«A new year has come, but everything is still the same»: missiles and suicide drones continue exploding and causing destruction in Ukraine, humans and non-humans keep dying. Latvia continues collecting donations and revising its arsenals, sending shipments in support of Ukraine. There is no end in sight for the bloody madness. Lithuanian minister decided to take the bull by the horns: to end the war, there has to be a plan to end it. But there is no plan.
It is clear to every official walking the corridors in Brussels, Washington and Berlin that pushing invaders from Ukraine will not resolve anything. But the moment anyone thinks about going further, minds are overtaken by fear. The fear of warring with Russia.
The spokesperson for Skulte LNG terminal’s developer, or, at this point, non-developer, has dared publicly speak out that the government is serving the interests of Gazprom, Lithuania and Finland. So they have finally understood that political opportunity is over and cannot be brought back. It will be interesting to watch which of the government’s partners could be the next to take up the torch.
In Ogre, meanwhile, the local government has decided to ‘reorganise’ an unruly museum. All because of an exhibition of Latvia’s pride and the scandal involving a certain Russian oligarch and his ties with Latvia’s most staunch anti-Russian force – the National Alliance.
When singer Ainars Mielavs decided to perform a couple of times at an event held on the 9th of May at the now demolished Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders at the start of the previous decade, many of his former fans were shocked to say the least. But the musician did redeem himself in the end. But now Latvian authorities may have found more scandalous details of his life. Namely possible involvement in illegal employment in Riga City Council.
Russia’s president has noticed that referencing his nuclear arms makes the world look at him more «seriously», which is why he often mentions this trump card. But now it seems that the older generation of Western politics and diplomats now consider USSR, from which Russia had inherited most of its nuclear arsenal, an example of restraint and predictability when compared with Russia’s current leader.
BNN gives you a summery of the most relevant events of the past week in the following topics: Big question; Golden minority; Generosity; Questionable long-term strategy; Fewer schools – fewer problems; Ogre’s problem; Dodgy employment; Nuclear posing.
BIG QUESTION
Landsbergis: West still doesn’t know what Ukraine’s victory should be
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. Photo: REUTERS/SCANPIX/LETAThe Munich Security Conference was founded to promote dialogue between opponents, but this year’s three-day meeting was a place for allies to exchange views, writes Politico.
Before the meeting, there were warnings that the Munich Security Conference would thus become a gathering of allies. However, this is not quite the case, and it is still not entirely clear whether all allies see the situation in the same way. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told Politico that the Munich conference gave an opportunity to feel the general mood, especially on the currently important issues.
The meeting in Munich also caused concern for Landsbergis, mainly because, since the beginning of the war, the Western countries have not been able to agree on what the outcome of the war should be. Of course, Ukraine knows what it should be. It wants to recover all Russian-occupied territories, including Crimea; get Moscow to compensate for all losses, and receive security guarantees. However, the leaders of France, Germany, and also Italy talked about a truce and reconciliation as recently as April and May of last year. Since then, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have reversed course.
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GOLDEN MINORITY
One years since the start of Russian invasion of Ukraine – chronology of events
Photo: Aлесь YсцінаўPexelsFriday, the 24th of February, marks one years since Russia commenced a wide-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The invasion was commenced by the Russian army following the order of President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Russia’s army, until then, was previously stationed along the Russian-Ukrainian and Belarusian-Ukrainian border and in the south – the Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s eastern parts were already engulfed in a bloody conflict that started in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea and growing tension between Donbas and the rest of Ukraine. A year after the start of the war Putin still claims Russia was not the one who started the war, blaming the West for it instead.
Even before the start of the invasion Western countries had warned about Russia’s plans. US President Joe Biden reports on the 19th of February 2022 that Putin decided to invade Ukraine, according to the chronology of events.
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GENEROSITY
Latvians donate aid worth EUR 38 million to Ukraine
Photo: Ziedot.lvSince the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Latvian residents and companies have donated aid worth a total of EUR 38 million to Ukraine, says Ziedot.lv communications manager Ilze Ošāne.
Hundreds of thousands of Latvian residents and thousands of companies have donated aid to Ukraine. The total size of donations comes not only from money but also the value of equipment donated to contribute to Ukraine’s fights against Russia.
