Latvia's new foreign minister to face immediate confidence vote

Latvia's newly-appointed Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis is to face an extraordinary confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday - less than a week after getting the job, DPA reports.

Opposition parties called for the motion after the leak of a year-old email exchange in which Kristovskis appears to give support to anti-Russian statements made by Latvian-born US citizen Aivars Slucis.

Slucis, who is a doctor, admitted he would have difficulty treating Russian and Latvian patients equally. Around one third of Latvia's population is ethnically Russian.

In a statement released Friday, Kristovskis said the leaked email gave a misleading picture of his views and accused media outlets of "improper ethics" in the way they had reported the email exchange.

"I have never made judgements about people based on their nationality. I respect and believe in tolerance towards all ethnicities," Kristovskis said.

Speaking in Tallinn on a visit to Estonia, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said he supported Kristovskis and suspected opposition parties were behind a coordinated attempt to oust him.

Dombrovskis' two-party coalition was only confirmed in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday. It controls 55 out of 100 seats, but in order to win the vote, Kristovskis will need to count on support from the junior partner in the coalition.