 On 9 April 2019, Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Juris Pūce announced a controversial plan for the Kariņš government to reduce the number of municipalities in Latvia from 119 to 35, eliminating the "republican city" status for all cities aside from the capital of Rīga.The government attempted to block the town of Iksķile from holding a survey regarding citizen's opinions about the reform, claiming that municipalities only have the legal right to hold public debates on municipal issues, but the survey continued as planned and found that 98.45% of respondents were opposed to the reforms.Like his predecessors, Kariņš has stressed a commitment to a western-oriented foreign policy and has expressed caution regarding Russia's foreign policy intentions.