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The Union of Greens and Farmers ( lv, Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība, ZZS) is an agrarian
political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...
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 ...
. It is made up of the
Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It i ...
,
Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party ) , colours = Maroon Green , headquarters = Riga, Lāčplēša iela 60, LV-1011 , seats1_title = Saeima , seats1 = , seats2_title = European Parliament , seats2 = , website lsdsp.lv, membership_year = 2017 , membership = 633 The Latv ...
, and
For Latvia and Ventspils For Latvia and Ventspils ( lv, Latvijai un Ventspilij, LuV) is a regionalist political party in Latvia that mainly operates as a localist party in Ventspils. It is mostly known for its chairman, Aivars Lembergs, who has been mayor of Ventspils ...
. It is positioned in the
centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
or
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
on the political spectrum. It is orientated towards
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
,
Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
, and
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
policies, and can be considered a centrist
Nordic agrarian The Nordic agrarian parties, also referred to as Nordic Centre parties, Scandinavian agrarian parties or Agrarian Liberal parties are Agrarianism, agrarian political parties that belong to a political tradition particular to the Nordic countries. Po ...
alliance, with
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and
anti-liberal Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for co ...
elements. While the alliance's formal leader is
Edgars Tavars Edgars may refer to: * Edgars, New Jersey, United States * Edgars, Ontario, Canada * The Edgar Awards for mystery fiction * Edgars (department store), a department store chain in South Africa owned by Edcon Limited * Edgar Department Stores, a def ...
, its leading figure and chief financial supporter is the oligarch
Aivars Lembergs Aivars Lembergs (born September 26, 1953) is a Latvian politician, oligarch, and convicted money launderer who was the mayor of Ventspils from 1988 to 2021, a mandate from which he has been suspended since 2008. In February 2021, Lembergs was f ...
. The ZZS has had the world's first prime minister,
Indulis Emsis Indulis Emsis (born 2 January 1952) is a Latvian biologist and politician. He was Prime Minister of Latvia for ten months in 2004, the first Green party, Green politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was Speaker of the Saeim ...
(
Prime Minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia ( lv, ministru prezidents) 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 obta ...
in 2004), and first head of state,
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 ...
(
President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Valsts prezidents ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of office is four years. Before 1999, it w ...
2015–19), to be affiliated with a green party.


History

The alliance was established to contest the 2002 parliamentary election by the
Latvian Green Party The Latvian Green Party ( lv, Latvijas Zaļā partija, LZP) is a green political party in Latvia. It was founded in 1990. It was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019. It is positioned in the centre and lean ...
(LZP) and
Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It i ...
(LZS). It ran on an ideologically amorphous agenda and won 12 out of 100 seats in the parliament. In March 2004,
Indulis Emsis Indulis Emsis (born 2 January 1952) is a Latvian biologist and politician. He was Prime Minister of Latvia for ten months in 2004, the first Green party, Green politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was Speaker of the Saeim ...
from the LZP became the
Prime Minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia ( lv, ministru prezidents) 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 obta ...
until December of that year. On a European level, the LZP cooperated with 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 ...
while the LZS has no formal affiliation. Before the
2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...
, ZZS announced that if its representative was elected, he or she would join one of two
political groups A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...
depending on which party they belonged to. The alliance continued for the 2006 parliamentary election, and won 18 seats. It became part of the governing coalition, and LZP chairman
Indulis Emsis Indulis Emsis (born 2 January 1952) is a Latvian biologist and politician. He was Prime Minister of Latvia for ten months in 2004, the first Green party, Green politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was Speaker of the Saeim ...
, who served as Prime Minister briefly in 2004, became
Speaker of the Saeima The Speaker of the Saeima ( lv, Saeimas priekšsēdētājs; literal translation, lit. "Chairperson of the Saeima") is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. If the President of Latvia resigns from offi ...
.
Aivars Lembergs Aivars Lembergs (born September 26, 1953) is a Latvian politician, oligarch, and convicted money launderer who was the mayor of Ventspils from 1988 to 2021, a mandate from which he has been suspended since 2008. In February 2021, Lembergs was f ...
was the candidate of the Union of Greens and Farmers for the position of Prime Minister in 2006, before being charged with corruption, fraud, bribery, money laundering and abuse of elected office on 20 July 2006. On 14 March 2007, Lembergs was detained by the Latvian authorities in relation to a criminal investigation. At the
2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the ZZS won 8.3% of the vote and for the first time one of Latvia's European Parliament seats. Its MEP is
Iveta Grigule Iveta is a given name. Notable people with the name include: People *Iveta Apkalna (born 1976), Latvian organist * Iveta Bartošová (1966–2014) was a Czech singer, actress and celebrity *Iveta Benešová (born 1983), Czech tennis player *Iveta ...
who initially sat with the
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD or EFD²) was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) g ...
(EFFD) group. On 16 October 2014 Grigule defected from the EFDD to sit as an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
. This move required EFDD to co-opt a member of Poland's
Congress of the New Right The Congress of the New Right ( pl, Kongres Nowej Prawicy, Nowa Prawica or just KNP) is an economically libertarian, socially conservative and Eurosceptic list of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party was founded on ...
to remain eligible for parliamentary group status. In April 2015 she joined the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...
(ALDE) group. In the 2015 presidential election, the alliance's then-leader
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 ...
became
President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Valsts prezidents ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of office is four years. Before 1999, it w ...
and subsequently resigned his leadership of the alliance. In January 2016, after the resignation of 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 ...
, Liepāja Party member
Māris Kučinskis Māris Kučinskis (born 28 November 1961) is a Latvian politician and former Prime Minister of Latvia. Early life and career Māris Kučinskis was born on 28 November 1961, in Limbaži District, Latvia, where he lived until the age of 16. Af ...
became the head of government. After the
2018 Latvian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 6 October 2018. Following the elections, a coalition government was formed by Who owns the state?, the New Conservative Party, Development/For!, the National Alliance and New Unity. Despite being fr ...
, ZZS lost ten seats and ultimately in 2019 became a part of the opposition to the Kariņš cabinet.


