Weekly Latvian news digest

Celebrating 35 years of freedom since the end of Soviet occupation! | 2026 digest index

Monday, February 23 – Sunday, March 1, 2026

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs has submitted to the Presidium of the Saeima a draft law titled "Amendment to the Law on Financing National Defence", proposing that starting from 2027, no less than 5% of gross domestic product projected for the respective year be allocated to national defence. The President cited the irreversibly changed international security situation since 24 February 2022 and the commitment made by NATO heads of state at their meeting in The Hague on 25 June 2025 to invest 5% of GDP annually in defence by 2035. Latvia's current projected defence spend for 2026 is already 4.9% of GDP. With Saeima elections due in October, the degree of urgency with which the legislature treats the proposal will be closely watched.1 Separately, the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) successfully tested the Skorpion 2 remote mine-laying system in February under a previously concluded 50 million euro contract with German company Dynamit Nobel Defence GmbH. The first system deliveries are planned for this year. The testing follows Latvia's exit — along with Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland — from the Ottawa Convention at the end of 2025, though the Skorpion 2 was tested laying anti-tank rather than anti-personnel mines.2

On February 24th, the leaders of the Nordic-Baltic 8 (NB8) gathered in Kyiv to mark four years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, issuing a joint statement condemning Russia's war of aggression and reaffirming their commitment to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The NB8 noted it has provided more than 42 billion EUR in military, financial, and humanitarian support since the invasion began, with planned military contributions for 2026 amounting to close to 12.5 billion EUR. The statement was signed by the leaders of Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.3 Foreign Minister Baiba Braže was on a working visit to the United States from 24 to 26 February, meeting with US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby, US Special Envoy to Belarus John P. Coale, and senators from both parties. On 24 February in New York, she addressed the UN General Assembly emergency special session on Ukraine, where the resolution "Support for Lasting Peace in Ukraine" was adopted with 107 votes in favour, 12 against, and 51 abstentions. Braže noted that Latvia has contributed EUR 17.2 million to the NATO PURL initiative for urgently needed weapons in support of Ukraine's armed forces, and that Latvia received praise from US counterparts as an exemplary partner for allocating 5% of GDP to defence already in 2026.4

As four years passed since Russia's full-scale invasion, Latvia's total support for Ukraine from the government, local authorities, and the private sector has exceeded one billion euros, with direct military aid accounting for more than 665 million euros and civilian support totalling €300 million. Charity organisation Ziedot.lv has collected approximately €42 million in donations, around 70% directed to military support, while the association "Tavi draugi" (Your Friends) has delivered €12 million worth of humanitarian aid. Riga East University Hospital has admitted more than 780 seriously injured Ukrainian defenders since the start of the war.5

The National Alliance party has been ordered by the courts to repay EUR 210,673 to the state budget, following a Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) ruling from May 28, 2024, after the party was found to have spent €554,627 on communication and political campaigning in 2022, exceeding the limit allowed under the Law on the Financing of Political Organisations (Parties). NA board chair and Saeima deputy Ilze Indriksone confirmed the party will comply. The Supreme Court is separately considering an NA cassation complaint over KNAB's decision to suspend budget funding to the party for one year.6 The Saeima also passed urgent changes on February 26th to increase housing benefit coefficients from January 1 to April 30 of this year, expanding eligibility to include households with children under 18 and young people under 24 still in education. As an example, a pensioner with 500 euros income and 300 euros in monthly housing expenses would see their benefit rise from 192 euros to 267 euros per month.7

