. Refusal, by the way, would mean the minister will have to resign. Stability of the coalition is not a priority for this institution, it seems.
A notable and well-defined proposal was submitted this week to help benefit society. Certain officials believe that by closing shopping malls it may be possible to somehow fix the situation with “ghost towns” slowly forming in city centres.
Keeping quiet is not lying. However, whether or not it is lying is determined by public opinions, not the opinion of the one staying quiet. This is something Estonia’s prime minister found out this week when discussing the country’s state budget deficit and measures to help reduce it. The same can be said about Lithuania’s president, who had apparently forgot about his place in the Communist Party.
It is easy to avoid being bought if no one buys you. This is why, when looking at the political fights over the port of Hamburg, one thinks what Latvia would do if Chinese businessmen (and this country’s government) set their sights on one of Latvia’s sea ports.
BNN gives you a summery of the most relevant events of the past week in the following topics: Promising promise; No guarantees; Incomplete minister; Drowning in garbage; Sunday blessing; Pre-election non-promises; Childhood mistake?; Attracting freight.
PROMISING PROMISE
If he becomes Latvia’s president, Pīlēns won’t “get rid of” Kariņš
Photo: Zane Bitere/LETAIf he wins the election and becomes president, businessman and politician Uldis Pīlēns sees his cooperation with PM Krišjānis Kariņš’s government as “very productive”, as the presidential candidate mentioned in an interview to LTV programme 900 seconds.
Previously it was reported that New Unity political party said they would not support Pīlēns as a presidential candidate.
Despite this, if he wins, Pīlēns believes this position “would not be an obstacle for cooperation with Krišjānis Kariņš’s government”.
More here
NO GUARANTEES
Latvian government has no plans to provide Skulte LNG developers any financial guarantees
Photo: Edijs Pālens/LETALatvia’s government has rejected the request to provide any financial guarantees to Skulte LNG terminal’s developers, said Minister of Climate and Energy Raimonds Čudars at a press-conference on Tuesday, the 11th of April.
At the same time, the minister explained this terminal could be built if one of the developers completes the evaluation of the effect on the environment and constructs this terminal on commercial terms.
Čudars stressed that the ministry has received a mandate from the government to continue negotiations with Estonia on the shared use of Paldiski LNG terminal. Additionally, it is necessary to continue work to resolve the situation under which LNG supplies are potentially impeded by some technical reasons.
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INCOMPLETE MINISTER
Latvia’s Minister of Agriculture still doesn’t have access to official secrets
Latvian Minister of Agriculture Didzis Šmits. Photo: Paula Čurkste/LETAOf the members of the government only Minister of Agriculture Didzis Šmits still does not have a permit to access official secrets.
His advisor Kristīne Liepa told the media that Šmits does not have a permit.
The Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB) notes that the special permit to access official secrets is not issued to only one minister, as the permit issue evaluation term has been extended.
Special permits have been issued to most of Saeima’s deputies that requested them. Issue of the remaining permits is in process of completion.
“Because requests for permits were submitted by Saeima deputies gradually, the permit issue procedure is progressing accordingly,” stresses the bureau.
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DROWNING IN GARBAGE
Nearly half of clothes brought to Latvia are “close to garbage state”
Photo: AS Latvijas zaļais punkts publicity photoAccording to data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSP), Latvia imports on average more than 30 000 tonnes of various clothes, footwear and household textiles. Approximately half of this volume – an average of 14 600 tonnes a year – are used clothes from other countries, according to producer responsibility and waste management organisation Latvijas Zaļais punkts JSC.
Although the volume of used textile goods going through Latvia on their way to other countries, the country remains an important export market for used clothes close to garbage state and at risk of ending up in waste landfills. “Close to garbage state”, according to Latvijas Zaļais punkts, is any used goods that have almost no recycling potential, which makes it difficult to return them to repeated circulation.
Latvijas Zaļais punkts director Kaspars Zakulis reminds: textile products form approximately 4% of waste buried in Latvia.
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SUNDAY BLESSING
Latvian government considers closing down shopping malls for weekends
Photo: Zane Bitere/LETALimiting the open hours of shopping malls for weekends is not only a matter or economy or survival for smaller traders but also a very wide socially-important issue, said Minister of Agriculture Didzis Šmits in an interview to Latvijas Radio on Wednesday, the 12th of April.
He said the Ministry of Agriculture’s work on a legislative draft for the closure of large shopping malls on Sundays continues, and the minister’s advisor for legal affairs is also working on the initial redaction of the project.
Šmits stressed that this is not an initiative to support small traders, as talks about restricting shopping malls happened before. At the same time, Šmits said the government leans more in favour of this legislative draft than against. He said he hopes it will be approved.
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PRE-ELECTION NON-PROMISES
BNN IN FOCUS | Kaja Kallas’ third government starts its term by increasing Estonia’s taxes
Heads of the parties of the new Estonian coalition – Social Democrats, Reformists and Eesti 200: Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets (from the left), Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, President of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar. Photo: POSTIMEES/SCANPIX/LetaOn Wednesday, the 12th of April, the parliament of Latvia’s northern neighbour finally authorised Kaja Kallas to compose a basically already composed government. It will be composed of two liberal parties – reformists and Eesti 200 – and social democrats.
Even before it started working, Reform Party leader Kaja Kallas government received bashing from its opponents – three parties agreed in coalition talks that it is necessary to raise taxes in order to satisfy the country’s and nation’s needs. According to Kallas, the weight of this burden is far away from the actual situation. The country’s budget has a large deficit, which needs reducing.
Only social democrats were in favour of increasing taxes in the election campaign. This is why such decisions were shocking to society. Now the right-wing Reform Party is accused of misleading voters and moving away from its ideological postulates.
Kallas later admitted to the media: the topic was silenced to avoid scaring off voters.
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CHILDHOOD MISTAKE?
BNN ANALYSES | Lithuanian President’s skeleton in his closet revealed – membership in the Communist Party
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. Photo: AP/SCANPIX/LETALinas Jegelevičius
It appears that in 1988, with Sąjūdis, Lithuania’s national movement picking thousands of supporters, the current Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nausėda, handed his request to join the Communist Party.
Instead of blushing now, the head-of-state is defiant, certainly not remorseful, and talks about “a youthful indiscretion”. Meanwhile, his political opponents and swaths of the public alike are set to delve deeper into the president’s past. All agree that Nausėda’s reputation has seen a dent, but the opinions on its depth vary.
The news about the membership was first broken out by Dovydas Pancerovas, a journalist working for the Laisvės TV channel. The archival documents he published on Facebook show that
Nausėda applied to join the party on the 20th of May, 1988, and was issued a party ticket on the 27th of June.
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ATTRACTING FREIGHT
Plan to sell part of Hamburg’s port to China at risk
Photo: UnsplashGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s controversial plan to sell part of Hamburg’s port cargo terminal to China may not come to fruition after German authorities declared the port part of critical infrastructure, writes Politico.
Last year, Scholtz, despite the objections and concerns of party members, managed to get the Chinese state-owned company Cosco to be allowed to buy shares in the Tollerort terminal in the port of Hamburg. However, the classification of the port as critical infrastructure by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security means that Berlin has to reassess the deal offered to the Chinese.
The new security rating is notable because even the staunchest defenders of the port deal have said that China should not get access to the critical infrastructure.
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BNN SUMMARY OF THE WEEK: Pīlēns enters the stage. Minister doubtful. Kaja upstages Krišjānis
