Bens Latkovskis / Autori

Roberts Zīle, Member of the European Parliament, answers Neatkarīgā’s questions.

Uz Neatkarīgās jautājumiem atbild Eiropas Parlamenta deputāts Roberts Zīle.

The basic question of the political philosophy of the 21st century is - is everything determined by politics, or do values also play a role? In itself, such an premise in today's civilized world is considered impolite, because it is obvious that it is the ideals of democracy and humanism that unite the European Union, NATO and other international structures whose main task is to directly maintain, preserve and develop these values.

The symbolic leader of Belarus - Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was already in Riga in September, but at that time she met only with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs. This time her visit is much more significant. She met with both President Egils Levits and Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš.

The heavy defeat of Armenia in the war against Azerbaijan is another trait of the new era. When was the last time you heard it said that a country had been severely defeated and capitulated in a war with another country? For decades, the formula “there is no military solution to this conflict, it must be solved using diplomacy” has been chanted for any transnational escalation. It turned out that this was not true. It turned out to be wishful thinking. Let us not use the euphemism - a military solution, but its exact designation - war. It turned out to be quick and efficient.

Saeima deputy from the National Alliance (Latvian: Nacionālā apvienība) Jānis Dombrava calls on Latvian politicians not to rush to show support for the newly elected US President. "The Americans are deciding who will be their president. We will wait for the official results and cooperate with the newly elected administration, defending the interests of Latvia,” the deputy wrote on Twitter.

Conversation with Jānis Ošlejs - a well-known economist, owner and manager of the company Primekss. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, he was one of those who advocated for very strict restrictions and called on the government not to pinch pennies on protective equipment (masks, respirators, disinfectants). At the time, many criticized him for sowing panic. Now Ošlejs assesses the situation much more calmly. "There was very little information available then. The main task was to save lives and prevent the spread of the infection. In such a situation, money moves to the background and you have to act quickly, without thinking about how much it will cost. Now the situation is fundamentally different. There is a huge amount of data available and decisions can be made calmly based on rational considerations.

Saruna ar pazīstamo ekonomistu, uzņēmuma “Primekss” īpašnieku un vadītāju Jāni Ošleju. Sākoties Covid-19 pandēmijai viņš bija viens no tiem, kurš aizstāvēja ļoti stingru ierobežojumu ieviešanu un aicināja valdību daudz neskaitīt naudu aizsarglīdzekļu (masku, respiratoru, dezinfekcijas šķīdumu) iegādei. Toreiz daudzi viņu kritizēja par “panikas” celšanu. Tagad Ošlejs situāciju vērtē krietni mierīgāk. “Toreiz informācijas bija maz. Galvenais uzdevums bija glābt cilvēku dzīvības un nepieļaut infekcijas izplatību. Tādā situācijā nauda atvirzās otrajā plānā un jārīkojas ātri, nedomājot, cik tas maksās. Tagad situācija ir būtiski cita. Ir milzīgs pieejamo datu apjoms, un lēmumus var pieņemt mierīgi, balstoties uz racionāliem apsvērumiem.

Tomorrow the most influential country in the world - the US - holds a presidential election. At the end of the year, various magazines evaluate the most influential people of the year in the world, although in reality they deceive themselves and their readers, because the most influential person in the world is always one - the President of the United States. Tomorrow people in the US will make a choice about who it will be - either current President Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

In accordance with current requirements, I declare: I acknowledge the existence of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, its contagion and the danger of the Covid-19 disease caused by this virus. What's more, a person very close to me is sick with Covid, so I'm well aware of the severity of the problem.

Tuesday morning's message from Belarus: “This morning, before work, 20-25 doctors from Republican Scientific and Research Center "Cardiology" joined the chain of solidarity on the side of the street. Soon enough, several minibuses drove up to the protesters, and seven doctors - heads of departments, high-class cardiac surgeons - were detained. Work in the X-ray endovascular surgery department has been blocked, which deals with emergency care for patients with myocardial infarction."

France was shaken by an extremely inhumane crime last weekend. Abdullah Anzorov, an 18-year-old refugee from Russia, killed and beheaded his school teacher Samuel Paty. The motives for this extremely heinous crime are, in any case, unacceptable and unjustifiable.

