Latvian Foreign Minister Kristianis Karins, a potential supporter of Klaus Iohannis as NATO Secretary General, announced his resignation after the Prosecutor General’s Office in Riga opened a criminal investigation into his travel expenses, including on private jets, Latvian press reported. which is quoted by Agerpres.

Karins, whose name was put forward last year for the post of NATO secretary general, expressed interest in succeeding Jens Stoltenberg in November, but has since not nominated himself.

But he said in an interview on Politico’s Power Play podcast in January that the alliance’s next secretary-general should be a country that meets the goal of allocating 2 percent of GDP to defense spending.

Karins noted that Latvia is investing “about 2.4% of our GDP in defense this year, and we are moving to 3% in the next 3 years.”

“We’re sort of demonstrating our intentions with actions, which I think is important for any secretary general to be able to communicate with members who don’t already,” he added, referring to meeting NATO’s spending targets.

The head of Latvian diplomacy said that NATO should not rush to elect Mark Rutte

On March 14, just two days after Klaus Iohannis formally announced his candidacy for NATO leadership, Karins suggested that member states take their time to elect Dutchman Mark Rutte after the United States, Britain, Germany and France announced on February 22 , supporting him in what appeared to be a concerted diplomatic move.

“The peculiarity of the NATO leadership position is that there is no very clear appointment procedure. We all know that now we have to reach a consensus among 32 states. What has been missing is an honest and open discussion about what we are looking for in a leader and, above all, what the task of that leader is. As we see, cumulatively,” he also noted in a comment quoted by The Guardian.

The Netherlands did not allocate 2% of GDP to military spending during any of Rutte’s 14 years in office, falling to 1.13% in 2015.

By the way, this is one of the reasons why not only Latvia, but also two other Baltic states and other allies on the eastern flank are wary of his candidacy.

Kristianis Karinsh resigns after scandal involving private flights during his premiership

Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported on Thursday that the decision was made after a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina. Karins’ resignation will take effect on April 10, the quoted station said. This date was chosen due to the fact that the parliament meeting is scheduled for April 11, when deputies will be able to approve Karinsh’s successor.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Latvia announced on March 22 that it had opened an investigation into Karinsh’s air travel on suspicion of embezzlement during his tenure as prime minister. The prosecutor decided to open criminal proceedings to find out the nature of Karins’ flights between 2019 and 2023, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The scandal erupted after the media reported that from 2021 to September 2023, 612,000 euros of public funds were spent on the Carins flights. According to local media, together with the costs covered by the European Union, the costs reached 1.36 million euros.

Latvian law requires civil servants to choose the cheapest services, including air travel. However, Karins and his delegation would have traveled at least 18 times by plane without complying with this principle, so the additional costs fell on the shoulders of Latvian and European taxpayers. At that time, Karins traveled mainly to countries where there were regular direct flights from Riga.

The investigation of the Accounting Chamber showed that the flights were booked without mandatory tenders. The current investigation is entrusted to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

“I entrust myself to the investigation and the opportunity to review the decisions made at the time by the state office” responsible for the head of government’s trips, Karinsh said in a March 22 statement.