Rinkēvičs also said that the candidate "has to have an understanding of foreign policy and political processes" which does indeed seem like a good idea for the position.
Rinkēvičs said that traditionally both foreign and defense ministerial candidates are discussed by the Prime Minister with the President of Latvia. "This is the right practice given that the President has quite a number of responsibilities under the Constitution, both in foreign and defense policy," he said.
According to the President, the main criterion for choosing the next foreign minister is "the candidate's confidence in basic things – European values, geopolitical issues, and security policy".
Gven the situation in the world and in the region, it is important that the candidate can "get on with things without a long warmup - it's not a couple of months, but a couple of weeks that are necessary for any person to understand the jobs to be done when they take up a new position," Rinkēvičs said and added that he plans to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) Wednesday, April 3.
