Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis (born 19 February 1962, in

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

) is a Latvian politician. He is a member of the centre-right

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

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 The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the po ...

in four subsequent elections since 1993, being a member of

Latvian Way Latvian Way ( lv, Latvijas Ceļš) was a conservative-liberal political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvia's First Party to form the Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (LPP/LC) in 2007. It described itself as "a liberal party defending peopl ...

party in 1993–1998 and a member of

For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK ( lv, Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK, abbreviated to TB/LNNK) was a free-market, national conservative political party in Latvia. In 2011, it dissolved and merged into the National Alliance. The party was founded ...

party in 1998–2008. At the 2004 European election he was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for

, but lost his mandate in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

. Subsequently, he was elected to the

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

City Council where he was the leader of the opposition. In 2008 he founded the

centre right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and merc ...

Civic Union party which became a founding member of the

coalition which won the largest mandate the 2010 Saeima elections. On 3 November 2010 Kristovskis became the

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in the new

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. In November, a scandal erupted in Latvia concerning the minister's correspondence with a doctor, who had expressed views perceived as

Russophobic Anti-Russian sentiment, commonly referred to as Russophobia, is dislike or fear of Russia, the Russians, Russian culture. or Russian policy. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as intense and often irrational hatred of Russia. It is the ...

. 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 For a Good Latvia ( lv, Par Labu Latviju!, also known as (AŠ)²) was a Latvian right-wing party alliance founded on 22 April 2010 by the People's Party, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way, the businessmen's movement For a Good Latvia and some ...

voted for the proposal, with 51 deputies from the governing coalition voting against). Between 3 November 2010 and 25 October 2011 he served as the

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Latvia is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is charged with being the architect Latvian foreign policy and carrying out diplomatic orders by the President of Latvia. The position was first cr ...

. 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 The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism was a declaration which was initiated by the Czech government and signed on 3 June 2008 by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, among them former ...

, and co-sponsored the

European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism The European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism was a resolution of the European Parliament adopted on 2 April 2009 by a vote of 533–44 with 33 abstentions, in which the European Parliament condemned ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristovskis, Girts Valdis 1962 births Living people People from Ventspils Latvian Way politicians For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK politicians Civic Union (Latvia) politicians New Unity politicians Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Ministers of the Interior of Latvia Ministers of Defence of Latvia Deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia Deputies of the 5th Saeima Deputies of the 6th Saeima Deputies of the 7th Saeima Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 10th Saeima For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK MEPs MEPs for Latvia 2004–2009 Riga Technical University alumni University of Latvia alumni Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class