Saeima Speaker Mieriņa's Controversial Trump Flattery Letter

"Ir" points out that Mieriņa signed up to a letter initiated by the heads of the Israeli and US parliaments to the Nobel Committee, calling for the Peace Prize to be awarded to Trump – despite the fact that it has already been awarded months ago to Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado Parisca. Although Mieriņa initially claimed that the signature was just a "test" and that the issue still needed to be discussed with Latvian foreign policy makers, she later confirmed that the signed letter had already been sent to Israel. The decision to sign the letter was reportedly not coordinated with the Prime Minister, and was certainly not subject to a Saeima vote of any kind. Mieriņa admitted that Foreign Minister Baiba Braže was also critical of her unilateral decision, the publication notes, which reportedly says that the letter praised Trump as a "champion of peace" despite his recent military action in Venezuela, frequent criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his stated desire to annex Greenland – ignoring its status as part of the Kingdom of Denmark – as well as throwaway comments about taking over Canada. Mieriņa's position is a powerful one. As well as speaking on behalf of the Saeima, she is technically acting President when President Edgars Rinkēvičs is out of the country or indisposed, so it seems remarkable that regardless of her personal sentiments, she would add her name to an international document without carefully checking that it was appropriate to do so. According to "Ir" she said signing the letter was her "personal decision" because the invitation was addressed to her. The LETA agency already reported that Trump, in a recent letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gaard Støre, expressed resentment over not receiving the Peace Prize, despite the fact that it is not awarded by the Norwegian government but by the entirely independent Nobel Foundation. This however appears to be no bar to President Trump's astonishingly childish sense of resentment.