President urges balance in Immigration Law, PM Kulberg defends investment attraction
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs calls for a balanced approach in the Immigration Law between economic, security, and investment interests, while Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs emphasizes the need to continue attracting foreign investments to generate state revenue.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs has stated that the practice of issuing temporary residence permits (TRP) in exchange for investments in real estate, which has existed since 2010, has exhausted itself and a new policy and mechanism are needed. He noted that Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (AS) informed him about work on the Immigration Law in connection with the President's request for a second review. According to Rinkēvičs, both the Prime Minister's office and the responsible ministries are working on how to implement the request's requirement to assess proportionality and balance. He mentioned that the Saeima will set the deadline and procedure for the second review on Thursday, July 23.
The President expressed confidence that a balanced approach can be found, taking into account economic, investment attraction, and security interests. Presidential advisors and other officials will continue work on this issue by participating in committee meetings. Rinkēvičs said he fully relies on the possibility of achieving a proportionate solution.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs emphasized that his government's action plan includes ideas on how to distribute and redistribute budget funds, but lacks ideas on how to earn money. In his view, the question is whether we want to go from one ditch to another. Kulbergs called for choosing the modern path used by other European countries. He believes that sufficiently researched mechanisms allow attracting foreign investments, from which the state can earn annually. If investment attraction is abandoned, the necessary funds will have to be taken from other areas. The Prime Minister stressed that this is a political decision and the law must be adopted during this Saeima term, finding a balanced approach that protects both state and investment interests.
The Saeima adopted the Immigration Law on June 11, and on June 18 passed amendments to prevent Russian and Belarusian citizens from obtaining TRPs through investment programs. The President sent the law for a second review on June 19. In a letter to Saeima Speaker Daiga Mieriņa (ZZS), Rinkēvičs noted that 158 proposals were submitted for the third reading, including both technical clarifications and fundamentally new regulations regarding foreigners' rights to request TRPs after making investments. The President called on the Saeima to reconsider several aspects, especially security interests, as the legislator itself has already started amending the not-yet-in-force law to restrict the rights of Russian and Belarusian citizens. He also pointed to the possibility of strictly stipulating in the law which countries' citizens (NATO, OECD, EEA, and friendly countries) can obtain TRPs for property purchases, provided that the administrative territory, property value, and other criteria are specified, or delegating this task to the Cabinet of Ministers.
