The current president of Latvia: biography, photo

The current President of Latvia, Raimonds Vejonis (born June 15, 1966), has been in office since July 2015. He is a member of the Green Party, a member of the Union of Greens and Peasants. Previously, he held various ministerial posts, was a deputy of the Latvian Sejm.

A few words about the Institute of the Presidency of Latvia

It dates back to the twenties of the last century, when in November 1922 the first Sejm (parliament) was elected with overwhelming preponderance of votes "for" the first president of Latvia, Janis Cakste. All the subsequent leaders of the state were elected by the parliament, except for the authoritarian leader K. Ulmanis, the prime minister, who in the mid-thirties appointed himself also president. What kind of people are known as presidents of Latvia? The list of them with the indication of the period of being on the post is given below:

• J. Cakste (14.11.1922 - 14.03.1927).
• G. Zemgals (8.04.1927 - 9.04.1930).
• A. Kvesis (9.04.1930 - 11.04.1936).
• K. Ulmanis (11.04.1936 - August 21, 1940).
• G. Ulmanis (7.08.1993 - 17.06.1999).
• V. Vick-Freiberga (17.06.1999 - 7.08.2007).
• V. Zatlers (8.06.2007 - 7.08.2011).
• A. Berzins (8.08.2011 - 7.08.2015).
• R. Vejonis (8.08.2015 - till the present time).

Origins and childhood

Where was the current president of Latvia born? Biography R. Vejonis began in the Pskov region, where his pregnant Russian national mother came to visit his father-Latvian, while he served in the Soviet Army.

As the president himself testifies, his mother simply miscalculated in terms when she was traveling to her father, so the birth of the baby was a pleasant surprise for the parents.
He grew up in a rural area in Latvia, and attended school in a small town of Madona. Already in his childhood, Raimonds became interested in protecting the environment after his grandfather became blind as a result of chemical pesticides (weed control agents used on the collective farm where he worked).

Education and career start

The current president of Latvia graduated from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Latvia in 1989 and received his master's degree in 1995. After studying for about a year he worked as a biology teacher in Madona. In 1989, unexpectedly for myself, an appointment was appointed to the newly created department of the Environment Committee of Madona as deputy chief. Раймондсу first had to be engaged in the organization of work of committee, selection and repair of a premise, even to act as the designer of its interiors.

Soon he became a deputy of the Madona City Duma, where he worked from 1990 to 1993. From 1996 to 2002 he was the director of the Riga Regional Environmental Council, during this period he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the port of Skulte and served as a state representative in the managing company for collection and disposal of waste "Getlini Eco". Since 1990 he has been a member of the Green Party.

Decade at one ministerial post

The future president of Latvia Vejonis became the Minister of Environment and Regional Development on November 7, 2002. In 2003, when the Ministry was divided into two separate departments with the allocation of the Ministry of Regional Development, he remained Minister of the Environment and served several governments in this post until 2011, when both departments were again merged into one. Then he again headed the unified ministry.
For almost a decade at the ministerial post, Vejonis was not seen in any corruption scandal.

Member of parliament

Veyonis lost his post on October 25, 2011, when after the parliamentary elections a new government was formed, in which members of his Union of "green" and peasants were not included. He continued his political career as a member of parliament. As a member of parliament, he promoted the law banning the sale of energy drinks to young people under the age of 18. At the same time R. Vejonis did not have a devotion to discipline, he visited only 70% of the Seimas of the 11th convocation.

Minister of Defense

In 2014, he became Minister of Defense after the emergence of the coalition government of Laimdota Strauyuma. He was an active supporter of the deployment of NATO bases in Latvia, he lobbied for the deployment of American units in the country. At the same time he spoke against even the possibility of a major new war, since, in his opinion, Latvia can not survive in it.

Vejonis did not allow himself any sharp anti-Russian attacks, although he gained fame due to his promise to shoot all the "green men" if they enter the territory of Latvia. So in his country he is known as a patriot.

President of Latvia

He was elected President of Latvia on June 3, 2015. Elections took a long time, within 9 hours. At first, out of 100 deputies of the Seimas, only 35 deputies voted for his candidacy, but by the fifth voting their number increased to 55 representatives of different parties. In his inaugural address, Vejonis promised to ensure national security in the light of the events in Ukraine, while at the same time protecting the environment. What does the current president of Latvia look like? The photo below is made after electing him to this post. It is known that for a long time the Latvian authorities attracted foreign investors to their country in residential real estate. At the same time, all those who purchased a house or apartment above a certain threshold were given residence permits with which they could travel throughout the European Union. Over the past decade, many wealthy Russians have taken advantage of this proposal from the Latvian authorities.

A few years ago, the threshold of the value of real estate for obtaining residence permit was significantly increased, thereby the authorities are trying to limit immigration to the country is the Russians. A well-developed real estate community and business-related businesses are protesting against this policy. However, President Vejonis advocates maintaining the high threshold, considering it a measure aimed at the country's security.

It is obvious that he is in his place as the president of the country. An experienced politician with years of experience in the government, he avoids scandals and knows how to find an agreement. An important advantage is his commitment to family values and the lack of desire for personal enrichment. With his wife Iveta, a teacher by profession, he has been married for 29 years. They have two sons. At the same time a couple of Veyonisov live in a modest apartment. All the years of his governmental and parliamentary activities, he lived for one salary.