President Edgars Rinkēvičs urges the government to resolve disagreements in a spirit of mutual respect and to focus on adopting the budget for 2026, while the Saeima should responsibly and consistently evaluate the initiative to denounce the Istanbul Convention, reported LETA by the president's advisor Mārtiņš Dregeris.
He emphasized that the priorities of the state are security, defense, demographics, education, and competitiveness. According to Dregeris, the president expects responsible and balanced actions from the ruling parties in addressing these issues.
The president's advisor reported that next week, on October 8, the president will discuss the situation in the government with Prime Minister Evika Siliņa ('New Unity').
Speaking about the initiative to denounce the Istanbul Convention, Dregeris noted that in a parliamentary state, the Saeima has the right to evaluate any international treaty or convention; however, the Istanbul Convention is one of the tools for eradicating violence against women and domestic violence, so the president hopes that the responsible ministries and Saeima committees will carefully, rationally, and without emotions assess the work done in this area.
At the same time, the president believes that the ratification and denunciation of the convention within one Saeima term could send a contradictory signal to both Latvian society and the international community. Therefore, he calls on the Saeima to approach the consideration of this initiative responsibly and consistently.
As reported, on September 25, the Saeima referred the opposition's proposal to denounce the Istanbul Convention to the Foreign Affairs Committee, which would mean Latvia's withdrawal from it. Along with the opposition, deputies from the coalition's Union of Greens and Farmers also voted for this proposal, while the other coalition partners regarded it as a violation of the coalition agreement.
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