Top Latvian officials do not see reasons for moving their workplaces outside Riga

RIGA - Neither President Raimonds Vejonis nor Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis (Greens/Farmers) see any reasons to move their workplaces outside Riga, the two officials said after their weekly meeting on Wednesday.

As reported, starting Tuesday, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid is to work in the northeastern border city Narva until the second half of next week and is to meet with the people of the East-Viru County and visit local governments, businesses and institutions. The Estonian president will work in Narva from Tuesday until Thursday of next week as well as during two weeks in November.

Asked if Latvia’s top officials might follow the Estonian leader’s example, Vejonis said that all pros and cons had to be assessed before moving to work somewhere else.

The Latvian president indicated that costs of such workplace relocation should also be taken into consideration, because the relocation of ministries’ staff would be expensive.

Vejonis said that he personally would have no problems relocating to Daugavpils, Kraslava or any other place but that he found top state officials’ regional visits a much more effective solution, as they too provided the opportunity to learn about the situation in Latvia’s regions and use this information when taking decisions.

Kucinskis said he could not imagine relocating his workplace to a regional city or running the country via Twitter