Rēzekne Municipality ( lv, Rēzeknes novads) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Latgale Latgale ( ltg, Latgola; ; ger, Lettgallen; be, Латгалія, Łathalija; pl, Łatgalia; la, Lettgallia), also known as Latgalia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region and is north of the Daugava River. While m ...

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 ...

. The municipality was formed in 2009 by

merging Merge, merging, or merger may refer to: Concepts * Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road * Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program * Merger (politics), the comb ...

Audriņi parish Audriņi Parish ( lv, Audriņu pagasts) is an administrative unit of Rēzekne Municipality, Latvia. Towns, villages and settlements of Audriņi parish * Audriņi Audriņi (also Audreņi, ) is a village and the center of Audriņi Parish, ...

, Bērzgale parish, Čornaja parish, Dricāni parish,

Feimaņi parish Feimaņi Parish ( lv, Feimaņu pagasts) is an administrative unit of Rēzekne Municipality Rēzekne Municipality ( lv, Rēzeknes novads) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Audriņi parish, Bērz ...

, Gaigalava parish, Griškāni parish, Ilzeskalns parish, Kantinieki parish, Kaunata parish, Lendži parish, Lūznava parish, Mākoņkalns parish, Malta parish, Nagļi parish, Nautrēni parish, Ozolaine parish, Ozolmuiža parish, Puša parish, Rikava parish,

Sakstagals parish Sakstagals Parish ( lv, Sakstagala pagasts) is an administrative unit of Rēzekne Municipality Rēzekne Municipality ( lv, Rēzeknes novads) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Audriņi parish, B ...

, Silmala parish, Stoļerova parish, Strūžāni parish and Vērēmi parish, town

Viļāni Viļāni () (german: Welonen, pl, Wielony) is a town in Rēzekne Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia. The railway line Riga-Moscow, and the motor highway Riga-Moscow, and the road Preiļi-Balvi cross Viļāni. The Malta River, Malta riv ...

. The population in 2020 was 24,127.

2021 reform

Within the 2021 Latvian administrative reform it was initially planned to merge Varakļāni Municipality into Rēzekne Municipality. After protests from locals, parts of which wanted to preserve the status quo or preferred joining

Madona Municipality Madona Municipality ( lv, Madonas novads) is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The administrative center is Madona. The total area of the municipality is , and the population in January 2013 was 26,953.Madona municipality Population Register Of ...

, the municipal council submitted a case to the

Constitutional Court of Latvia Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republikas Satversmes tiesa) is an independent court, which was established in 1996 on basis of amendments in law "On Judicial Power" and in the Constitution of Latvia made in 1994. ...

in June 2020. On 28 May 2021 the court declared the planned merge is unconstitutional. However, on June 31 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 ...

voted to proceed with the merge, which prompted the involvement of the President of Latvia

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 ...

to avoid triggering a constitutional crisis. Ultimately, a decision was made to postpone the decision on the future of the Varakļāni and Rēzekne municipalities until 2025. Due to this, the 2021 Latvian local elections for the new municipalities were also held in Varakļāni.

Twin towns — sister cities

Rēzekne Municipality is twinned with: *

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

, Norway *

Biržai Biržai (, known also by several #Names, alternative names) is a town in northern Lithuania. Biržai is famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle Manor house, manor, and the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer brewerie ...

, Lithuania *

Edineț Edineț (, uk, Є́динці, yi, יעדינעץ, Yedinets, pl, Jedeńcy) is a town and municipality in northern Moldova. It is the administrative center of the eponymous district. The town is located 201 km north of the national capit ...

, Moldova * Gölbaşı, Turkey *

Kupiškis Kupiškis () is a city in northeastern Lithuania. It is the capital of the Kupiškis district municipality, mainly known for its sculptures and fourth biggest water reservoir in Lithuania. Kupiškis is located on the Lėvuo and Kupa rivers. The ...

, Lithuania *

Pastavy Pastavy ( be, Паставы, lt, Pastovys, russian: Поставы, pl, Postawy) is a city in the Vitebsk Region of Belarus, an administrative center of Pastavy District. Location Pastavy is located on the river Myadelki. Postavy Air Base ...

, Belarus *

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

, Belarus *

Zgierz Zgierz is a city in central Poland, located just to the north of Łódź, and part of the metropolitan area centered on that city. As of 2021 it had a population of 54,974. Zgierz is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previousl ...

, Poland

References

Municipalities of Latvia {{Latgale-geo-stub

2021 reform

Twin towns — sister cities

See also

References