 In a May 2015 interview, Kariņš argued in favor of Latvia accepting its controversial quota of refugees proposed by the European Union in order to alleviate the European migrant crisis, saying that in the future Latvia would expect help from other EU countries in settling Ukrainian migrants from a potential major crisis.Upon assuming the prime ministership, Aleksejs Loskutovs took his seat in European Parliament.On 23 April 2018, Kariņš was announced as New Unity's candidate for the Latvian premiership for the 2018 election.