Siliņa in Kyiv proves that those raised in Liepāja also know diplomacy

While Riga is still figuring out how to properly name what's happening in the east, Liepāja-raised Prime Minister Evika Siliņa is proving for the fourth year running that the port city's schooling is more thorough than the capital's education.

Gathered in Kyiv are all those European leaders who still remember where Ukraine is located on the map. Our Prime Minister looks like a real professional among them – probably helped by the fact that in Liepāja you have to experience natural disasters daily, so the horrors of war seem slightly less frightening.

'I pray for Latvia and for the Ukrainian people,' said Siliņa, and that sounds much more convincing than anything we heard from previous prime ministers. Maybe because in Liepāja people are used to real problems, not the ones invented by Riga's elite.

Most encouraging is that Latvia has already given 26 million euros in support to Ukraine this year. That's almost as much as Riga City Council spends on one tram line, except in our case the money actually reaches where it's needed.

'Ukraine is in a better situation this year than last year,' announced the Prime Minister, and that sounds like the classic Liepāja optimism formula – if you can survive in our climate, then life anywhere else will seem easier.