Week in Review (Mar 10-16, 2025)

Canada and the World

  • Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney was sworn in on 14 March .
  • Because Carney was not elected in a general election, he is likely to call a federal election soon – hoping to consolidate his position for a longer term. He has not yet said which riding he is going to run in. This means that Canadians could expect elections in late April or early May, without Parliament resuming before then.
  • The Canadian PM wasted no time in his new job and abolished the consumer carbon tax. After taking the oath of office, on March 14, he signed an order stating that the fuel tax would be abolished as of April 1 and that the payment of the tax rebate, still due in April, would go ahead as planned.
  • On March 16 Carney embarked on his first overseas trip to visit France and the United Kingdom, with an additional stop in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The purpose of the trip is to strengthen ties with France and the United Kingdom to reaffirm Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.
  • The Canadian Prime Minister has no plans to visit the US for the time being, although he said he would speak to the US President at an appropriate time.
  • Trump’s decisions are like a roller coaster. 11. In March, the US President announces that he will double the import duty on Canadian aluminum and steel from 25% to 50%. This was his response to the decision by the Canadian province of Ontario to increase the price of electricity by 25% for 1.5 million businesses and households in the US. A day later, after a meeting between the two sides, Ontario Premier Ford backtracked on his decision, and now Trump has announced that he is backing down on his plan to raise the import duty to 50%.
  • Since Trump took power, the five richest people in the world who were present at his inauguration have lost $209 billion due to the fall in stock markets. Billionaire Elon Musk suffered the biggest loss of $145 billion.
  • The Bank of Canada cuts interest rates to 2.75% to try to offset the impact of US tariffs on the Canadian economy. The Central Bank fears that the tariffs could trigger a major economic downturn, which could be more severe than the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latvia and Europe

  • A commemorative event for Latvian Legionnaires of the Second World War is held in Riga without incident.
  • The European Commission’ s €800 billion defence plan for Europe and Ukraine has already won the support of EU Member States. It will create a new €150 billion fund from which countries can borrow to strengthen their defence.
  • Meanwhile, the US has committed to continue the Foreign Military Financing Program and the International Military Education and Training Program in the Baltic States. On 7 March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the order, and three days later the Baltic ambassadors were informed.
  • Minister of Defence Andris Sprūds (Progressives) has introduced the creation of a new branch of the Home Guard. The intent is to double the number of Home Guard troops, which currently stands at 10 000. Raimonds Graube , former commander of the National Armed Forces, has commented favourably on the idea of relaxing the requirements for joining the Home Guard in certain cases ; he believes that, for example, a cyber specialist does not need to be as physically trained as a combatant.
  • One country that has increased its defence spending particularly rapidly in recent years, earning praise from Trump, is Latvia’s regional neighbour Poland. The need for Poland to invest in defence is driven not only by the war in Ukraine, but also by the amount of equipment needed for war.
  • Around 4000 Russian citizens in Latvia will have to take anational language test to become permanent residents of the European Unionwhen their temporary residence permits expire at the end of the year. The authorities are already preparing for a busy year. At present, applications for status are slow in coming.
  • The State Security Service has initiated criminal proceedings against four persons for the purchase and supply of portable satellite systems to the Russian army in Ukraine.

The War in Ukraine

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky appoints a delegation for peace talks. Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, is appointed head of the delegation. The delegation also includes Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and Deputy Head of the President’s Office Pavel Palisa.
  • On March 13, a US delegation arrived in Moscow to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine. Washington has previously offered a 30-day ceasefire, to which Ukraine has already agreed.
  • A joint US-Ukraine statement following talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said that Kyiv was ready to accept the US proposal to immediately implement a temporary 30-day ceasefire, which could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties and which could be accepted and implemented simultaneously by Russia.
  • Following talks between the US and Ukraine on March 11, military aid deliveries to Ukraine via Poland have resumed, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski confirmed on March 12. The US company Maxar Technologies has also restored Ukraine’s access to its satellite imagery.
  • The President of Ukraine announces that the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces continues in certain areas of the Kursk region. Units carry out their tasks as assigned. Thanks to Ukrainian forces, a significant number of Russian troops have been redeployed in the Kursk region from other directions. “Our troops continue to confront Russian and North Korean groups in the Kursk region. Our troops are not surrounded!” added the Ukrainian leader.
  • It is the beginning of spring in Ukraine and the active demining season has resumed to secure new mine-cleared square metres. But the suspension of US funding means that Ukraine loses deminers.
  • Ukraine is now the most mine-contaminated country in the world. Humanity has never faced such widespread pollution in other countries. For example, there has been no such mine contamination in Croatia, Bosnia, Cambodia or Colombia. That is why it is so important to solve this problem as quickly and efficiently as possible.
  • On March 15, Russian troops launched 178 Shahed strike aircraft and various types of flight simulators at Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers managed to shoot down 130 of them, while another 38 missed their targets. This was announced by the Ukrainian Air Force. Russia has also launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles.

(!) Call to action: LNAK has set up a section on its website lnak.net/support-ukraina/where you can find links to donate to Ukraine and sample letters to send to your MP (Member of Parliament). The Ukraine section of the website is available in both Latvian and English.

Jānis Lielāmers

LNAK Affairs

News sources: CBC News, www.ir.lv, www.lsm.lv