Latvia’s regional development remains uneven after four years

Regional development in Latvia has been uneven and difficult to measure over the past four years, LSM reported. Political promises were largely general and impossible to assess, while an evaluation of the country’s territorial reform has still not been completed.

The assessment can be based on two benchmarks: promises made by politicians about what they would achieve for the regions and the goals of the territorial reform carried out more than a year before the previous parliamentary elections.

The reform was supposed to be evaluated more than three months ago, but that work has not been completed. Even without the evaluation, the available data indicate that the promised balanced development of the regions has not been achieved.

Political responsibility for regional development since the 2022 elections has been shared by two political alliances. The United List led the responsible ministry for less than a year, from the formation of the government in December 2022 until then-Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš of New Unity resigned in late summer 2023.

New Unity then led the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, later renamed the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development, for almost three years. The United List has also overseen municipalities during the current parliamentary term and has done so since Andris Kulbergs’ Cabinet began its work in the spring.

Neither alliance made particularly specific promises on regional development four years ago. The United List’s election programme referred to “balanced development throughout the country” and pledged to restore dialogue between municipalities and the government, while applying the principle of balanced development to Riga and the regions.

According to LSM’s summary, municipalities are still waiting for the ministry’s evaluation of the territorial reform. An economist who helped develop the reform has said that the political market has not encouraged the country to gain its maximum benefits. More recent political promises are more specific, but do not explain where the funding would come from.