Latvian lawmakers pick the country’s long-serving and popular foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, as its new head of state in a tight vote
Latvian Parliament elected the new Latvian President in the capital city Riga. / Photo: Reuters
The 100-seat Saeima legislature elected on Wednesday Edgars Rinkevics, the country's top diplomat since 2011, as president to serve for a four-year term. He received 52 votes, one vote more than required to win the race. Incumbent Egils Levits, Latvia's head of state since 2019, didn't seek reelection.
Rinkevics, 49, served — among other posts — as a state secretary with the defence ministry and worked as a journalist with Latvian Radio in the 1990s. As foreign minister, he has enjoyed high popularity among Latvians due to his hard stance toward neighbouring Russia and his unwavering support for Ukraine.
A Baltic nation of 1.9 million, Latvia borders Russia to the east, Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. Latvia has been a member of NATO and the European Union since 2004. The country is home to a sizable ethnic Russian minority, many of whom are Russian citizens .
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