Minister of Finance Arvils Ašeradens (New Unity) has expressed hope that work on Latvia’s 2026 state budget will soon move forward in the Cabinet, he told the LETA news agency.
Ašeradens admitted that talks with coalition partners are taking longer than usual, but said this is understandable given the very limited resources available for new political initiatives. According to him, these constraints are making the negotiations more complicated, but he still sees a willingness among partners to reach a compromise.
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) commented after Monday’s coalition cooperation meeting that resolving difficult issues forces more creative decision-making.
She recalled that last year the coalition managed to agree not to raise salary caps across the public administration, and also decided that board members of state-owned companies could have their pay cut if their results are poor.
“In my view, such discussions only strengthen and temper our political will to find solutions
that are neither routine nor easy,” Siliņa said, adding that longer negotiations are pushing the government to think about how to modernise and make the public sector more efficient.
Minister for Transport Atis Švinka (Progressives) said that the Progressives maintain respectful talks and relations with coalition partners, and intensive discussions do not mean there are problems.
He also noted that the Progressives’ parliamentary group has invited Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze (Union of Greens and Farmers, ZZS) next week for in-depth talks about forestry policy.
Krauze added:
“If there’s a budget, there will be a government,”
stressing that ZZS has no major disagreements with New Unity, though there are significant differences with the Progressives, as ZZS is a more conservative and centrist force.
Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis (ZZS) said earlier on LTV’s Rīta panorāma that ZZS currently sees no way to move forward with the next year’s budget because no satisfactory agreements have been reached on lowering VAT on some food products and on maintaining small rural schools.
Meanwhile, New Unity’s Saeima faction leader Edmunds Jurēvics told LETA that coalition partners should not throw around ultimatums: “We are ready to discuss, but I urge everyone to be responsible and not toss around ultimatums,” he said, emphasising that there is already agreement that the priorities for next year’s budget are internal and external security, support for families, and education.
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