ZZS selects Valainis, AS selects Twitter convoy leader Pozņaks for EP elections

For the upcoming European Parliament elections, Latvian political party Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) has decided to put Minister of Economy Viktors Valainis as their headliner. The Combined List (AS) has decided to make Twitter convoy leader Reinis Pozņaks as their leading candidate, as reported by LTV programme Panorāma.
ZZS plans to select all of the party’s four ministers for posts in the European Parliament, adding that Valainis will be the leader of the list.
AS, on the other hand, has decided to have Pozņaks as their leading candidate in the upcoming EP elections. Saeima deputy Raimonds Bergmanis is their main candidate number two.
New Unity (JV) has yet to decide if they want Krišjānis Kariņš as their number one candidate or the current Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis as their number one.
According to LTV sources, it is planned for Dombrovskis to be number one in EP elections. Kariņš will be second and MEPs Sandra Kalniete and Inese Vaidere may follow next on the list.
As previously reported, EP elections are scheduled for June 2024. Submissions of candidates for elections will start at the end of January.
BNN previously reported that Harmony political party has decided to push MEP and the party’s co-chairman Nils Ušakovs, public activist Olga Petkeviča and co-chairperson Regīna Ločmele as their leading candidates.
The board of Harmony approved their list of candidates and the party’s political programme on the 9th of January.
The presentation of the list and election programme will take place on the 27th of January. It will take place in Zilupe, “the farthest point away from the European Union’s capital city”.
Petkeviča is well-known in Latvia in relation to her proposals to cancel amendments to the Immigration Law that require permanent residents in Latvia with Russian and Belarusian citizenship to take language exams.
As LETA was told by Ušakovs, it’s necessary to work to secure more money on the level of the European Parliament to help overcome crises and consequences of war. It’s also necessary to secure separate financial support for regions close to EU’s outer border – Latvia and Latgale, as well as Estonia, Lithuania and Finland.
The party also wants to work on the topic of adopting a minimal European pension in accordance with Europe’s minimal wage example, which requires adopting a general European approach for a minimal allowed pension amount.
Harmony’s priority will include the housing programme – greater support to improve heating and renovate the existing housing stock, as well as construction of new and modern dwellings. The party also supports the creation of a European Health Association, stressing that the EU should become more involved in the health and medicine field instead of leaving everything in the hands of local state institutions.
Also read: Prosecutor general unhappy with law enforcement quality in Latvia
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