According to Eurostat figures published on February 23rd, Latvia's agricultural value added reached 1.5% of GDP in 2024, above the EU average of 1.2%, and rose by 0.6 percentage points between 2009 and 2024 — the second-largest increase in the EU after Greece (up 0.9 pp).8 RIX Riga Airport was named "Best Airport at Departures" by the Airports Council International (ACI) for European airports serving between 5 and 15 million passengers per year, based on more than 700,000 real-time passenger surveys. Convenient airport access received the highest rating of 4.45 out of 5 from 42% of departing passengers who identified it as an important criterion.9 On Rail Baltica, Estonian Minister of Infrastructure Kuldar Leis (Reform party) reaffirmed that an agreement exists with Latvia to complete the main line by 2030, despite concerns raised at the Riigikogu special committee on state budget control. Estonia is short €1.2 billion to complete its first phase, while Latvia currently has funding for only a 50-kilometer stretch. Missing funding will be sought from the next EU budget, with the possibility of receiving some funds as early as 2026 to 2027.10

Latvia's transition to full Latvian-language education is being hampered by a shortage of qualified specialist teachers. Of the more than 3.3 million euros transferred by the state to local governments last school year for additional teacher and support specialist pay, almost 800 thousand euros went unspent. Rolands Ozols, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science, noted that funding utilization averages between 60% and 70%, with particular shortages in speech therapists and special educators. Last year alone, 2,506 school employees received certificates for completing courses for work in a linguistically heterogeneous environment through the Latvian Language Agency.11 Latvian language technology company Tilde announced the integration of its large language model TildeOpen into a machine translation platform covering 34 European languages. The model has 30 billion parameters and was trained on 29 billion Latvian text units — the largest known dataset used in AI development for the Latvian language — using the LUMI supercomputer in Finland.12 The University of Latvia's new Dentistry and Optometry Clinic and Training Centre will receive its premises on June 1st and welcome its first patients this summer, functioning simultaneously as a study base, clinical practice site, and public healthcare provider near UL's Academic Centre.13

Uldis Bluķis, a scientist and one of the founders and activists of the Baltic Appeal to the United Nations, passed away on February 20th at the age of 93 in New York City. Born on February 19th, 1933, in Jelgava, Bluķis fled with his family to Germany in 1944 and then to the United States in 1951. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in chemistry and received his doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a professor emeritus at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, where he taught chemistry, history of science, and general science until 1991. From 1966 to 1991, he was active in the organisation BATUN (Baltic Appeal to the United Nations) to gain support from the United Nations for the restoration of independence in the Baltic states. When Latvia regained its independence and became a member of the UN on September 17, 1991, Bluķis began working at the Permanent Mission of Latvia to the UN. He has been awarded the Order of the Three Stars, Latvia's highest state decoration.14

Uldis and Peters sang together in the New York Latvian Concert Choir and shared interests in history and science — Peters was privileged to attend one of his lectures. Sifting through post-WWII Displaced Persons records and newspaper accounts, Peters only recently discovered that his father in-law Henry Baikstis and Uldis had competed in YMCA track in the DP camps as teenagers.

Of far greater note, as Peters recalls, Uldis once mentioned that Sergei Lavrov (then Deputy Permanent Representative of the USSR to the UN) was in negotiations with Baltic representatives for the USSR to recognize it illegally occupied and annexed the Baltic states when the anti-Gorbachev putsch cut talks short. The putsch failed but preserved the lie that the Baltic states joined the USSR voluntarily and legally. To this day, the Kremlin dismisses any account to the contrary as rewriting history.

Vieglas smiltis, Uldi. Dusi saldi aizsaulē.

Pulkveža Oskara Kalpaka profesionālās vidusskolas pirmā kursa 25 kadeti devuši svinīgo solījumu, apņemoties aizsargāt tēvzemi un uzticīgi kalpot Latvijai. Pirms solījuma viņus sagaidīja pārbaudījumiem bagāta diena — komandas uzdevumi, vēsturisks pārgājiens un praktisko iemaņu pārbaudes. Konkurss uzņemšanai bijis četri pretendenti uz vienu vietu. Septembrī līdzīga iestāde — ģenerāļa Radziņa skola — sāks darbu Maltā.1

