Grigule calls on PM to consider resigning over EU budget

RIGA - Taking into account that Latvia's demands have not been met in the European Union's next multi-annual budget, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) should consider resigning, MP Iveta Grigule (Greens/Farmers) said during the Saeima European Affairs Committee's session today.

Grigule mentioned Poland as an example, which achieved 106 billion euros instead of 102 billion euros for itself in the bloc's budget. According to a mass medium, Latvia was not among the last countries objecting to the budget proposal, said Grigule.

Dombrovskis said in turn that Grigule should read more than just one newspaper, and reminded her that Greens/Farmers were the ones in charge of the Agriculture Ministry when an agreement was reached on direct payments to Latvian farmers in 2007-2013, constituting only 35 percent of the bloc's average level.

Martins Roze (Greens/Farmers) was the agriculture minister from 2002 to 2009.

As reported, according to the prime minister, Latvia will be allotted 707 million euros more from the EU budget despite the budget cuts approved by the European Council.

If Latvia had vetoed the European Union's multi-annual budget during the European Council meeting, direct payments for Latvian farmers would remain unchanged at the current level, Dombrovskis said in an interview with the LNT television this morning.