Latvia’s new Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis has survived a no-confidence vote after being accused of making derogatory comments about the country’s Russian-speaking minority.
Lawmakers Tuesday voted 51 to 36 in favor of Kristovskis who took office only a week ago. The opposition called the vote after the publication of emails the foreign minister exchanged with a Latvian doctor, critical of ethnic Russians in the Baltic state.
Kristovskis rejected allegations that he agreed with discriminatory remarks.
He became foreign minister in the center-right government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis last week.
The Russian-speaking minority make up more than a quarter of Latvia’s 2.2 million population.
Russian-speaking settlers came to Latvia and other Baltic states during the Soviet communist era, which ended in 1991.
They frequently complain of discrimination.
Some information in this story was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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