Latvia Weekly

As much of Zemgale and Latgale starts cleaning up after an unusually powerful and devastating storm, Otto and Joe discuss the impact on residents, nature, and the agriculture sector along with a few other major stories from throughout the week.

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Photo: Gatis Rozenfelds, Valsts kanceleja. Used with Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/valstskanceleja/53103238463/

"Kaimiņš" is the Latvian word of the week as Latvia's neighboring countries of Russia and Belarus continue to make life difficult for Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland with the arrival of Wagner Group militants close to the EU border. Otto breaks down the security threat and discusses a number of other important stories with Joe such as amendments to alcohol law that are moving forward, the possible distribution of Ukrainian grain through Latvia, two surprising breakouts by fugitives, more than 100 years of friendship between Latvia and the USA, and much more!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Otto and Joe celebrate 200 numbered episodes by getting back to the first topic they ever discussed on the podcast — a messy and complicated coalition building process, this time on Rīga City Council. They also discuss issues related to energy and food security, new scooter regulations, a proposal to unify high school entry requirements, the latest in the intractable conflict between the education ministry and teachers' union, and much more!

Thank you so much to all of you who have been listening throughout the last 200 episodes!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

With Otto away in Argentina, Joe looks through some transit-related stories in Latvia such as the reestablishment of daily passenger train service between Rīga and Liepāja, the seizure of drunk drivers' vehicles, delay in implementing "average speed" cameras, penalties for reckless scooter drivers, and much more!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Photo credit: Jānis Vilniņš, via Wikimedia commons. Used with a CC-BY-SA-3.0 license.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D%C4%ABze%C4%BCvilciens_pie_Gl%C5%ABdas.jpg

As tens of thousands of Latvians perform impressive songs and dances in Rīga's capital and many tens of thousands more spectators take in the experience, Otto and Joe break down the biggest happenings of the XXVII Nationwide Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival and other major stories from the previous week such as the inauguration of President Edgars Rinkēvičs, resignation of Mayof Mārtiņš Staķis, a deepening conflict between the teacher's union and the education union, and much more!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Photo credit: Gatis Rozenfelds, Valsts kanceleja, use with a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license

https://www.flickr.com/photos/valstskanceleja/53029436884/

Joe checks in with ENGtegrationForUkraine head teacher Kris Akenfelds as they prepare for a sixth round of free English courses for Ukrainian refugees in Latvia. Please help spread the word about our project, and share the donation link. Every bit helps. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped!

https://gogetfunding.com/help-ukrainian-refugees-in-latvia-continue-learning-english/

Opening music by Austra Apsīte

While much of the world was reeling from events in Russia that took place on the 23rd and 24th of June, Latvia celebrated midsummer Līgo/Jāņi festival — some more responsibly than others, unfortunately. With Otto away in Naples, Joe breaks down the biggest stories of the week here in Latvia including the latest developments in coalition talks, a failed vote of no confidence vote, more money allocated to health care, licenses finally to be required for electric scooters, more drought headaches for farmers, the upcoming Song and Dance Festival, and much more!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

As murky coalition negotiations drag on, Otto and Joe evaluate the overall situation and look at a number of other important stories such as increasing pain for the agriculture sector, a chronic lack of teachers, the return of the #11 tram, a larger footprint for Latvia in European Parliament, training Ukrainian soldiers in Latvia, and much more!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

The election of Edgars Rinkēvičš as president has led to questions about the current coalition and whether or not it will stay as is, invite in opposition parties, or be replaced with a new alliance of parties that voted for the president-elect. Otto and Joe break down this political puzzle along with other major stories such as the largest ever pride parade, heat taken by the mayor of Rīga for displaying pride flags on public buildings, a possible measure to close supermarkets on Sundays, a threat from the teacher's union to call for Minister Čakša's resignation, and more!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

"Beigas" is the word of the week as the end of the school year coincides with not just the presidential election, but the dramatic end of the IIHF Championships in which Latvia's National Men Hockey Team won their first even bronze metal. Joe discusses these stories along with a number of other important happenings from throughout the week.

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8