The widely discussed scandal regarding the “militarised sculpture composition” outside Ādaži base in Kadaga raises concerns about the use of funding provided to the defence sector, said Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa in an interview to TV3 programme 900 seconds.
She stressed that refusal of various priorities in favour of the defence sector is done with the intention of reinforcing defensive capabilities. The minister needs to be someone who dictates the overall priorities in the institution. At the same time, the minister cannot politically interfere with every procurement procedure, said the PM.
When asked if it is wrong that after such scandalous cases it is very difficult to determine which people made the responsible decisions, Siliņa said this points to systematic problems in state governance: “This is the existing challenge in state governance. Often we have such a long chain, it’s unclear who made the decision.”
The head of the government said centralisation of data continues to make sure it is possible to check in the information system who exactly made specific decisions. “But often I see that the tasks are also formal. By nature, maybe someone does them differently. It is also my job to reduce the administrative burden so that we can see through it what is really happening,” added the PM.
At the same time, she mentioned that in such cases it is the duty of each minister to “dig to the truth” and determine why he or she wasn’t aware of any specific decisions or expenses.
The head of the government admitted that such cases, when the sensible use of allocated funding is put into question, call for a more thorough and scrupulous assessment of next year’s budget plan and implementation of measures to ensure the money goes to the purpose for which it is intended.