Evika Siliņa (; born 3 August 1975) is a Latvian lawyer and politician who has been serving as the

prime minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia () is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obtain the support of a p ...

since 15 September 2023. From 2022 to 2023, she served as in the second cabinet of prime minister

Krišjānis Kariņš Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš (; born 13 December 1964) is a Latvian American politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 2019 until 2023. A linguist and businessman by profession, he previously served as Latvia's minister of Economic ...

. She is a member of the

Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...

political party, and the second female head of government of Latvia.

Early life

Siliņa was born 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 ...

on 3 August 1975. She studied at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

from 1993 to 1997, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in law and at the Riga Graduate School of Law for a master's degree in social sciences, international law, and European law. From 2003 to 2012, Siliņa worked as a lawyer specializing in international and domestic business law. Her clients included firms in telecommunications and IT as well as government bodies.

Political career

In the

2011 Latvian parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 17 September 2011, following the country's first 2011 Latvian parliamentary dissolution referendum, parliamentary dissolution referendum held on 23 July 2011. The 2010 Latvian parliamentary el ...

, Siliņa ran as a candidate of the

Zatlers' Reform Party The Reform Party (), formerly known as Zatlers' Reform Party (, ZRP) until April 2012, was a centre-right political party in Latvia founded by former President Valdis Zatlers on 23 July 2011. It won 22 seats in the Saeima in the 2011 election. ...

in Riga, but was not elected. From 2011 to 2012, she was a legal adviser to the

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. Siliņa served as the Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Interior from January 2013 until 23 January 2019. During her tenure as the Ministry of Interior's Secretary, Silina was praised for her openness to journalists, as well as for her fight against

synthetic cannabinoids Synthetic cannabinoids, or neocannabinoids, are a class of designer drug molecules that bind to the same receptors to which cannabinoids ( THC, CBD and many others) in cannabis plants attach. These novel psychoactive substances should not be co ...

and their circulation in Latvia. She also represented the Ministry in international organizations such as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

INTERPOL The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

, and

CEPOL CEPOL, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training, is an agency of the European Union dedicated to training law enforcement officials. The institution was founded in 2000 and adopted its current legal mandate on 1 July 201 ...

. Following the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers led by Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš on 23 January 2019, she assumed the role of to the Prime Minister. Siliņa ran as a

New Unity The New Unity (, JV) is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia. Its members are Unity and four other regional parties, and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism and liberalism. History Before the 2018 Latvian parliamentary ele ...

party candidate in the

2022 Latvian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 1 October 2022 to elect the Fourteenth Saeima of Latvia, following the end of the term of the Thirteenth Saeima of Latvia, 13th Saeima elected in 2018. Incumbent Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš ...

and was elected to the

14th Saeima The Fourteenth Saeima of Latvia () was elected in the 2022 Latvian parliamentary election held on 1 October 2022. Election The 100 members of the Saeima are elected by open list proportional representation from five multi-member constituen ...

. On 6 December 2022, Siliņa was appointed as the Minister of Welfare in the Krišjānis Kariņš' cabinet. The new cabinet was confirmed on 14 December. As the Minister of Welfare, increasing minimum income was one of her main objectives. On 23 February 2023, she was appointed by the Prime Minister as a member of the newly formed Thematic Committee on European Union Funds. On 4 July 2023, her Ministry brought 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 p ...

ratification of the

Istanbul Convention The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is a International human rights instruments, human rights treaty of the Council of Europe oppos ...

with some reservations and the non-support of the government partner

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

Prime Minister of Latvia (2023–present)

On 16 August 2023, after the resignation of

, the New Unity nominated Siliņa as a candidate for the post of

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. On 24 August, she was asked by President

Edgars Rinkēvičs Edgars Rinkēvičs (born 21 September 1973) is a Latvian public official and politician serving as the 11th and current president of Latvia since July 2023. He previously served as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Latvia), minister of foreign af ...

to form a government. On 29 August, United List declined to be part of a four-party coalition government following the offer by Siliņa. On 1 September, Siliņa indicated that she intended to forge a new parliamentary majority with the

Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers (, 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 positioned in the centre on the ...

(ZZS) and The Progressives (P). Twelve days later she unveiled the composition of the new government, in which New Unity (JV) had seven ministries, ZZS four and P three, with Krišjānis Kariņš recalled as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The government coalition led by Siliņa won the confidence of the parliamentary majority in the Saeima on 15 September 2023, receiving 53 votes. In her speech, the new Prime Minister emphasized the need to be more inclusive, which was interpreted as prioritizing gender equality and other progressive goals. For the Russian-speaking minority, inclusion assumes elimination of the " non-citizen" status and integration into the Latvian-based education system. The government also aims to increase the military budget and complete the construction of the barrier on the country's border with Russia and Belarus. Siliņa is the second woman to become prime minister of Latvia, following

Laimdota Straujuma Laimdota Straujuma (born 24 February 1951) is a Latvian economist who was the prime minister of Latvia from January 2014 to February 2016. Before her tenure as prime minister, she served as the minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2014. She was ...

in 2014–2016.

Personal life

Evika Siliņa is married to Aigars Siliņš, with whom she has three children. As well as her native language of Latvian, Siliņa is fluent in Russian and English.

References

External links