New interior minister will have to come up with medium-term and long-term solutions for Ukrainian refugees - Karins

• Published date: 26 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

RIGA, May 26 (LETA) - The task of the new interior minister will be to offer medium-term and long-term solutions for Ukrainian refugees, said Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) at the Saeima debate today.

He said that initially there were hopes that the war in Ukraine could end in three months, but now it is clear that it will take longer, therefore Latvia should consider ways to help Ukrainian refugees in a longer term, especially those who may not join the job market, for example, about 5,000 children who have enrolled in Latvian schools.

Karins also said that during the present crisis it is very important to keep a stable government.

s reported, Saeima today approved deputy head of the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) Kristaps Eklons, nominated by For Development/For as the new interior minister.

Eklons told LETA earlier that he plans to continue the work started by previous interior minister Marija Golubeva (Development/For) and to promote his own initiatives as far as possible.

He said that he agreed to run for the post of interior minister because of several including private reasons. One of these reasons is his conviction that security requires closer attention. His regular communication with Ukrainian colleagues led Eklons to realize the importance of a country's internal security in the context of overall national resilience.

The ministerial candidate said that the State Fire and Rescue Service had had very good cooperation with the previous interior minister and a clear roadmap with specific tasks, but that many of these projects remained unfinished, for instance, construction of a new fire station. As a minister, Eklons will therefore prioritize the projects...