Split, change of members

In early 2022, the alliance started to break apart, with the Green Party announcing that it sees no way of further cooperation with For Latvia and Ventspils, still led by oligarch Aivars Lembergs, and ultimately on 11 June 2022 it voted to leave the alliance, later joined by the Liepāja Party. In July, the Greens and the Liepāja Party joined 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 ...
and a political NGO led by construction contractor
Uldis Pīlēns Uldis Pīlēns (born 2 October 1956) is a Latvian architect, businessman and politician. Biography He was born on 2 October 1956 in Liepāja. He studied at the 5th secondary school in Liepāja, in 1974 he started as a judge at the Faculty of A ...
in forming the United List alliance. The departing parties were replaced with the
Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party ) , colours = Maroon Green , headquarters = Riga, Lāčplēša iela 60, LV-1011 , seats1_title = Saeima , seats1 = , seats2_title = European Parliament , seats2 = , website lsdsp.lv, membership_year = 2017 , membership = 633 The Latv ...
(LSDSP), a rival of the 1920s and 1930s, who joined ZZS on June 1st and allowed it to retain its name. The alliance once again announced Lembergs as their prime ministerial candidate.


Ideology

The Union of Greens and Farmers is based on similar sentimental feelings shared by the voters of the two groups. Latvians are supportive of traditional small farms and perceive them as more environmentally friendly than large-scale farming: Nature is threatened by development, while small farms are threatened by large industrial-scale farms. For example, after the restoration of independence, Latvia broke down
Soviet-era The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...
collective farms Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
and returned land to its original owners (or their descendants). This perception has resulted in an alliance between green and farmer's parties, which is rare in other countries. The alliance is
Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
, although not opposed to Latvian membership of the European Union. The ZZS opposed the adoption of the euro by Latvia. The party opposes granting
non-citizens In law, an alien is any person (including an organization) who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ to some degree depending upon the continent or region. More generally, however, ...
Latvian citizenship or voting rights in local elections.


Members


Former Members


Election results


Legislative elections


European Parliament


See also

*
Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union ( lt, Lietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjunga, LVŽS)The party is also known as Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union. is a green-conservative and agrarian political party in Lithuania led by Ram ...


Notes


References


External links


Union of Greens and Farmers Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Of Greens And Farmers Political party alliances in Latvia Green political parties in Latvia Green conservative parties Agrarian parties Centrist parties in Latvia Eurosceptic parties in Latvia 2002 establishments in Latvia Political parties established in 2002 Conservative parties in Latvia