Indulis Bērziņš (born 4 December 1957) is a Latvian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia from 1999 to 2002.

Biography

He was born in the town

Madona Madona (; ) is a town with town rights in the Vidzeme region of Latvia and is the center of the Madona municipality. History The surrounding area of Madona had been populated in earlier times, which is confirmed by discoveries of old buria ...

. In 1981, Indulis Bērziņš graduated with a degree in history from

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 1981 to 1990, he was a history lecturer at the University of Latvia and

Latvian University of Agriculture The Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU; ), previously Latvia University of Agriculture (LLU; ), is a university in Jelgava, Latvia, specializing in agricultural science, forestry, food technology and related areas. Histo ...

. Bērziņš was an active member of the social political organization

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia () was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the Sąjūdis movement in Li ...

, and he was actively involved in the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia. As an elected member of the

Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republikas Augstākā Padome) was the transitional parliament of Latvia from 1990 to 1993, after the restoration of independence. The Supreme Council was elected on 1990 as the S ...

Bērziņš voted twice in favour of restoration of Latvia’s independence, on 4 May 1990 and 21 August 1991. From 1990 to 1999, he served as Member of Parliament representing Latvia’s Way political party. In his career as a Member of the Latvian Parliament (MP), Bērziņš has served in several key positions, including as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, head of the delegation to the

North Atlantic Alliance The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, and head of the delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. From 16 July 1999 to 7 November 2002, Bērziņš was Latvia’s minister of foreign affairs. This period was of significant importance to Latvia in reaching several crucial milestones in the process of accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and NATO. Bērziņš was Head of Delegation of Latvia to the EU accession. Since 2002, he has served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the Kingdom of Denmark (2002-2003), the United Kingdom (2004-2009), and the Republic of Austria (2009-2013). In this period, he has served as Latvia’s non-residing ambassador to Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland,

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Beginning in September 2015, Bērziņš served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to NATO in

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Bērziņš is Commander of the Three Stars Order of the Republic of Latvia and Grand Officer of the

Cross of Recognition The Cross of Recognition () is a state decoration of Latvia. History The decoration was established in 1710 in the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia by Duke Frederick William as a symbol of the then-established Order of Recognition (''l’Ordre ...

of the Republic of Latvia. In 1997, he was decorated as Commander of the Ordre National du Merit of France. In 2013, he received a Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.

References