The Latvian health minister has resigned rather than carry out budget cuts that he said would undermine the Baltic country's healthcare system. The government in Riga, the capital, said that the health minister Ivars Eglitis had resigned after he refused to carry out spending cuts. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said in the statement that Eglitis had "chosen the easiest way as it is clear that the healthcare system is facing a process of complicated, urgent and essential reforms."