Tag Archives: Study in Latvia

Latvia, a republic on the Baltic Sea, in the Baltic States, a hilly country rich in lakes and forests. The most important branch of the economy is industry (especially the construction of radio sets, telephone systems, generators, agricultural machinery and wagons). The population consists of about 62% Latvians, 26% Russians, 3% Belarusians and 2% Ukrainians. According to COUNTRYAAH, Latvia is a nation in Northern Europe, the capital city of which is Riga. The latest population of Latvia is 1,886,209. MYSTERYAROUND: Lists and descriptions of main religions and beliefs in Latvia, including religion demographics and statistics on Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.

History: The Latgaller, Selenium and Semgaller tribes, who belong to the East Baltic peoples, settled in what is now Latvia in the 9th century. They were Christianized from the 12th century and subjected to the Order of the Brothers of the Sword and from 1237 to the Teutonic Order. After years of Polish rule, the country belonged to Russia from the end of the 18th century. The republic proclaimed in 1918 was eliminated in 1934 under Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942) and replaced by an authoritarian regime. In 1940 Latvia was annexed to the Soviet Union under Soviet pressure, from whose state association it broke away in 1991. Latvia has been a member of both the European Union and NATO since 2004. The euro was introduced in 2014.

Parliamentary elections took place on October 4th, 2014, in which the pro-Russian social democratic party »Harmony« became the strongest force in parliament with 23% of the vote and 24 seats. The party “Unity”, which the RP had joined, received 21.9% of the vote and 23 seats. The third strongest party was the »Union of Greens and Peasants« with 19.5% of the votes and 21 seats, followed by the National Alliance (13.9% of the votes and 17 seats). This gave the previous coalition 61 of the 100 parliamentary seats. L. Straujuma was able to continue the government work. On June 3, 2015, the parliament elected the previous Minister of Defense, R. Vējonis (ZZS), as the new President. He took over the office on 8 July 2015. Prime Minister L. Straujuma declared her resignation on December 7, 2015 due to tensions and resistance within the governing coalition. The new head of government was M. Kučinskis on February 11, 2016. In the parliamentary election on October 6, 2018, the center-right coalition was voted out. The fragmented parliament failed to form a government for three months. On January 23, 2019, Krišjānis Kariņš (*), previously a MEP, was elected Prime Minister. His liberal-conservative party Jaunā Vienotība is the smallest of the five parties that make up the ruling coalition. The reason for the longest formation of a government in the history of Latvia was the high number of parties elected to parliament and the passive role of the president. The pro-Russian party »Harmony« was the strongest party in the parliamentary elections with 19.8% of the vote and 23 seats, but could not find a coalition partner. The parliament elected the lawyer Egils Levits on May 29th, 2019 (*)as President after Vējonis had renounced a second term.

In terms of foreign policy, after regaining its sovereignty, Latvia primarily set a course for stronger ties to the West and the repressing of Russia’s influence. In 1995, Latvia was the first of the Baltic states to apply for EU membership (accession negotiations 2000–02). After NATO had offered Latvia membership in the alliance at its Prague summit in November 2002, the EU summit on 12/13 decided. 12. 2002 in Copenhagen, the country was accepted into the Community for 2004. On April 16, 2003, Latvia and nine other states signed the EU accession treaty in Athens. In the Latvian EU referendum on September 20, 2003, 67% of those entitled to vote voted for membership. On March 29, 2004, Latvia became a member of NATO; on May 1, 2004 it joined the EU. A border treaty between Latvia and Russia, which also regulates parts of the EU’s external border, was signed on March 27, 2007 (ratified by the Latvian Parliament in May 2007 and by the Russian State Duma in September 2007). In 2008 the Latvian Parliament ratified the Lisbon Treaty. The government’s successful economic policy in the course of the European financial and economic crisis since 2008 created the basis for introducing the euro on January 1, 2014. Against the background of the conflict in Ukraine and within the framework of NATO’s strategy of a higher advance presence (“Enhanced Forward Presence”), NATO decided to station a multinational unit in Latvia in 2017 under the leadership of Canada.