RIGA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins whose New Unity party won the European Parliament elections in Latvia last weekend, wants European Commission Vice President for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis to keep working in the EU executive.
Dombrovskis ran in the European Parliament elections as lead candidate on the New Unity ticket and safely secured a seat in the EU legislature. Karins considers the strong voter support for Dombrovskis a sufficient argument for his repeated nomination for a European Commission job.
"I have said this prior the elections. I am saying this now, especially after seeing the results of the elections, that Valdis Dombrovskis in my opinion is the most experienced individual who might take the highest office anyone from Latvia asprire to" in the European Commission, Prime Minister Karins told reporters on Monday.
The premier went on to argue that New Unity party's victory in the European Parliament elections was another strong reason to delegate Dombrovskis to the EU Commission.
However, Latvia's center-right government coalition did not yet reach an agreement on support for Dombrovskis' nomination on Monday, as coalition partners still want to debate the issue within the parties.
Formally, choosing candidates for the European Commission is the prerogative of EU member states' premiers and the choice does not have to depend on which party wins the European Parliament election. Representatives of Latvia's coalition parties, however, have said that the choice of Latvia's next EU commissioner should be tied to the election result.
Karins' New Unity party won the European Parliament election in Latvia last Saturday, garnering 26.24 percent of the vote, which guarantees it two mandates. Dombrovskis and veteran MEP Sandra Kalniete are the two New Unity representatives elected to the new European Parliament.
