RIGA - The US has drafted a new interpretative regulation that will provide for quite broad exceptions to allow a number of existing US aid programs to continue, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze (New Unity) told TV3 in an interview.
The Minister admitted that the decision of the new US President to suspend funding for almost all US aid programs abroad has also impacted Latvian aid programs implemented with the US, for example in Moldova and Central Asia.
At the same time, US military assistance has not been curtailed, Braze noted.
On January 25, it emerged that the US State Department has frozen new funding for almost all US foreign aid programs, with some exceptions to allow for the continuation of food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt. The State Department order, which was sent to US embassies around the world, prohibited new government spending.
Following the US decision to freeze funding for various foreign aid programs, the consequences were also felt in Latvia, e.g. the National Rehabilitation Center Vaivari had to temporarily limit training for Ukrainian specialists, while in Riga a Ukrainian Refugee Integration Project event was cancelled.
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