On the night of May 7, residents of Latgale received emergency alerts on their mobile phones — drones have flown into Latgale again. The same alerts were received in their hotel rooms in Brussels by several mayors from Latgale. They came to the EU capital to meet with European Parliament deputies responsible for the budget. The participants from Latvia arrived for the budget negotiations after a restless and sleepless night.
Meeting After a Sleepless Night
The delegation from the Latgale planning region arrived at the European Parliament to once again explain to the deputies why Latgale needs additional support from the EU budget.
This time, the presentation began with the delegation showing what an emergency alert looks like on a mobile phone, and at the same time mentioned that schools were closed that morning in three municipalities — Balvi, Ludza, and Rēzekne.
At the table were representatives from the Ludza, Balvi, and Rēzekne municipalities, including the mayor of Ludza, Edgars Mekšs, and the former head of the Balvi municipality, Sergey Maksimov.
"Investors are afraid to invest in a region where three times a week people receive emergency alerts about potential combat drones with explosives," said Maksimov. "Europe must understand: strengthening the eastern border is not just about tanks and air defense. It is also about the economy, jobs, and technology."
"A separate risk concerns agriculture: combat drones programmed with artificial intelligence are designed to strike specific targets, and oil storage tanks look similar to grain storage silos. The Latgale farmer is facing two crises at once — a climate crisis and a security crisis," Maksimov explained.
In the European Parliament, the Latgale representatives were listened to by Social Democratic deputies responsible for the European budget in their faction. The main figure was the Portuguese Carla Tavares. She once led a municipality herself — she was the mayor of Amadora. Now in the EP, she is responsible for the new multiannual budget. And what is included in the multiannual budget will determine the support for the eastern border of Europe and, accordingly, for Latgale.
The event was organized by Latvian deputy Nils Ušakovs, along with colleagues from Poland and Lithuania, who is currently responsible for the EU budget for 2027.
Nils Ušakovs speaks in Strasbourg to journalists after the budget vote.
Practical Conversation
Given that most of those sitting at the table are either current or former heads of municipalities, the conversation quickly turned to a professional rather than a political tone. The head of the Preiļi municipality, Aldis Adamovičs, emphasized that, on the one hand, municipalities in Latgale need more support for entrepreneurship, healthcare, and infrastructure. But at the same time, it is impossible to demand the same co-financing from the municipalities of Eastern Latvia as in other regions. Because if the part that Latgale residents have to pay themselves in EU projects is not reduced, they will not be able to fully benefit from greater support if it becomes available.
The head of the Latgale planning region administration, Iveta Malina-Tabūne, emphasized that new cross-border cooperation programs with Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland are especially needed right now. This is to compensate for the fact that there are no longer programs with Russia and Belarus.
The border area is not only about Latgale. The eastern part of Vidzeme also borders Russia and faces the same problems. "Greater support is needed for both the municipalities in Latgale and the Alūksne region," Adamovičs explained.
"The issues of border regions in Europe are being heard. The most important next step is to ensure that this understanding translates into concrete decisions and funding," summarized the mayor of Ludza, Edgars Mekšs, practically.
The Border Area Now — A Budget Priority
A week before the meeting with the mayors, the European Parliament adopted the principles of the EU budget for 2027 with 389 votes. All pro-European factions voted for them. The main rapporteur is Nils Ušakovs. This is the first time a representative from the Baltic region has been responsible for the EU budget.
And for the first time, three priorities directly affecting Latgale and Vidzeme have been included in the EU budget.
The first priority is the need to create special support for border municipalities. At the plenary session in Strasbourg, Ušakovs formulated this position as follows: "Firstly — our border municipalities along the eastern border in the Baltic states, in Poland, in Finland, and beyond. Solidarity must be territorial, not rhetorical."
The second priority is the need for fair treatment of farmers in the states on the eastern border. Because our farmers still receive support that is 20% less than in Western Europe. "Farmers in countries bordering Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus face disproportionate pressure. Fair distribution of direct payments under the Common Agricultural Policy is not a request for privilege. It is a demand for justice," Ušakovs said at the plenary session.
