The most realistic outcome in Karin’s flight scandal would be his resignation / Diena

In his view, the mentioned scandal has come to an apparent climax several times, giving JV the opportunity to resolve it, but the political force has not done so. Currently, the entire burden of responsibility in this case is assigned to Prime Minister Evikas Siliņi (JV), who must decide whether to demand Kariņš’s resignation or to say that everything is fine and allow him to continue working. In the second case, Siliņa would take co-responsibility for Kariņš’s actions, which would not be very far-sighted politically, therefore Rajevsky predicts that Kariņš will most likely have to resign.

“Frankly, from the beginning of the scandal, I thought that the most realistic scenario to close the scandal, to remove it from the agenda of the government, so that it does not overshadow the agenda of the government was [Kariņa] resignation. There are only different ways – whether the prime minister demands it or the person himself apologizes and resigns. If this had already happened in December, we would now see completely different ratings, a completely different picture when looking at the European Parliament (EP) elections,” the expert believes.

He admitted that JV’s image has also been damaged by the alleged envelope salary scandal, and both of these problems must be solved, otherwise it will be almost impossible for the government to work and the prime minister will not be able to talk about anything, because sooner or later journalists will ask her one of these sensitive questions.

At the same time, the political scientist emphasized that the stability of the government is not particularly affected by the current situation, because the number of votes in the parliament plays a decisive role there, that is, as long as the agreement between the partners of the ruling coalition works and they have a majority in the Saeima, meanwhile it is an internal problem of “Unity”. “It can, of course, affect the stability of the government to a certain extent, but directly through the internal problems of the Union,” explained Rajevsky, adding that the coalition partners – the Union of Greens and Farmers and the “Progressives” – actually do not care who sits in the JV in ministerial seats as long as they themselves are in government.

The political scientist also predicted that Kariņš’s chances of being elected to the EP are very low, because the current European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis (JV) will show the best performance there from the JV list, and if the JV gets another mandate, it will most likely be Sandra Kalniete (JV ).

As reported, Prime Minister Silina’s meeting with former Prime Minister, current Minister of Foreign Affairs Kariņas is planned for today regarding the situation related to the private airline scandal.

On the sidelines, there is a very high possibility that Kariņš might not remain in the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs in connection with the flight case, according to the unofficial information at the disposal of the LETA agency.

However, if Kariņš leaves the position of minister, it is not yet known when exactly he might have to do so.

During the meeting between Silina and Kariņa, the current situation in relation to the flight case could be discussed.

Some members of the board of “Vienotības” contacted by LETA agency rely on Prime Minister Silina’s vision regarding Kariņš’s future activities as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

It has already been announced that the General Prosecutor’s Office has started and handed over to the Bureau of Prevention and Combating of Corruption for investigation a criminal case regarding possible waste in connection with the use of charter flights on the business trips of former Prime Minister Kariņš, LETA agency learned from the prosecutor’s office.

The General Prosecutor’s Office does not dispute that in the course of the performance of the duties of the highest state officials, situations may arise when it is necessary to use the services of air transport charter flights to ensure business trips.

At the same time, it was concluded that there is a real possibility that a criminal offense has occurred.

As reported, the special flights made by the delegations led by the Prime Minister Kariņš have received some criticism from the public. From September 2021 to September 2023, according to the information collected by the State Chancellery, 613,830 euros were spent in this way from the state budget, but together with the part of the costs covered by the EU, the spending reaches 1.36 million euros.