"In a discussion on agenda items to be considered by the European Council, Edgars Rinkēvičs called for excluding defense expenditure from excessive budget deficit calculations in line with the EU’s admissibility criterion. Instead, that budget position should be aligned with the actual present-day needs given the warfare in Ukraine and the security situation in the region," said a release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rinkēvičs also expressed Latvia’s support for a proposal from the French Presidency concerning amendments to the Regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. The proposal includes new provisions under which funding from the EU’s overall budget or other sources for European political parties and European political foundations is not used to finance referenda campaigns. Instead, the right of closer cooperation with national parties would be envisaged thereby contributing to forming a European political awareness and expressing the will of EU citizens.
