Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis (born 19 February 1962) is a Latvian politician. He is a member of the centre-right Unity party. Kristovskis has served in Latvian cabinets, as the Minister for the Interior from 3 August 1993 to 28 October 1994, when he resigned), and the Minister of the Defense from 26 November 1998 to 9 March 2004. He was elected 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 ...

in four subsequent elections since 1993, being a member of

Latvian Way Latvian Way () was a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in Latvia, political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvia's First Party to form the Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (LPP/LC) in 2007. It described it ...

party in 1993–1998 of

For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (, abbreviated to TB/LNNK) was a free-market, national conservative political party in Latvia. In 2011, it dissolved and merged into the National Alliance (Latvia), National Alliance. The party was founded from sm ...

party in 1998–2008. At the 2004 European election he was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) representing

, but lost his mandate in the 2009 elections. Subsequently, he was elected to the

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 ...

City Council where he was the leader of the opposition. In 2008 he founded the centre right Civic Union party which became a founding member of the Unity coalition which won the largest mandate the 2010 Saeima elections. On 3 November 2010 Kristovskis became the

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in the new Cabinet. In November, a scandal erupted in Latvia concerning the minister's correspondence with a doctor, who had expressed views perceived as

Russophobic Anti-Russian sentiment or Russophobia is the dislike or fear of Russia, Russian people, or Russian culture. The opposite of Russophobia is Russophilia. Historically, Russophobia has included state-sponsored and grassroots mistreatment and dis ...

. Kristovskis survived the vote of non-confidence held on 9 November (36 deputies representing the opposition parties of the pro-Russian Harmony Center coalition and the right-wing For a Good Latvia voted for the proposal, with 51 deputies from the governing coalition voting against). Between 3 November 2010 and 25 October 2011 he served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia. Kristovskis lost his seat in the Saeima as a result of 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 ...

. He is a signatory of the

Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism was a declaration which was initiated by the Czech government and signed on 3 June 2008 by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, among them former ...

, and co-sponsored the European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristovskis, Girts Valdis 1962 births Living people People from Ventspils Latvian Way politicians For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK politicians Civic Union (Latvia) politicians New Unity politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Latvia Ministers of the interior of Latvia Ministers of defence of Latvia Deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia Deputies of the 5th Saeima Deputies of the 6th Saeima Deputies of the 7th Saeima Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 10th Saeima For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK MEPs MEPs for Latvia 2004–2009 Riga Technical University alumni University of Latvia alumni Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class