“Populists are in charge here” - Vilis Kristopans 0 11

“You have to search for another place with so many populists!” said MEP Vilis Kristopans (“Patriots of Europe”), commenting on the recent debates in the European Parliament regarding overcoming the energy crisis.

“Climate hallucinations”

– One by one, populist MEPs took to the podium and, excuse me, spouted nonsense about the green course, about wind and solar energy… They don’t even understand that alongside wind and solar, you need stabilizing capacities – because, for example, when wind turbines are not spinning in Lithuania, Latvian hydroelectric power stations are pumping electricity into Lithuania! – says Vilis Kristopans. – Populists cannot or do not want to understand that all alternative energy sources are only auxiliary means. And for Europe as a whole, and Latvia in particular, to be energy self-sufficient, it is necessary to develop, among other things, nuclear energy.

Yes, I am absolutely convinced that Latvia needs its own nuclear power plant, and if we hadn’t spent huge amounts of money on green energy or, as I say, on these climate hallucinations, on the Rail Baltica project, we would have long had the funds to start building a nuclear power plant. It is completely obvious that the more energy capacities we have, the more competitive our economy will be.

Europe is starting to change

– It is noteworthy that liberals and all sorts of leftists consider us the populists – continues Vilis Kristopans. – Absurdly, those who advocate for conservative values – for traditional families, for free entrepreneurship without unnecessary bureaucracy, for industrial development without the “interference” of the green course, are accused of populism! Although it is precisely these values that ensure the survival of the nation, the survival of our civilization! Left-wing populists, who can only take and divide, are extremely dangerous in any country, and in Latvia, unfortunately, they are also quite popular…

But gradually even the ardent supporters of the green course are beginning to understand that… something is wrong here… And already now in Germany, they are trying to adjust this green course, the deadlines for abandoning internal combustion engines are being reconsidered… Germany has already realized that such radical steps will simply destroy industry and make the EU economy uncompetitive.

Slowly, painfully, but positive changes are occurring in other areas – in particular, in migration policy. Even the most active supporters of “hospitality” cannot ignore the growing discontent of voters who see that the further influx of migrants is already threatening European civilization. And we are observing these changes – towards tightening migration policy – in the European Parliament as well.

Without false modesty, I will say that this is largely happening under our, “Patriots of Europe,” pressure! You cannot imagine how much effort and time we had to spend to achieve at least the adoption of a resolution instructing the European Commission to prepare legal procedures for the expulsion of illegal immigrants from the country! And it is already completely obvious that if a person has no legal grounds to reside in the EU, then he must leave the EU space!

The right to one’s own money

– You are probably following the domestic political situation in Latvia. In particular, the ongoing discussion about the right of residents, following the example of Lithuania and Estonia, to withdraw their savings from the second pension level. What is your opinion on this?

– Representatives of the Bank of Latvia have already included their “usual scare tactic”: they scare us by saying that if these second pension level funds are withdrawn from circulation, it will sharply reduce the volume of lending.

Let’s turn to the facts. In Lithuania, loans were issued for 32 billion, in Estonia – for 35 billion, while in Latvia, with all this second pension level, loans were issued for only 15 billion! As you can see, this argument against the withdrawal of funds from the second pension level does not hold up to scrutiny.

Moreover, we are talking about the right of residents to choose THEIR savings! We have already scared away all investors with our thoughtless reforms – for example, the “capital repair of the financial system” has led to the fact that many simply cannot open an account in Latvian banks, and as a result, this non-resident business has been very successfully intercepted by Lithuania – with its Revolut and Paysera.

“Patriots of Europe” at the level of the entire EU advocate for reducing bureaucracy in business, for entrepreneurs to want to invest funds specifically in the EU economy. Our political group has long advocated for the reform of the entire structure of executive power in the EU. Thousands of regulations and directives have so complicated and bureaucratized the decision-making process that the EU is becoming a completely unattractive entity, although the potential of the EU is enormous!

Publication financed by the political group of the European Parliament Patriots for Europe.

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