Latvija in brief - 2011-03-17

  • 2011-03-16

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) says that work on the 2012 state budget and the continuing reforms may be fateful for one or two ministers, and that changes may take place in the government after the budget for next year is approved, reports LETA. “If it is apparent that a minister does not offer quality reforms or does not even want to implement them, this may certainly result in the replacement of that minister,” said Dombrovskis. All ministers have been ordered to offer proposals regarding structural reforms in the areas they supervise in accordance with the decision of the Reform Management Group. If these proposals are of poor quality, the respective ministers’ suitability to continue will be evaluated, said Dombrovskis. Two Union of Greens and Farmers ministers - Minister of Welfare Ilona Jursevska and Education Minister Rolands Broks - are considered underachievers. Unity’s Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis may also be under fire.

An Audi automobile that was involved in several life-threatening accidents in Riga was driven by an officer from the State Police’s patrol police unit ‘Alfa,’ reports LETA. In addition, the officer was intoxicated. The Audi smashed into an Opel at about 12:35 p.m. on March 13, veering off the street and hitting a pedestrian, a man born in 1980. The pedestrian sustained slight injuries and did not have to be hospitalized. The Audi did not bother to stop and left the scene, but a few minutes later the driver lost control of the car and smashed it into a lamppost. Both men in the car were born in 1984; both were intoxicated and were hospitalized with various injuries. State Police Riga Regional Administration spokeswoman Sigita Pildava confirmed the two officers were off duty. The car was not stolen, but belonged to one of the men. A criminal case is now being opened.

A border guard discovered the bodies of two dead Latvian amateur fishermen in their VW Multivan in the Peipsiaare parish, Tartu county, Estonia, on March 14, reports Postimees Online. Last weekend, a large number of amateur fishermen were fishing on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Monday morning the attention of a border guard in Varnja cordon was caught by a van with Latvian plates, as it had stayed 2 km from Varnja by the roadside for several days. The border guard discovered two dead men in the van: 41-year-old Janis and 44-year-old Andrejs, both Latvian citizens. A strong smell of gas was felt when the car door was opened and a gas burner with an open valve was found in the van. The men had most likely been in the van since March 11, since that is when they registered their return from Lake Peipsi in the Varnja cordon.