Prime Minister Kulbergs: Private Flights Were Never Needed for Official Trips
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in a video filmed on a plane that in his four months in office he has not faced a single situation requiring a private aircraft. He called the earlier use of such flights a choice and a waste of public funds.
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in a video posted on social media on 16 October, recorded aboard a plane, that a head of government does not need private charter flights for official trips. The topic remains sensitive in Latvia after the flight scandal of former prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš, which drew widespread public criticism.
The prime minister's statement
Kulbergs said that during four months as prime minister he has visited many countries and taken part in summits, conferences and working visits. He said he had deliberately considered whether there was ever a need for a private plane because of urgency or poor planning. His answer: not once, because everything can be scheduled in advance. As an example he named scheduled services, including airline airBaltic.
The prime minister added that he cannot currently imagine a situation in which a private aircraft would be necessary. In his view, the earlier use of such flights was a choice and a matter of pride, as well as a waste of public funds.
The Kariņš flights case
It emerged that special flights used for trips by Kariņš and delegations he led between 2021 and September 2023 cost the state budget 613,830 euros. Including the share covered by the European Union, the total reached about 1.36 million euros.
In March 2024 the Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case over possible waste of state funds. Kariņš announced he would step down as foreign minister, leaving the post in April of that year, and later gave up his seat in the Saeima, the Latvian parliament, and left politics.
In 2025 a charge of failing to perform official duties, with serious consequences, was brought against Jānis Citskovskis, former director of the State Chancellery, rather than against Kariņš himself. The proceedings have raised questions about officials' accountability, the proportionality of public spending and the circumstances in which private flights should be permitted at all.
