Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs dismissed Social Welfare Minister Reinis Uzulnieks after he was detained for driving under the influence of alcohol. According to police, his blood alcohol level was 3.5 per mille. The Latvian prime minister wrote about this on his X account, UNN reports.
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Kulbergs stressed that a person who gets behind the wheel while intoxicated "endangers the health and lives of other people".
On the part of the minister, this was an irresponsible and categorically unacceptable act. Therefore, Uzulnieks’s dismissal from office is the only right decision
According to information available to Latvian Television (LTV), he was detained by police the previous day — he was driving under the influence of alcohol, with a blood alcohol level of 3.5 per mille.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics also condemned the incident.
It is especially unacceptable and shameful when such actions are committed by government officials — ministers, members of parliament, or law enforcement officers. Such behavior deserves severe punishment, since no one is above the law, and this is a signal to the entire society