President of Latvia “Architect of Ukraine’s Support Policy”

The election of the President of the Republic of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevich, on Wednesday, May 31, the day after the statue of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was removed from Riga’s Kronvalda Park, reflects the continuity of the small country’s foreign policy. Two million people, especially for Ukraine: unconditional support for Kiev, which has become a hallmark of the Baltic states and Poland since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

The parliament elected him to a four-year term, replacing Egils Levits, Edgars Rinkevich, foreign minister since 2011, placing a long list of Russians under sanctions and strongly supporting sanctions against Belarus and Russia. “Support for Ukraine, a very firm policy in the face of Russian aggression and active participation in NATO and the European Union will remain the cornerstone of our foreign policy, which means: ‘no surprises, no changes.’ “, he said shortly after the victory. “ The Rinkevichs He was one of the main architects of Latvia’s foreign policy strategy in support of Kyiv.Karlis Bukovskys, director of the Institute of International Relations of Latvia, recalls.

“A true friend of Ukraine”

However, the campaign has taken an intriguing turn in recent weeks as the parties in the governing coalition have backed different candidates. Egils Levits first announced on April 19 that he was running for a new mandate before abruptly withdrawing on May 10, citing the observation that the coalition parties were hurt by the choice of candidate instead of agreeing. common nameConsolidation of the international community to bring the aggressor to justice.” A position that the outgoing president liked even more because he was a judge at the European Court of Human Rights and later at the Court of Justice of the European Union.

However, the campaign has taken an intriguing turn in recent weeks as the parties in the governing coalition have backed different candidates. Egils Levits first announced on April 19 that he was running for a new mandate before suddenly giving up on May 10, starting with the observation that the coalition parties had broken up over the choice of a candidate. Agreement on a common name.

“Given the de facto alliance that is currently developing between the pro-Kremlin political forces linked to the oligarchs, I have decided not to take part in the May 31 presidential elections. she said. This announcement was made on the same day that businessman Uldis Pilens, who was supposed to be the beneficiary of this alliance, officially submitted his candidacy. Thus, the Latvian media recalled his studies of architecture in East Germany and the time he spent in the early 1980s in the GRU, the intelligence services of the Soviet army, where, forbidden, he only drew maps.