Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; Krišjānis Kariņš, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Gabrielius Landsbergis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania all took part and answered questions on a range of topics with regional security in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine obviously to the fore.
Meanwhile, it looks possible that his current trip to the United States may potentially be a swansong for Kariņš with speculation back home in Latvia that he may be asked to resign over a long-running controversy concerning his official flights while serving as Prime Minister.
According to Latvian Television, his New Unity party met at the weekend to talk over the matter in response to confirmation from the Prosecutor General's office that criminal proceedings have been initiated – though at present there is no news that Kariņš himself bears liability for possible waste of public resources.
His successor as Prime Minister, Evika Siliņa, is due to speak with him Thursday when he is back from the U.S> and she is back from a Wednesday meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Germany, reported Latvian Television.
During his four-year premiership, Kariņš went on foreign visits 36 times using private planes, which cost more than 1.3 million euros in total, of which more than 600,000 euros came from the state purse, and more than 700,000 euros were covered by the European Union. Kariņš has justified this with the need to represent Latvia and effective time planning and back in December 2023 said that he is not going to resign from the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs because of it.
