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 a 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.
Riga City Council is the government of the city of Riga,the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall at the Town Hall Square (Rātslaukums) in the very heart of Riga.
Latvijas Televīzija is the state-owned public service television broadcaster in Latvia. LTV operates two channels,LTV1 in Latvian and LTV7 in Latvian with selected programming in Russian.
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 a Latvian American politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 2019 until 2023. A linguist and businessman 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 former Minister for Health of Latvia from January 2021 to December 2022. 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 served as the tenth president of Latvia from 2019 to 2023. He was a member of the European Court of Justice from 2004 to 2019.
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.
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 was a part of the 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.
Crime in Latvia is relatively low,by global standards,especially compared to previous years,when it was named the "crime capital of Europe" by Forbes in 2008. The homicide rate in Latvia was 4.9 per 100,000 people in 2020,a sharp drop from 10 cases per 100,000 people in 2000,and has been steadily decreasing. Although Latvia'a homicide rate is high by European Union standards,it is below the world average of 6.2 per 100.000. The United States Department of State has assessed Latvia's security rating as "medium",with a moderate crime rate. In recent times,crime has been increasing,particularly due to many Latvians stranded because of the COVID-19 pandemic returning to Latvia and choosing to commit crime. According to Interpol,Latvia is considered an attractive place for regional and organized criminals involved in drug trafficking,arms trafficking,human trafficking,or smuggling. According to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia,a third of all women in Latvia have suffered some form of sexual violence or rape,while men are subjected to violence outside the family.
