Foreign relations of Latvia are the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Today's Republic of Latvia regards itself as a continuation of the 1918–1940 republic. After the declaration on the restoration of its full independence on August 21, 1991, Latvia became a member of the United Nations on September 17, 1991, and is a signatory to a number of UN organizations and other international agreements. Latvia welcomes further cooperation and integration with NATO, European Union, OECD and other Western organizations. It also seeks more active participation in UN peacekeeping efforts worldwide.
Latvians are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language, culture, history and ancestry.
Latvian Air Force is the aviation branch of the National Armed Forces. The first air force (AF) units were established 1992. It has no air combat capability, thus the defense of Latvian air space is maintained by NATO, with rotating detachments of four aircraft to Lithuania at four-monthly intervals.
BA School of Business and Finance is one of the leading, self-financing business schools in Latvia. It was founded in 1992 as a Banking College under the Bank of Latvia and received accreditation in 1997
The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia is the Latvian government ministry in charge of the formation and implementation of national security and defence policy, and for the overall management and control of related subordinate agencies. The ministry is headed by the politically appointed Minister of Defence.
The Latvian National Guard or NG is a part of the Latvian National Armed Forces. The National Guard is a basic land component, consisting of volunteers who perform traditional national guard duties such as crisis response and support for military operations. It consists of the Staff Headquarters and 4 brigades, which are divided into 18 battalions. The National Guard continued its development also after Latvia joined NATO.
Belarus–Latvia relations are the foreign relations between Belarus and Latvia. Currently, Belarus has an embassy in Riga, while Latvia has an embassy in Minsk. The countries share 161 km as it relates to their common border. In May 2021 the relations were de facto terminated as both countries were expelling each other's diplomats of the corresponding embassy, Latvia was insisting to use an inaccurate opposition flag as a representation for Belarus in the Ice Hockey World Championship in Riga over the Ryanair Flight 4978 diplomatic row. Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei called Latvia's move 'an act of international vandalism' and called for an apology and return the legal green, red and white flag to its original place. The Belarusian government reacted with expelling every Latvian diplomat including the Ambassador inside the country, with Latvia following with the same response. The Zurich-based International Ice Hockey Federation sided with Belarus and asked the mayor of Riga to urgently take down the IIHF flags to protest to what the body called a political gesture.
Māra Zālīte is a Latvian writer and cultural worker.
The main religion traditionally practiced in Latvia is Christianity. As of 2019, it is the largest religion (68.84%), though only about 7% of the population attends religious services regularly.
Established in 1993, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) acts under the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia.
The Ministry of Transport is a ministry of Latvia which is responsible for implementing state policy in the fields of transport and communications. Its head office is in Riga. As of 2023, Kaspars Briškens is the minister.
Daniels Pavļuts is a Latvian politician and the current Minister for Health of Latvia since January, 2021. He was formerly the Minister for Economics of Latvia, a position he served in from 2011 until 2014. In addition to his political and business career, he is a concert pianist.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for maintaining the Republic of Latvia's external relations and the management of its international diplomatic missions. The actual Minister of Foreign Affairs is Edgars Rinkēvičs, a member of the Unity Party and former State Secretary within Latvia's Ministry of Defence.
Andris Ozols is a Latvian businessman. He was the director of Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), a government agency responsible for promoting investments and business development in Latvia. He served as the director of LIAA from October 2004 to December 2019. He also currently serves as deputy chairman of the board of the Liepāja Special Economic Zone.
This is a list of government and municipal institutions of Latvia and their subordinated institutions with executive powers:
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia, established in 1918, holds the prominent position as the primary state governing body responsible for overseeing matters related to justice. It serves as the supreme authority for subordinate public administration institutions operating within the justice sector.
The State Police of Latvia is the national police service and one of the national law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Latvia. It is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. The agency is divided into five Regional Administrations. Since the 13th of October 2020, the Chief of the State Police is Armands Ruks.
Jānis Vitenbergs is a Latvian politician, who served as the Minister of Economics of the Republic of Latvia from April 2020 until May 2021 and June 2021 until May 2022 Prior to this, he was the chairman of the Saeima national economic, rural, environmental, and regional policy committee.
The 1978 Constitution of the Latvian SSR, officially the Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic was the constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted on April 18, 1978 at the eighth session of the 9th Convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR.
