The Latvian National Armed Forces,or NBS,are the armed forces of Latvia. Latvia's defense concept is based on a mobile professional rapid response force and reserve segment that can be called upon relatively fast for mobilization should the need arise. The National Armed Forces consists of Land Forces,Naval Forces,Air Force and National Guard. Its main tasks are to protect the territory of the State;participate in international military operations;and to prevent threats to national security.
Aigars Kalvītis is a Latvian businessman and a former politician who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from 2004 to 2007. Currently he is the president of Latvian Ice Hockey Federation and the Chairman of the Board of Latvian gas company Latvijas Gāze. He is the Chairman of the Council of Latvian telecommunications company Tet.
Raimonds Vējonis is a Latvian politician who served as the 9th President of Latvia from 2015 to 2019 and the president of the Latvian Basketball Association since 2020.
Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš is an American-Latvian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Latvia since 2019. A linguist and businessperson by profession,he previously served as Latvia's Minister of Economics and a Member of the European Parliament. Born in Wilmington,Delaware,United States,to parents who had left Latvia during the Soviet occupation,he was active in the American Latvian community throughout his youth.
Pasažieru vilciens is the only passenger-carrying railway company in Latvia,operating both electric and diesel trains on various lines throughout the country. It was formed in November 2001 by bringing together two separate companies,PPU "Elektrovilciens" and PPU "Dīzeļvilciens",under one name,creating the first subsidiary of Latvian Railways. As of October 2008 JSC "Pasažieru vilciens" is an independent state-owned company. As of 2017,the company employed 1,075 people.
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.
Supernova is a Latvian music entertainment show created by the Latvian broadcaster,LTV. It is currently used as the Latvian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Egils Levits is a Latvian politician,lawyer,political scientist and jurist who has served as the tenth president of Latvia since 8 July 2019. He was a member of the European Court of Justice from 2004 to 2019.
Baiba Broka is a Latvian lawyer,academic,former politician,former Minister of Justice of Latvia from the National Alliance.
For a Humane Latvia,previously known as Who Owns the State?,is a right-wing populist political party in Latvia. Since 2022,its a member of the Union for Latvia alliance together with the Heritage of the Fatherland party.
Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "That Night" written by Mārcis Vasiļevskis and Sabīne Žuga. The song was performed by the band Carousel. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organized the national final Supernova 2019 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv,Israel. 16 songs were selected to compete in the national final,which consisted of three shows:two semi-finals and a final. In the semi-finals on 26 January and 2 February 2019,four entries were selected to advance from each show. Eight songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 16 February 2019 where a public televote and a five-member jury panel selected "That Night" performed by Carousel as the winner.
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.
Development/For! was a liberal political alliance in Latvia. It was formed in 2018 and was composed of Movement For! (Par),For Latvia's Development (LA) and Izaugsme.
Aldis Gobzems is a Latvian politician and lawyer. He first rose to prominence as a lawyer who represented victims of the 2013 Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse,and was the prime ministerial candidate for the Who Owns the State? party in the 2018 Latvian parliamentary elections.
The first Krišjānis Kariņš' cabinet was the 40th government of Latvia,sworn in on 23 January 2019 after Krišjānis Kariņšwas proposed as Prime Minister by President Raimonds Vējonis and elected by the Saeima and working until 14 December 2022,when Saeima passed a motion of confidence in the Second Kariņš' cabinet.
Latvia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Still Breathing" written by Samanta Tīna and Aminata Savadogo. The song was performed by Samanta Tīna. Songwriter Aminata Savadogo represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Love Injected" where she placed sixth in the grand final of the competition. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organized the national final Supernova 2020 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam,Netherlands. Nine songs were selected to compete in the national final on 8 February 2020 where a public televote exclusively selected "Still Breathing" performed by Samanta Tīna as the winner.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Latvia on 2 March 2020,having been brought along with people returning from abroad.
Pavels Rebenoks was a Latvian sworn advocate and politician of Russian descent.
Events in the year 2021 in Latvia.
