President Edgars Rinkēvičs will meet with the newly elected Minister of Foreign Affairs Baiba Braži today, the Office of the President informed LETA agency.
The meeting is scheduled at 1 p.m. in Riga Palace.
It has already been reported that last week the Saeima approved the long-time diplomat Braži as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Braži was nominated for the post by Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV), who also invited diplomats to join the “Unity” party, but such a decision has not yet been made.
66 MPs voted for Braži, 11 voted against, and nine MPs abstained. Support for the candidate’s approval was expressed by the coalition factions “Jaunā vietība”, the Union of Greens and Farmers and “Progressives”, as well as the opposition parties “Apvienotais lististi” and “Latvia first”. Politicians of the National Union abstained in the vote, but “Stability” voted against.
A new minister of foreign affairs had to be chosen, because at the beginning of April, ex-prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) left this position, thus reacting to the decision of the General Prosecutor’s Office to start a criminal trial, which will assess his practice of using private aircraft during a series of business trips.
Baiba Braze. Photo: Zane Bitere/LETA
