RIGA, Jan 29 (LETA) - President Edgars Rinkevics and Smart Administration and Regional Development Minister Raimonds Cudars (New Unity) during a meeting at Riga Castle on Thursday discussed latest developments in local governments' spatial planning, as the president's advisor Martins Dregeris informed LETA.

The minister's order to partly suspend the binding regulations of the spatial plans of Bauska and Preili municipalities was also discussed.

Rinkevics and Cudars also discussed preparations made and planned for the upcoming Saeima elections in the fall of 2026, as well as latest developments at the Artificial Intelligence Center.

The meeting also touched upon management model of Latgale concert hall Gors and support for regions at Latvia's eastern borders, as well as activities of the Fund for Equalization of Local Government Finances.

As reported, Cudars has partially suspended the spatial plans of Bauska and Preili municipalities due to what he considers illegal restrictions on the production of renewable energy resources. The minister has identified significant legal and substantive shortcomings, and has therefore issued orders to suspend the implementation of the Bauska municipality spatial plan and the binding regulations of the Preili municipality spatial plan in parts that, without sufficient data, research, and legal justification, set disproportionate restrictions on the development of renewable energy resources (RES), commercial activities, and the exercise of private rights.

The ministry's assessment of the spatial plans of the two municipalities concluded that the restrictions they impose are incompatible with the RES-oriented economic specialization of the municipalities' sustainable development strategies.