On Thursday, the EU published a list of persons subject to sanctions for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with the chemical weapon of war "Novichok" on August 20 this year. The list includes three high-ranking officials of the Russian presidential administration - Kiriyenko, Yarin and Menyailo, the director of the Federal Security Service Bortnikov and two deputy ministers of defense - Popov and Krivoruchko.

People quickly get used to everything. When you travel around India, you don't notice the inescapable garbage on the streets after a week. It is starting to seem natural. While living in Riga, you may not notice the growing permissiveness on the streets and sidewalks. Everyone drives and places their vehicle as they want, where they want, and does things as they see fit.

Admittedly, the question in the title is quite complementary to our scandalous politician. It would probably be more correct to ask - what are Gobzems' chances to hope for the title of a local version of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, but let's stick to the original question - can Gobzems become the leader of such a large part of the Latvian population to be considered as a possible head of state - Prime Minister (distant analogue to the title of US President)? All the more so because Gobzems himself emphasizes these ambitions in every possible way and tries to copy Trump in his behavior.

It has to be said - the Oslo Nobel Peace Prize Committee knows how to surprise us. This year, this prestigious award was given to the World Food Program (WFP). Quite unexpectedly, because I am ashamed to admit that I must have missed this year's special achievement of this organization. At the same time, I can only support the decision of the Nobel Committee. If only because it has made its choice by following the beloved Latvian principle, to choose the "lesser evil".

Today, everyone can watch the revolution happen in real time. Even if there are no CNN or other well-equipped television operators on site. The Telegram channels so popular in the former USSR serve this purpose. I, too, am happy to take this opportunity to watch how the revolutionary situation in Kyrgyzstan is developing at the rate of a wildfire.

In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, the current reality requires each author who writes on the topic of Covid to have an explanatory statement (a disclaimer, if you will) about his own attitude towards this problem. So, I acknowledge Covid-19 disease, the existence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, its contagion and its dangers. However, this does not mean that I automatically support every single government order to fight the pandemic.

Valmieras vārdu pēdējā laikā skandē daudzi. Gandrīz vienmēr labā nozīmē. Ja tiek runāts par Latvijas reģionālo centru veiksmes stāstiem, bet kaut kādu iemeslu dēļ negribas piesaukt Ventspili, tad visbiežāk piemin Valmieru (arī Smilteni).

Pēc Rīgas domes ārkārtas vēlēšanām ātri vien iezīmējās valdošā koalīcija, un drīz visi vienojās par galveno amatu sadali. Gluži likumsakarīgi šī koalīcija tviterlietotāju vidū ieguva gan atbalstu, gan arī kritisku vērtējumu. Viens no aktīviem kritiķiem bija Krievijas pilsonis Leonīds Ragozins, kurš Latvijā atrodas uz termiņuzturēšanās atļaujas pamata. Viņš Latvijā kļuva populārs pirms gada, kad centās sacelt troksni par Latvijas Nacionālās apvienības politiķu kontaktiem ar Ukrainas brīvprātīgo vienību bataljonu “Azov”, un viņa izteikumus vēl skaļākus padarīja (sasaistot NA ar galēji labējiem, pat fašistiskiem spēkiem) kreisās ievirzes izdevums “Re:Baltica”.

Demokrātijas ābeces pirmajā lappusē (Satversmes pirmajā pantā) rakstīts, ka valsts vara pieder tautai, un šī vara tiek īstenota caur tautas ievēlētiem pārstāvjiem. Citiem vārdiem, politiķi pirms vēlēšanām stāsta, ko viņš vai viņa pārstāvētā partija darīs, un tauta (vēlētāji) lemj, kuram no politiķiem atdot savu balsi.

Tiem, kuri sekoja notikumiem pēcvēlēšanu naktī no sestdienas uz svētdienu, kaitinoši ilgi bija jāgaida uz pirmajiem publiskotajiem rezultātiem. Tas bija mazliet nesaprotami, jo bija zināms, ka aktivitāte ir bijusi ļoti zema. Tātad arī ko skaitīt ir bijis mazāk nekā citās reizēs. Tomēr rezultāti kavējās. Tikai ap vieniem naktī parādījās pirmie rezultāti no trijiem iecirkņiem. Uz nākamajiem rezultātiem bija jāgaida vēl vesela stunda.