The government cannot think for other leaders – if a manager expects someone from the side to come and tell them what to do, it is not a normal situation, said Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, commenting on the statements from the Board Chairperson of Riga International Airport Laila Odiņa about last week’s drone incident.
In her interview to TV3 programme “900 seconds”, the PM said that she had contacted the Chief of State Police Armands Ruks after this incident, asking him why the police failed to respond appropriately. The latter explained the police in Latvia lack authority.
At the same time, the PM said she is confident the State Police have the right to act in any dangerous situation. If necessary for it to be listed in the law, it will be done, said the head of the Latvian government.
The PM was also told about what Odiņa told the programme “Nekā personīga”, that currently neither the law nor the Cabinet of Ministers make it mandatory for the airport to adopt drone detection systems. When asked if she agrees with that, the PM directed criticisms in the direction of the current chairman of Riga Airport.
“It turns out that if the government has not thought of everything the management of the airport needs to be able to do on its own, then they won’t do it on their own. I don’t think this is good management,” said the Latvian Prime Minister.
The PM stressed the government cannot think in place of other leaders. “Every leader needs to know about possible dangerous situations that occur in their companies. If they expect someone from the side to come up and tell them what they need to do, this is not a normal situation. I would criticise this airport’s management,” she said.
“If these specific rules were necessary, they should have come to the government with relevant requests a long time ago,” added the head of the government.
She continued by stressing that an airport is critical infrastructure that has specific people that are in charge of it.
They should be the first to respond. After that, they should contact other services. “The airport’s management should take responsibility as well,” explained Siliņa, adding that in accordance with regulations, the airport needs to be able to react first.
At the same time, she stressed that training is equally important. According to her, it’s not just the airport – many other institutions expect “someone else to come by and do everything for them”.
At the same time, she stressed the government will provide services all the necessary authority if they believe some were lacking. “The most important factor is for them to have all the necessary tools and the will to act,” said the Latvian PM.