Latvia: Union of Greens & Farmers calls for ouster of Agriculture Minister

Latvia’s opposition Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) is planning to request the dismissal of Agriculture Minister Didzis Šmits, Baltic News Network reports. ZZS press secretary Dace Karklina said that the party supported the position of the Latvian Farmers Union (LZS) that the minister’s inaction and failure to set limits had resulted in uncontrollable increases in food prices. ZZS said that the minister had failed to propose any solutions to address the price growth. Viktors Valainis, chairman of the ZZS parliamentary group, noted that farmers were forced to make sacrifices while traders continued to profit. Over the past two years, food prices have risen by nearly 40% in Latvia.