On Thursday, the 16th of November, Minister of Foreign Affairs Krišjānis Kariņš told LTV programme Rīta panorāma that he does not agree with the criticisms from the opposition about the costs of special flights when he was prime minister.
“I don’t agree. I believe the PM needs to be present at the table, wherever negotiations are taking place. Flights are a means to get from Riga to other destinations,” he said, answering the question if he agrees with the criticisms about the costs. He said that
he recommends Latvian PM Evika Siliņa to use such flights if it comes to it.
The politician explained that the PM is the only state official that cannot be replaced. “If the PM is not present, no one else can replace him at negotiations,” stressed Kariņš.
As for using such flights in his current post, Kariņš said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have the authority to use special flights, and he uses commercial flights instead, which often causes difficulties when planning all visas.
As previously reported, during his term as Latvian PM, the special flights Kariņš’ various delegations used between 2021 and 2023 cost the state budget EUR 614 830, according to information from the State Chancellery.
The interest for Kariņš’ special flights came from the Combined List (AS) political party. They requested information about these flights and their costs. AS wanted to know about the private airline services used during Kariņš’s term. Information about it was prepared by the Director of the State Chancellery Citskovskis.
One of the authors of the request, Saeima deputy Edvards Smiltēns, referencing the received response, publicly said that one-third if the flights were performed not through purchase of seats in a regular flight, but bu renting an entire aircraft. In 2021 Kariņš’s special flights cost the state state budget EUR 144 800, in 2022 – EUR 332 717 and in 2023 – EUR 136 313, as mentioned in a letter from Citskovskis. Smiltēns said that this money was spent on 18 flights in total.
Citskovskis said his party requested information regarding flights used by delegations led by the PM between January 2019 and September 2023. According to this information, delegations used regular flights for 35 trips and 18 special flight services.
Destinations of those special flights included Belgium, Slovenia, Germany, France, Portugal, Britain, Slovakia, Holland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Poland and Moldova.
Also read: Latvian PM delegation’s private flights cost state budget EUR 600 000
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