Edvīns Šnore (born 21 March 1974, in

Saulkrasti Saulkrasti (; ) (literally ''Sun shores'' in Latvian) is a town in Saulkrasti Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the east coast of the Gulf of Riga. It is the administrative centre of Saulkrasti Municipality. Made up of a number o ...

) is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was elected to a four-year term in the Latvian

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 p ...

in 2014 and 2018.

Biography

Šnore's family comes from

Kuldīga Kuldīga () () is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in the western part of the country. It is the center of Kuldīga Municipality with a population of approximately 13,500. Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic L ...

. He went to high school in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. During the

Revolutions of 1989 The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Communist state, Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts ...

he sympathized with the Popular Front of Latvia. He first studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in Norway, and then earned his master's degree at the University of Latvia. In 2013 he completed his

Doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

on the Western European view of

Holodomor The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...

. Šnore has become known for his 2008

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' The Soviet Story''. For this film, he was awarded with the Latvian

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

in 2008, and the Estonian

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (, also the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of the Estonian state. (The Latin name ''Terra Mariana'' ...

in 2009. In 2016 Šnore released another documentary called ''The Unknown War: Baltic Resistance'' on the guerrilla war in the Baltic states.

Views

In his article "The goal: A Latvian Latvia", E. Šnore expressed his views about the Russians in Latvia, as well as the Russian language as such. According to him, "… the Russophone immigrants of the Soviet times disparage and rail at Latvia all the time, yet still do not leave it. At least, not at the rate desired by the Latvians". He also refers to Minister of Social Affairs of Latvia Alfreds Bērziņš saying "… the Russian louse, once let into a coat, is hard to get rid of" and Paul A. Goble that "…the Russian language is exactly the primary weapon of the Kremlin's hybrid war against the Baltic States". E. Šnore concludes that "… the Latvian Latvia <…> is the only way towards a prosperous, safe and united Latvia". Mr Šnore was reprimanded by the parliamentary ethics commission - with the mildest possible punishment, an oral warning. The article and the mild reaction to it have drawn criticism from two

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

bodies - the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.ACFC/OP/III(2018)001REV
para. 77

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people People from Saulkrasti Municipality National Alliance (Latvia) politicians Deputies of the 12th Saeima Deputies of the 13th Saeima Deputies of the 14th Saeima Latvian film directors Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 4th Class {{Latvia-bio-stub