Latvia: Parliamentary elections in the shadow of the war in Ukraine

Its citizens go to the polls today Latviain order to shape their parliament in the shadow of the war in Ukraine.

Favorite is the ruling party, which seems to be due to the weakening of the populists, conservatives and the social democratic party Harmony (close to the Russian-speaking minority), having lead in the polls around 13%. According to the polls, no party is expected to win an absolute majority and between 7 and 12 parties are likely to elect MPs.

Two days before the vote, President Egils Levits had called on the citizens of this Baltic country, which is a member of the EU and NATO, to take part in the vote, while warning them against pro-Kremlin parties, they are about to Russian-speaking minority and “reluctant to clearly state who is the aggressor and who is the victim when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.”

Without naming them, he also criticized populist parties in his statement, which “offer simple and usually impractical solutions to extremely complex problems, those who promise to reduce all costs and increase all benefits overnight.” , citing mainly the cost of energy.

The polling stations, which opened at 7 a.m. (local time and Greek time), are due to close at 20:00. Exit polls are expected to be released a few minutes later. One and a half million Latvians are registered in the electoral rolls and are invited to elect 100 members of parliament.