DEFENCE MINISTER VOTED IN AS LATVIA’S NEXT PRESIDENT

June 3, 2015
By Gederts Gelzis

The Latvian parliament chose a new president on Wednesday who is an outspoken critic of Russian actions over Ukraine and a supporter of a greater NATO presence in the Baltics.

Raimonds Vejonis, currently serving as defence minister, will begin his four-year presidential term in July. His main responsibilities will be to select a candidate for prime minister when a new government is formed and to initiate the dissolution of parliament.

Vejonis, 49, is a member of the centre-right Green Party and has been defence minister since early 2014. He said last month that safeguarding the security of Latvia, a former Soviet republic and home to a Russian-speaking minority, would be the paramount aim of his presidency.

Vejonis became minister shortly before Russia annexed Crimea and pro-Russian fighters launched a rebellion in eastern Ukraine, developments that worried many voters in tiny Latvia, which is a NATO member.