On February 5, the Latvian government decided to suspend passenger carrier travel to the UK, Portugal, and Ireland. Starting February 26, travel to these countries will no longer be banned.
It is unclear, though, whether the ban on 'unnecessary' travel will still remain in force. The Latvian government is to decide on that Thursday. The Health Ministry has suggested to keep this rule until the end of the state of emergency, which is currently set at April 6.
The Ministry of Interior referred this issue to the Ministry of Transport, which in turn handed the question over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied that it would not encourage the extension of the restrictions, but pointed out that border control was not within its competence. That is the competence of the Ministry of Interior, thus completing the ministerial pass-the-parcel.
Laura Kulakova, spokeswoman for Riga International Airport said clear guidance was required.
“We are responding to people that these restrictions will no longer apply from February 26, but of course we would like a clear message that it really will be so. This situation, as it stands at the moment, makes it difficult for both us and the airlines to plan work,” Kulakova said.