RTU Rēzeknes akadēmijā profesionālo bakalaura grādu un vecākā virsnieka kvalifikāciju ieguvuši 16 jaunie robežsargi — tas bija 13. programmas "Robežapsardze" izlaidums, un kopumā programmu absolvējuši jau 202 cilvēki. Ģenerālis Guntis Pujāts atzina, ka iestādē joprojām ir aptuveni 12 % vakantu vietu, kā vienu no risinājumiem minot Valsts robežsardzes koledžas filiāles izveidi Rīgā.2

Raidījuma "Atvērtie faili" izmeklēšanā atklāts, ka Krievijas armija frontē izmanto ASV uzņēmuma "Ubiquiti" radio tilta antenas, kuru eksports uz Krieviju ir aizliegts. Autonomo sistēmu kompetences centra vadītājs majors Modris Kairišs norādīja, ka aptuveni 80 % kara zaudējumu tiek nodarīti ar droniem, kuriem šādas antenas ir nepieciešamas. "Hunterbrook" pētījumā starp reeksportētājiem minēti divi Latvijas uzņēmumi — "Getic" no Liepājas un "Elko Grupa". Abu uzņēmumu pārstāvji apgalvo, ka darījumu partneri ir pārbaudīti un par iespējamu reeksportu uz Krieviju viņi nav bijuši informēti. Valsts drošības dienests patlaban veic pārbaudi saistībā ar "Ubiquiti" produkcijas eksportu no Latvijas, bet kopš 2022. gada marta par sankciju pārkāpumiem sākti 620 kriminālprocesi.3

Ludzas novada Pasienē, aptuveni piecus kilometrus no Krievijas robežas, Latvijas informatīvās telpas stiprināšana sastopas ar valodas barjeru un gadiem veidotiem ieradumiem. Vietējie iedzīvotāji norāda, ka Latvijas kanālus vai nu nevar uztvert tehnisku iemeslu dēļ, vai arī izvēlas tos neskatīties satura un valodas dēļ. Latvijas Valsts radio un televīzijas centrs skaidro, ka bezmaksas apraides programmas pieejamas 99 % valsts teritorijas un uztveršanas problēmas bieži saistītas ar bojātām antenām, taču atzīst, ka pierobežā lielākā problēma nav signāls, bet iedzīvotāju izvēle skatīties Krievijas un Baltkrievijas televīziju.4

Saeimā neilga laika posmā divas komisijas — Pilsonības, migrācijas un sabiedrības saliedētības komisija un Ilgtspējīgas attīstības komisija — apspriedušas plānu darbam ar diasporu. Deputāte Ināra Mūrniece (Nacionālā apvienība) uzsvēra gan emocionālo, gan ekonomisko dimensiju — Latvijai nepieciešamas diasporas zināšanas un darbaspēks. Šogad īpaši aktuāls ir Saeimas vēlēšanu jautājums: iepriekšējās vēlēšanās no 162 000 ārpus Latvijas esošo balsstiesīgo nobalsoja tikai 26 000, ar kuru balsīm tika ievēlēts viens deputāts. Miks Muižarājs no biedrības "Ar pasaules pieredzi Latvijā" norādīja, ka vēlēšanu iecirkņu skaita samazināšana diasporā tieši ietekmējusi līdzdalības līmeni.5

Drīz būs pagājuši četri gadi, kopš Latvijā dzīvo ukraiņu mūziķes Anna Frančuka un Natālija Behma. Anna, kordiriģente no Horošivas, ieradās Rēzeknē 2022. gada augustā, dziedāja korī "Ezerzeme" un šogad pārcēlās uz Rīgu, kur meklē iespēju pievienoties kādam korim. Natālija Behma no Kijivas dzied valsts akadēmiskajā korī "Latvija" un uzsvēra, ka šīs ziemas laikā vien Ukraina piedzīvojusi uzbrukumus ar vairāk nekā 10 000 dronu un simtiem raķešu — ziņas, kuras pasaulē arvien biežāk tiek uztvertas kā norma.6

In memoriam, Uldis Bluķis (1933-2026)
Zinātnieks un diplomāts Uldis Bluķis
Mara Zalite Photography - NYC Event Photographer