Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis Explained

Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis
Office:Minister of Foreign Affairs
Term Start:3 November 2010
Term End:25 October 2011
Primeminister:Valdis Dombrovskis
Predecessor:Aivis Ronis
Successor:Edgars Rinkēvičs
Office2:Member of the European Parliament
for Latvia
Term Start2:2004
Term End2:2009
Office3:Minister of Defence
Term Start3:1998
Term End3:2004
Predecessor3:Tālavs Jundzis
Successor3:Atis Slakteris
Office4:Minister of the Interior of Latvia
Term Start4:1993
Term End4:1994
Predecessor4:Ziedonis Chevers
Successor4:Jānis Ādamsons
Birth Date:19 February 1962
Birth Place:Ventspils, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality:Latvian
Occupation:Politician

Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis (born 19 February 1962) is a Latvian politician. He is a member of the centre-right Unity party.

Kristovskis served in several previous Latvian governments as the Minister for the Interior from 3 August 1993 to 28 October 1994, when he resigned), and the Minister of the Defense from 26 November 1998 to 9 March 2004. He was elected to the Saeima in four subsequent elections since 1993,[1] being a member of Latvian Way party in 1993–1998 and a member of For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK party in 1998–2008. At the 2004 European election he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK, but lost his mandate in the 2009 elections. Subsequently, he was elected to the Riga City Council where he was the leader of the opposition.

In 2008 he founded the centre right Civic Union party which became a founding member of the Unity coalition which won the largest mandate the 2010 Saeima elections. On 3 November 2010 Kristovskis became the Foreign Minister in the new Cabinet. In November, a scandal erupted in Latvia concerning the minister's correspondence with a doctor, who had expressed views perceived as Russophobic. Kristovskis survived the vote of non-confidence held on 9 November (36 deputies representing the opposition parties of the pro-Russian Harmony Center coalition and the right-wing For a Good Latvia voted for the proposal, with 51 deputies from the governing coalition voting against).[2] Between 3 November 2010 and 25 October 2011 he served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia. Kristovskis lost his seat in the Saeima as a result of the 2011 Latvian parliamentary election.

He is a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism,[3] and co-sponsored the European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis; 8.Saeimas deputāts . https://archive.today/20070629205309/http://www.saeima.lv/deputati/girts_kristovskis.htm . dead . 2007-06-29 . Saeima.lv . Latvian . 2010-04-02.
  2. Web site: Mixnews.lv . Mixnews.lv . 2013-02-27.
  3. Web site: Prague Declaration: Selected signatories . . 2011-05-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110825012931/http://praguedeclaration.org/vipsig . 2011-08-25 .
  4. Web site: Joint motion for a resolution: European Parliament resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism . 30 March 2009 . . 2011-05-10 .