The biggest volume of donations came from bank transfers, followed by donations of goods and services, calls to charities and donations of cash to special donation boxes. Every week charity concerts in support of Ukraine were organised in Latvia, as were various theatrical performances and various cultural events.
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QUESTIONABLE STRATEGY
Latvian government rejects Skulte LNG project developer’s and investor’s proposed conditions
Photo: Lita Krone/LETAAt a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday, the 21st February, members of the government reviewed the report from the Ministry of Climate and Energy on the cooperation conditions submitted by the developer and investor of Skulte LNG Terminal.
The proposed cooperation conditions were rejected by the Latvian government. The developer and strategic investor called this the government’s short-sightedness.
Advisor to the Minister of Climate and Energy Beate Barkāne reminded that the government had previously ordered the ministry to provide such a report. To ensure a high-quality analysis, the ministry requested the project’s developer to provide additional information in regards to cooperation conditions in the project. After receiving the requested information, the project’s capacity and costs, it was concluded that the suggested conditions cannot be approved due to the volume of requested guarantees and regulatory advantages.
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FEWER SCHOOLS – FEWER PROBLEMS
OPINION | If we terminate schools – will we find happiness?
Photo: Ivars Soikāns/LETAOpinion piece – Ilona Bērziņa, BNN
Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš has found a cure for the problems that plague Latvia’s education system. He suggests that if Latvia reduces the number of schools, the country will have what Estonia has now. The country will be able to forget about mediocrity among students, teachers will get wages worthy of officials, and new teachers will storm the schools to fill in vacant posts.
Unfortunately, the idea of optimising the school network was juggled so much by previous ministers of education, no one believes it any more.
Latvian Association of Education and Science Workers (LIZDA) previously warned the government about possible strikes. But these strikes have become a normal sight as well.
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OGRE’S PROBLEM
Local government prohibits rally in support of Ogre History and Art Museum
Ogre County Council chairman Egils Helmanis. Photo: Zane Bitere/LETAOgre’s local government has decided to prohibit the rally in support of Ogre History and Art Museum previously submitted for approval by Ogre’s civil cooperation and development association, as reported at a press-conference by the local government’s deputy executive director Dana Bārbale.
On Friday, the 24th of February, Latvian Minister of Culture Nauris Puntulis called an extraordinary meeting of the ministry’s Council of Museums to discuss the situation in Ogre. Representatives of the local government and the museum were invited to attend.
The 2nd of February marked the start of reorganisation of Ogre History and Art Museum. This act was initiated following the decision from the local government made on the 22nd of December 2022. The museum’s workers believe they are under repressions for their decision to object to Puntulis fellow member of the National Alliance, Ogre Council Council chairman Egils Helmanis decision to organise an exhibition featuring porcelain from the private collection of Russian oligarch Petr Aven.
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DODGY EMPLOYMENT
Musician suspected of involvement in fictive employment at Riga City Council
Musician Ainars Mielavs. Photo: Evija Trifanova/LETATV3 programme Nekā personīga reported that between 2012 and 2019 politicians from politicial parties Harmony and Honour to Serve Riga, other members and their relatives had been basically in charge of Riga City Council’s Riga Tourism Development Bureau (RTAB).
The programme explains that the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) submitted to the prosecution office a criminal case related to the so-called fictive employees at Riga City Council. Investigators refrain from giving comments. Nevertheless, Nekā personīga has found out from other sources that among these fictive employees there is singer Ainars Mielavs, Riga City Council’s ex-deputy Sandis Bergmanis’ wife and mother, as well as journalist Ksenija Zagorovska.
It is also possible two former chauffeur of once the Mayor of Riga Nils Ušakov may also be involved in illegal employment. Ušakovs calls the case absurd.
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NUCLEAR POSING
Russian Federation halts participation in START
Photo: Kurt’s MOCs/FlickrIn his nearly two hours’ long speech to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will halt its participation in the Russian-US Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START).
Russia has not exited the agreement, rather halted participation in it.
The so-called New START is the most recent mutual agreement signed between the US and Russia. Russia had previously halted participation in the talks regarding arms control in November 2022. Mutual inspections at military bases were put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Putin, the US and NATO have made it clear that their goal is dealing Russia a strategic defeat.
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BNN SUMMARY OF THE WEEK: Where to end the war? Donation nation. Less isn’t better
