48,643 or 9.36% of electorate voted for the party "For Latvian Development" in the European Parliament elections (12.4% in 2019). The current MEP Ijabs has entered the European Parliament from the list. He received 27,345 "thumbs up" or plus marks from voters, but 1,896 voters crossed his name out.
Ijabs said he would continue his work in the security sector in the European Parliament. He has previously worked on defense procurement. Ijabs will also continue to support Latvian scientists and innovators when working on the next European multiannual budget.
He said that in the next parliamentary term, in which Latvia has more seats – nine – MEPs would be able to do more for Latvia.
"It is nice that the European Parliament has not been occupied by toxic lists - Sovereign Power and For Stability - which would have been destructive to cooperation," Ijabs said.
"I think that the new, first mandate colleagues, like Reinis Pozņaks and Mārtiņš Staķis, will be active and will work constructively."
At the same time, Ijabs said that Latvian MEPs should coordinate more with each other.
Assessing the turnout, which was only slightly higher in these European elections than five years ago, Ijabs said that the place of the European Union in people's lives needs to be strengthened and talked about more. He called on MEPs to go out and talk to voters throughout the parliamentary term.
Ijabs predicted that the new European Parliament and the Latvian delegation would be more right-wing. "The big challenge will be to build a pro-European and strictly pro-Ukraine coalition and commission in the European Parliament as we see that the majority is rather "weak"," said Ijabs. "Altogether I don't think Europe faces some sort of an overthrow from the inside."