Latvia’s centrists are predicted to win national vote

By JARI TANNER
Associated Press

HELSINKI (AP) — Latvia has held general election that has been influenced by neighboring Russia’s attack on Ukraine. An exit poll shows the center-right New Unity party of Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins emerging as the top vote-getter, capturing 22.5% support. Karins currently leads a four-party minority coalition. The poll also predicted that a new centrist party that favors green development — United List — would be second with 11.5% and the opposition Greens and Farmers Union would come in third with 10.9%. Support for parties catering to the country’s ethnic-Russian minority, who make up over 25% of Latvia’s 1.9 million people, is expected to be mixed. One Moscow-friendly party saw its popularity plummet after it opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.