Indirect presidential elections were held in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

on 3 June 2015.

Raimonds Vējonis Raimonds Vējonis (born 15 June 1966) is a Latvian politician who served as the 9th President of Latvia from 2015 to 2019 and the president of the Latvian Basketball Association since 2020. He is a member of the Latvian Green Party, part of the ...

of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

was elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and took office on 8 July. According to the

European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Fre ...

, he is the first of their members to become a head of state of a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

member state.

Election

Incumbent Andris Bērziņš announced in April 2015 that he would not seek a second term. The ruling coalition failed to agree on a joint candidate, with the

Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers ( lv, Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is p ...

nominating

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

(who also had the support of most of

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 ...

's MPs), while the National Alliance nominated

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

judge

Egils Levits Egils Levits (born 30 June 1955) is a Latvian politician, lawyer, political scientist and jurist who has served as the tenth president of Latvia since 8 July 2019. He was a member of the European Court of Justice from 2004 to 2019. During the la ...

(who also had the support of Unity's

Lolita Čigāne Lolita Čigāne is currently an international consultant with a unique experience in politics, elections, election campaign financing, law-making, electoral campaigns, anti-corruption, civil society participation and EU law and integration. She ...

and

For Latvia from the Heart Awakening for Latvia ( lv, Atmoda Latvijai) is a conservative political party in Latvia. It was founded as For Latvia from the Heart ( lv, No sirds Latvijai) in May 2014 by former State Auditor Inguna Sudraba. History The party was established ...

Ringolds Balodis Ringolds Balodis (born 1966) is a Latvian politician and member of the twelfth Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional represent ...

). Two opposition parties also nominated candidates – the

Latvian Association of Regions The Latvian Association of Regions or Latvian Regional Alliance ( lv, Latvijas Reģionu apvienība, LRA) is a centrist political party in Latvia. It was founded as an alliance on 13 March 2014 and is headed by former Unity MP Edvards Smiltēns ...

nominated its MP

Mārtiņš Bondars Mārtiņš Bondars (born 31 December 1971) is a Latvian financier and politician. He has been member of the Latvian parliament since 2014. Bondars previously served as chief of staff to then President of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga and chairma ...

and the

Social Democratic Party "Harmony" The Social Democratic Party "Harmony" ( lv, Sociāldemokrātiskā partija "Saskaņa"; russian: Социал-демократическая партия «Согласие», Sotsial-demokraticheskaya partiya «Soglasiye», S),The party officially ...

nominated its MP

Sergejs Dolgopolovs Sergey Leonidovich Dolgopolov (russian: Серге́й Леонидович Долгополов, lv, Sergejs Dolgopolovs; born 1941) is a Latvian Russian politician. He is a member of Harmony, former deputy mayor of Riga (2001–2005) and ...

. In the first round of votes in 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 ...

, no one was elected. In the second round,

received the fewest votes and was eliminated, and in the third round,

was eliminated. In the fourth round, the only candidates remaining were

and

. Levits got 26 votes for, Vējonis got 46 votes for. In the final round, Vējonis was elected with 55 votes for and 42 votes against (99 lawmakers voted in total, but one vote was invalid).

Reactions

Vējonis stated that "I would like to improve relations with Russia... but while Russian rockets and heavy weapons remain in Ukraine, that's not really possible". He promised increasing national security while promoting environmentalism. Prime Minister

Laimdota Straujuma Laimdota Straujuma (born 24 February 1951) is a Latvian economist who was the Prime Minister of Latvia, Prime Minister of Latvia from January 2014 to February 2016. Before her tenure as Prime Minister, she served as Minister of Agriculture from 20 ...

of Unity announced that she was pleased with the result.

References

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2015 elections in Europe

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

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