The parliament in Riga has confirmed the former MEP Krisjanis Karins as prime minister. Three and a half months after the election, Latvia now has a new center-right government. 61 of the 100 MPs voted in favor. Before Karins, two candidates had already failed to forge a viable alliance.
In the parliamentary elections last October, the pro-Russian party „Harmony“ emerged as the strongest force – but she found no coalition partner and therefore remained outside in the formation of a government. The previous center-right coalition had lost its majority in the election.
The formation of a government was laborious – yet Karins, who belongs to the smallest faction, managed to form a broad five-party coalition of conservative parties and forces from the political center. The ex-minister of economics, born in the US, is considered a quiet policy-maker and a good negotiator. Since 2009 he was a MEP in Strasbourg, where he was considered the most influential EU parliamentarian from the Baltic States.
The new coalition has a majority of 66 of the 100 seats in the fragmented Latvian parliament. He occupied the key ministries with politicians with government experience: Finance Minister becomes Janis Reirs, the defense department takes over Artis Pabriks. The Foreign Office remains in the hands of Edgars Rinkevics.
54-year-old Karins said he wanted to learn from the „mistakes of the past“ and „better listen to the opposition.“ The new government announced its focus on further integrating Latvia into the EU and NATO, competitiveness and the fight against money laundering and social inequality. The demographic problems of the state of only two million inhabitants wants to tackle Karins.
