The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic,whereby the prime minister is the head of government,and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament,the Saeima. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Latvia a "flawed democracy" in 2022.
Artis Pabriks is a Latvian politician. Since January 2019 he has been the Minister for Defence and Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia. From 2014 to 2018,he was a Member of the European Parliament.
Roberts Zīle is a Latvian economist and politician and Vice President of the European Parliament for the National Alliance,a free market national conservative right-wing populist political party in Latvia. In the seventh term of the European Parliament,he works in the European Conservatives and Reformists group;he is a member of European Conservatives and Reformists Group Executive and a member of the group Bureau. He was formerly vice-president of the now defunct Union for a Europe of Nations group.
Latvia has recognised civil unions since 1 July 2024. On 9 November 2023,the Saeima passed legislation establishing same-sex civil unions conferring similar rights and obligations as marriage with the exception of adoption and inheritance rights. The bill was signed into law by President Edgars Rinkēvičs in January 2024,and took effect on 1 July 2024. This followed a ruling from the Constitutional Court of Latvia on 12 November 2020 that the Latvian Constitution entitles same-sex couples to receive the same benefits and protections afforded by Latvian law to married opposite-sex couples,and gave the Saeima until 1 June 2022 to enact a law protecting same-sex couples. In December 2021,the Supreme Court ruled that should the Saeima fail to pass civil union legislation before the 1 June 2022 deadline,same-sex couples may apply to a court to have their relationship recognized. The Saeima failed to meet this deadline,and the first same-sex union was recognized by the Administrative District Court on 30 May 2022.
Canada and Latvia have long-standing foreign relations. During the 1920s,Canada helped Lithuania gain their independence with their victory in the war over the Baltics in Lithuania. Canada never recognized the Soviet Union's annexation of Latvia and re-recognized Latvia's independence on August 26,1991.
Unity is a liberal-conservative political party in Latvia. It is a member of the New Unity alliance and is positioned on the centre-right on the political spectrum. Since 2017,its chairman of the Main Board has been the former Minister for Economics of Latvia,Arvils Ašeradens,who succeeded former European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
Māris Riekstiņš is a Latvian politician and diplomat and a former Foreign Minister of Latvia. He is a former Ambassador of Latvia to the Russian Federation. He currently serves as Permanent Representative of Latvia to NATO.
The National Alliance,officially the National Alliance "All for Latvia!" –"For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK",is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Latvia. A right-wing party,it has also been placed as a part of the radical right on the political spectrum.
Vaira Paegle was a Latvian politician. She was a Deputy of the Saeima and a member of the People's Party,later of the Civic Union.
The New Unity is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia. Its members are Unity and four other regional parties,and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism and liberalism.
Edgars Rinkēvičs is a Latvian public official and politician serving as the 11th and current president of Latvia since July 2023. He previously served as the minister of foreign affairs of Latvia from 2011 to 2023,and head of the Chancery of the President of Latvia as state secretary of the Ministry of Defence,as well as a deputy of the Saeima.
Rihards Kozlovskis is a Latvian politician and lawyer. He has served as the Minister of the Interior of Latvia since 2023;and previously served in the same position from 2011 to 2019. He is a member of Unity. Between 2011 and 2014 he was a member of the Reform Party
Laimdota Straujuma is a Latvian economist who was the prime minister of Latvia from January 2014 to February 2016. Before her tenure as prime minister,she served as the minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2014. She was the first woman to serve as the head of government of the country. After her resignation on 7 December 2015,she announced her intention to resume a seat in the Saeima.
Inese Lībiņa-Egnere is a Latvian politician representing the Unity party. She has served as the minister of justice since 2022. She was a member and Deputy Speaker of the 11th Saeima. She was the Deputy Speaker and the Chairperson of the National Security Committee of the 12th Saeima. In 2022,Lībiņa-Egnere was elected in the 14th Saeima.
Andrejs Mamikins is a Latvian Russian politician,journalist and a former Member of the European Parliament.
Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica is a Latvian politician. Since 2022,she has been a Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament of Latvia.
Dace Melbārde is a Latvian politician. She is a member of New Unity,having defected from the National Alliance in 2022 and was the Latvian minister of culture from 2013 to 2019. In May 2019,representing the political party National Alliance,she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament,where she joined the European Conservatives and Reformists group.
Juris Pūce is a Latvian economist,lawyer,and politician. Former Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia in the government of Krisjanis Karins and chairman of the board of the "Latvian Development" party. Pūce was elected deputy of 13th Saeima from the "Development / For!". He is former the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economics (2010–2013),a member of the Council of LMT (2009–2012),a member of the Board of the Riga Graduate School of Law (2006–2010),as well as a member of the Riga City Council (2017–2018).
Evika Siliņa is a Latvian lawyer and politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Latvia since 15 September 2023. From 2022 to 2023,she served as Minister of Welfare in the second cabinet of prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš. She is a member of the Unity political party,and the second female head of government of Latvia.
Andris Bērziņš is a Latvian philologist,public servant,and politician. He has served as a member of seven convocations of the Saeima,elected to the 14th Saeima. He represents the Latvian Farmers' Union and the Union of Greens and Farmers. Previously,he was involved with the New Party and Latvian Way,as well as the Latvian Farmers' Union. Since 1989,he has been the head of the Latvian Children's Fund.
