On Sunday afternoon, the Kremlin's fully controlled news agency RIA Novosti published a video report in which Putin instructs his "consiglieri" Shoygu and Gerasimov to prepare strategic deterrent weapons (nuclear weapons) on special combat alert. In other words, he was making a veiled threat to the whole world. This is basically an implicit admission that the Ukrainian campaign has failed. If not militarily, then certainly politically.
On the evening of the first day of the war, the "most severe" sanctions, which had already been mentioned and, one presumes, prepared in advance, were announced. Just how severe these sanctions were was shown the next morning, Friday, on the Moscow Stock Exchange, where trading resumed with a 22% rise in the indices.
The efforts to legally legitimize the Russian occupied territories in Eastern Ukraine by recognizing the statehood of the self-proclaimed Donbas "republics" have certain implications, which Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined in his address to the nation on Monday evening.
The most important question in the world right now is one: will a large-scale war in Europe (Russia's invasion of Ukraine) be avoided? This question leads to the next: will a global catastrophe be avoided? That is, a world war between the USA (NATO) and Russia?
On Thursday, the Saeima did not elect former President of the Constitutional Court Sanita Osipova as a Senator of the Supreme Court. This vote was predictable, as Osipova in her previous position mixed law with politics and ideology quite freely, thus paving the way for a political vote in the Saeima.
It is starting to seem that the coming Russia-Ukraine war will be the first in recent history to be announced in advance. Already a week ago, senior US officials, including US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, announced that the war will start on February 16. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared this date a day of national unity.
The reality of modern life is increasingly forcing us to answer the question: what to do the person you are talking with is blatantly rude and crude, and does so with a sense of self-imposed moral superiority?
The Minister of the Economy, Jānis Vitenbergs, admitted on TV24's "Dienas personība" program that "Latvia has been in a state of emergency for more than 12 months over the last two years, during which it has lost its position in the Baltic region".
Lieske de Krijger, Deputy Head of Mission of the Dutch Embassy, very tactfully tweets about Riga's problems with snow and ice clearing. You can't go out on the street without "high heels"/snow spikes attached to your shoes.
Thanks to decisive action by several Nordic countries and, above all, our immediate neighbors, some people in our stubborn Kariņš/Pavļuts government have begun to show signs of sanity. Even the Prime Minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has been forced to admit that the coalition is planning to introduce some relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions from March 1. The exact details will be decided at a government meeting on February 15.
Recently, on social networks, every educated person could enjoy his intellectual superiority over a halfwitted faith-healer (at the same time a certified and still practicing doctor with 32 years of experience in the USA) Gunta Vīlere, who in a Youtube interview with Līga Krapāne pointed out, among other things, that various probiotics, including tea fungus kombucha, help against Covid.
As of February 1, almost all Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted in Denmark. This means that Danes no longer have to wear face masks or show their Covid-19 certificates. All previous restrictions on restaurants, cafés and entertainment venues have been lifted.
The Danish government will lift restrictions imposed in the fight against the pandemic from February 1. Similar decisions have been announced by England, Spain, the Czech Republic and other countries. The Center Party, which is part of the Estonian government coalition, is actively discussing the phasing out of vaccination certificates and human sorting.
Wise people teach us: before you say something unpleasant to someone, first say something good. Before criticizing the head of government, say something good. Krišjānis Kariņš is very brave because he is not afraid to speak on air and reveal what he really thinks. It does not matter whether he reveals these thoughts consciously or unconsciously. The main thing is that he allows himself to be who he really is. On the one hand, that is to be welcomed, but on the other hand, do we really need a Prime Minister with the kind of vision that he has?
Western embassies in Kyiv are packing up their suitcases, and from the outside, it looks almost like an escape. Almost like an unmistakable signal that hostilities are no longer avoidable. But let us not be so pessimistic.
The unveiling of the monument to Latvian freedom fighter Gunārs Astra also unveiled more than one cancerous growth of our political environment. But first, a little insight into the historical background, because for obvious reasons this background is unknown to young people, but also for those who lived in those times, much has faded from memory over the years. I have a pretty good memory and I remember the events of that time well.
While political commentators are still trying to guess what "message" the JKP will come up with this time to avoid falling face down in the mud in the October 1 Saeima elections, its leader Jānis Bordāns is taking action. To the accusation that the party won't get any votes in the upcoming elections because it is as empty a shell as Parekss Banka was when it was bought for one lats by the Godmanis government, Bordāns replies with a chuckle – just you wait!
"It seems that the risk of war in the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) area is now greater than ever before in the last 30 years," Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau, who is also the current OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, said in a press conference in Vienna on Thursday after talks between Russia and the OSCE.
The key societal problem is slowly but inevitably changing. Covid is being replaced by heating bills, energy prices and, with it, the prices of all other goods and services. This time we will not talk about inflation itself and its causes (more on that another time), but about what we can expect from the government to tackle this problem. Probably nothing good. Why?
Who doesn't know the old joke about the leader who leaves three letters in his successor's desk drawer, to be opened one by one when everything goes wrong? The first one says - blame it all on me; the second one - blame it all on the weather; and finally, the third one - prepare three letters.
Talks between Russian and US delegations on "security guarantees in Europe" started on Sunday evening and continued in Geneva throughout Monday. They will continue on Wednesday in Brussels in the framework of NATO-Russia and on Thursday in Vienna in the OSCE format.
Agnese Irbe ir filoloģijas zinātņu doktore, intelektuālas ievirzes tīmekļa žurnāla “TELOS” galvenā redaktore. “TELOS” ir polemiski izglītojošs tīmekļa žurnāls, kas apvieno Latvijas konservatīvos domātājus, kuriem līdz šim nav bijis savas vietnes un savas vienojošās telpas.