Andris Kulbergs
Prime Minister of Latvia
2 items across 2 editions · last active 19 Oct 26
Running series
Multi-edition arcs this desk appears in — the wire flash, each morning’s edition, and the forecast call on one timeline.
In the brief
No. 111 · Monday, 19 October 2026
Latvia’s prime minister calls for an EU-wide ban on tourist visas for Russians
So what? With no internal border checks inside Schengen, a Russian visa issued in Paris, Rome or Madrid is a Latvian border problem, so Riga is pushing the issue to the EU level. Expect a patchwork of national tightening at consulates rather than a bloc-wide ban, because the proposal has no visible coalition yet. The signal that would change that is a visa-issuing state publicly reversing its practice.
Single-source · Source: EU Today (19 Oct 2026)
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No. 24 · Friday, 24 July 2026
Latvia logs 111 straight days of Belarus-directed migrant pushes, accuses “Russian mob” of orchestrating pressure
So what? A sustained, four-month daily cadence — rather than periodic surges — indicates Minsk has shifted from episodic leverage to a standing instrument it can dial up or down as a bargaining chip over Latvia's Ukraine support. Expect Latvia to press Brussels for a Poland-style border infrastructure package now that the pressure has proven durable rather than a one-off spike.
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Related
Mission areas Partnerships & Engagement Illegal Immigration
Countries Latvia Russia European Union Belarus