The energy crisis caused by Russia is fostering a more cautious attitude towards moving away from so-called fossil fuels.

On the afternoon of 28 October – just a few days before the first sitting of the new, 14th Saeima on 1 November – the current and prospective head of the next government was quite sharp in his public statements: the political party alliance 'United List' (AS) remains opposed to the creation of a Ministry of Environment and Energy, and, furthermore, if an agreement on its creation 'cannot be reached, this coalition and the next government could not be formed'.

I suspect that for part of the public, attaching such great importance to the creation (or non-creation) of a single ministry may be baffling. The formation of the coalition did not 'stumble' over the question of (not) including 'The Progressives' in the next government, and now it will 'stumble' over the issue of one ministry?

It seems to me that it is necessary to outline a broader context here. Traditionally in Latvia, the executive branch has one 'super-ministry' – the Ministry of Finance. Meanwhile, energy issues have supposedly been the responsibility of the Ministry of Economics, with other ministries and structures (such as the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development) also having their say. And, metaphorically speaking, until 24 February 2022, a somewhat careless attitude towards energy did not cause anyone major headaches – there were predictable natural gas supplies, there were certain commitments in the field of so-called green energy, some scandals and minor controversies related to procurement and the management of state assets, yet on the whole, everything was within domestic 'norms'. Now it is clear that energy policy is – and for the foreseeable future will remain – almost as important as controlling the Ministry of Finance.