Ivars Ijabs (born 17 November 1972) is a Latvian

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He is a lecturer and professor at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

and holds a PhD in political science. In May 2019, representing political alliance

Development/For! Development/For! ( Latvian: ''Attīstībai/Par!,'' AP!) is a liberal political alliance in Latvia. It was formed in 2018 and it is made up of Movement For!, For Latvia's Development and Izaugsme. The coalition itself has embraced a centrist pos ...

, 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 ...

. He then joined Renew Europe Group.

Early life and career

Ijabs was born in Riga, where he also spent most of his childhood and teenage years. In 1996 he graduated from the

Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music ( lv, Jāzepa Vītola Latvijas Mūzikas akadēmija), formerly the Riga Conservatory, is a higher education establishment of music at 1 Barona Street, Riga, Latvia. The junior institute is the Emīls Dār ...

and obtained his first bachelor's degree in arts. He played French horn in the ''Rīga'' orchestra and the

Liepāja Symphony Orchestra Liepāja Symphony Orchestra (LSO) ( lv, Liepājas Simfoniskais orķestris) is the oldest orchestra in the Baltic States. It was started in 1881, when the first Philharmonic in the Baltics was established. After the World War II orchestra re-com ...

. In 1997 he enrolled in the Faculty of History and Philosophy at the

where he in 2001 obtained his bachelor's and in 2003 his master's degrees in Philosophy. Since then he has been teaching at the university. In 2007 Ijabs obtained a doctoral degree from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Latvia and became an associate professor at the university. His dissertation topic was ‘Civil society discourse in modern political theory and its elements in the history of Latvian political ideas’ (Pilsoniskās sabiedrības diskurss modernajā politikas teorijā un tā elementi Latvijas politisko ideju vēsturē). During his studies, Ijabs also spent time studying abroad. He was a philosophy and political science student at

Reykjavík University Reykjavík University (RU; is, Háskólinn í Reykjavík) is the largest private university in Iceland with approximately 3,300 students (October 2020). It is chartered by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, and the ...

, the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...

University of Bremen The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

and a Fulbright fellow at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. In addition, his academic experience is backed with a series of intensive courses in the fields of legislation, governance and integration. He is an author of several research articles and books. He has been a leading researcher in multiple scientific projects.

Member of the European Parliament

Ijabs is a full member of the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its areas of responsibility relate to industry, especially technology-intensive manufacturing, information technology, and telecommunications. It also ...

and the Delegation for relations with the United States. He is a substitute member of the

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of th ...

, the

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

, the Delegation for relations with the countries of the Andean Community, the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. In 2020, he also joined the Special Committee on Beating Cancer. In addition to his committee assignments, Ijabs is part of the parliament's delegations for relations with the countries of the Andean Community, with the countries of Southeast Asia and the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

(ASEAN) and to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. He is a member of the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology of the European Parliament (formally

Science and Technology Options Assessment The 'Panel for the Future of Science and Technology'' (STOA) is a committee of members of the European Parliament devoted to all issues related to science and technology assessment. Role STOA is an official organ of the European Parliament, resp ...

), the European Parliament Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Union ...

. Since Juris Pūce's resignation as chairman of For Latvia's Development and co-chair of the

alliance in November 2020, Ijabs has been serving as acting chairman of For Latvia's Development, as well as acting co-chair of Development/For!.

Other activities

From 2014 to 2019 Ijabs was chairman of the Board of the Foundation for an Open Society DOTS. From 2009 to 2013 he was chairman of the Board of the Latvian Association of Political Scientists. Since 2018 he is a Corresponding member of the Latvian Academy of Science."Attīstībai Par!, Ivars Ijabs"
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Personal life

Ijabs is married to violinist Terēze Zīberte-Ijaba. The couple has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ijabs, Ivars 1972 births Living people Politicians from Riga For Latvia's Development politicians MEPs for Latvia 2019–2024 Horn players Latvian political scientists Latvian expatriates in Germany Latvian expatriates in Iceland Latvian Academy of Music alumni University of Latvia alumni Reykjavík University alumni University of Greifswald alumni University of Bremen alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the University of Latvia