According to the LETA agency, the Progressives believe that the situation surrounding Shapiro's work at the theatre does not align with the principles of Latvia's cultural policy and the official position of the country in support of Ukraine. The party is asking the Ministry of Culture, as the holder of the theatre's capital shares, to clarify what measures it intends to take to prevent similar situations in the future, as well as whether the agency has assessed the responsibility of JRT board member Gundega Palma. The party's co-chair, former Minister of Culture Agnese Lace, emphasized that the ministry should not interfere in matters of the creative content of productions. "However, it is the duty of every leader of a state cultural organization to assess potential risks, including reputational ones, especially in conditions where Russia continues its full-scale war against Ukraine and attempts to return to the international cultural arena," Lace stated. As previously reported, after Shapiro's participation in an event in Moscow, the jury of the theatrical award "Night of Actors" ("Spēlmaņu nakts") excluded the director and his production of "Don Quixote," staged at the New Riga Theatre, from the list of nominees. Jury coordinator Richard Vorobyev informed the LETA agency that the meeting to determine the nominees took place on June 16, and their list was published on June 18. At that time, the jury did not have information that a meeting with director Shapiro was scheduled and took place on June 18 at the Anton Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre. The award jury emphasized that it considers it impossible to publicly honor artists who participate in official events in Russia while the full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues. Bb.lv [reported](https://bb.lv/statja/kultura/2026/07/03/dva-mira-dva-sapiro-pocemu-rossiiskogo-rezissera-lisili-latviiskix-nominacii) that as a result, it was decided to exclude Shapiro from the nominees in the "Director of the Year" category, and the production "Don Quixote" from the "Best Large-Scale Production" category.