Latvia's New Prime Minister Says Trade Relations With Russia Must Be Severed

From a security standpoint.

Latvia needs to sever trade relations with Russia as an aggressor state, the country's Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has declared. "This is an unnecessary dependency that only makes the situation worse. I am speaking from a security point of view," the prime minister said. He said he was going to instruct Foreign Minister Baiba Braža to find a solution to the issue, but the cessation of trade with Moscow would have to be coordinated with the European Union. At the same time, Kulberg admitted that the country's pharmaceutical industry will not be able to quickly adjust from the Russian market to other markets, although many companies have such plans. In this regard, he allowed an exception for them in case of a ban on exports of Latvian products to Russia.

Kulberg was appointed prime minister of Latvia on May 28. During his speech to the Saeima, he said his priorities would be security, economic and public administration issues. He said Latvia "can no longer live in debt" and that state funds must be used "wisely." The prime minister also promised to abandon "decorative promises" and admitted that the government may make mistakes. "But they must be recognized, corrected and learned from," Kulberg stressed. Before that, the association of Latvian political parties, which was represented by Kulbergs, prepared a draft decision of the Seimas on the termination of economic cooperation with aggressor states - Russia and Belarus. The document contained an instruction to the government to urgently implement such measures. However, this initiative was rejected.

Latvian Foreign Minister Brazhe earlier noted that the country has been consistently cutting economic ties with Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. She recalled that Riga has already stopped buying Russian oil, gas and electricity, and has also achieved a number of restrictions at the EU level, including on grain, agricultural products and manganese. Braže emphasized that Latvia is working to limit Russia's economic influence on the European market and strengthen its own exports.

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