The third priority is the need to finance the strengthening of the eastern border from the general EU budget. Latvia's border with Russia or Belarus is the external border of the European Union. The fight against the same drones should be funded from the general EU budget, not just from the pockets of Latvian taxpayers.
"The priorities require adequate financial support for member states with external EU borders, including funds for strengthening critical infrastructure and supporting necessary border protection measures where justified. Security without the ability of regions to survive is fragile. The ability of regions to survive without budget support is an empty promise," Ušakovs emphasized at the plenary session.
A delegation from Latvia with European Parliament deputies from the Socialist and Democratic faction responsible for the EU budget.
"Security threats are no longer theoretical. They are real," Ušakovs emphasized at a press conference in Strasbourg immediately after the budget vote. "My mandate from Latvia directly obliges me to represent my region and my voters. But at the same time, the stability and development of the entire European Union directly depend on the stability of the eastern border. And this is not just about security and borders. It is about the people who work and live there. And I know very well what real life looks like in one of those border regions — in Latgale."
Ušakovs also spoke about drones at the press conference immediately after the budget vote: "Business in the border area is closing. Unemployment is rising. Military drones regularly fall on our heads." Journalists may have perceived this as an exaggeration at the time. But the following week, two drones fell again in Latgale, both on an oil storage facility in Rēzekne.
There Isn’t Much Money
The principles of the budget are a political framework. There are no figures in them yet; that is the next stage.
The figures will be voted on in the fall, in November. But it is the political framework that determines what the final version of the budget will look like.
During the crisis caused by the COVID pandemic, the EU took out large loans to support the economy. Now the loans need to be repaid. In 2027, interest payments on these loans will sharply increase — to about 10 billion euros. And a new crisis is already looming.
Therefore, another point has been included in the list of budget principles — an assessment of the feasibility of European budget expenditures.
Senegal and Common Sense
In Europe, there are many examples where unnecessary expenses could be eliminated. Ušakovs cites as an illustration a specific project that is currently being reported in the European press. The European Union plans to spend 320 million euros on developing public transport in Senegal — funded by the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, and French and German development agencies. The tender, it seems, will go to a Chinese state company. European companies are losing out.
"We need to learn from China. How they operate. Making money on European funds in Africa," Ušakovs notes with a certain bitterness.
320 million euros is comparable to the annual support for border regions in some Eastern European countries. It turns out that Europe finds money for transport development in Senegal while struggling to find funds for border regions within the EU itself.
Production. Nokia as a Lesson
"Overall, the main problem in Europe is not even a lack of money, but the loss of its own production," Ušakovs says. "Spending 320 million euros on developing Chinese production in Africa is somewhat beyond common sense."
Once — about twenty years ago — one of the best phones in the world was the Finnish Nokia. Today, it is practically impossible to find a person in Europe who uses a smartphone produced in Europe. Everyone has smartphones — Korean, Chinese, or American, but produced in Asia. Computers — too. Household appliances — mostly as well. And not only.
Latvia experienced the closure of its own production in the 90s. RAF, VEF, sugar factories. A long list. Back then, they said: the market will sort everything out, and we will live like in Switzerland. It didn’t quite work out.
Now we see the same thing happening in Western Europe. In Germany, car production is closing down. Corporations are laying off thousands of workers in the steel industry. Residents of Latvia could tell Western Europeans what such a situation leads to — what happens to salaries, pensions, benefits, and the entire social system when a country no longer has its own production.
"Europe needs not only a revision of budget expenditures. But in general, common sense needs to be restored in Europe. And it should start with the revival of production," believes Nils Ušakovs.
Prepared with the support of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.
About MEP Nils Ušakovs and direct contact with him: www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/meps/usakovs-nils
Working in His Profession
- Nils Ušakovs, 22 years old. Master's student at the South Danish University in Denmark, majoring in economics and European integration. It was then that he first entered the European Parliament. 2026.
Nils Ušakovs, 49 years old. Member of the European Parliament, member of the budget committee. "It so happens that I am working in my profession for the first time in my life in the European Parliament," says Ušakovs.
Leave a comment