Varakļāni Municipality () was a

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

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging

Varakļāni Varakļāni (; , , , ) is a town in the Latgale historical region of Latvia. The population in 2020 was 1,740. History The town of Varakļāni was founded and established in the Russian Empire in the 18th century. Varakļāni Palace is locate ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

, Murmastiene Parish and Varakļāni Parish of the former

Madona district Madona district () was an administrative division of Latvia from 1949 to 2009. it was located in the Vidzeme and Latgale regions in the country's east. Within the district is the highest point in Latvia - Gaiziņkalns. The district also bordere ...

. The administrative centre was Varakļāni. It was merged into

Madona Municipality Madona Municipality () 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 these, economically ...

in 2005. Parts of Teiči Nature Reserve are located in the Municipality. The population in 2020 was 2,990.

Merge with

Within the 2021 Latvian administrative reform it was initially planned to merge Varakļāni Municipality into

Rēzekne Municipality Rēzekne Municipality () is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Audriņi parish, Bērzgale parish, Čornaja parish, Dricāni parish, Feimaņi parish, Gaigalava parish, Griškāni par ...

. After protests from locals, parts of whom wanted to either preserve the status quo or preferred joining

, the municipal council submitted a case to the

Constitutional Court of Latvia Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia (, also the Satversme Court) is an independent court, which was established in 1996 on basis of amendments in law "On Judicial Power" and in the Constitution of Latvia (Satversme) made in 1994. It ...

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

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 served as the tenth president of Latvia from 2019 to 2023. He was a List of members of the European Court of Justice, member of the European Cour ...

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. In June 2024, ultimately, the Saeima approved the merge of Varakļāni Municipality to

, valid from the first day of the

2025 Latvian municipal elections Municipal elections were held across Latvia on 7 June 2025. The elections were held in 42 municipalities. On 1 June 2021, the Constitutional Court of Latvia ruled that the annexation of Varakļāni Municipality to Rēzekne Municipality was uncon ...

. File:Varakļānu novads 2021.png, Map of the municipality, 2021 File:Varakļāni palace.jpg, Varakļāni Palace File:Teiču purvs - panoramio - jurcuks.jpg, Teiči Nature Reserve File:Murmastienes krucifiksa namiņš 2002-09-14 - panoramio.jpg, Crucifix hut in Murmastiene File:Stirnienes Sv. Laurencija katoļu baznīca, 17.08.2014.jpg, Stirniene

Saint Laurentius Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, persecution of the Christians that the Roman Empire, Rom ...

Catholic Church, Varakļāni Parish File:Stacija Varakļāni - panoramio.jpg, Varakļāni Station

References

Municipalities of Latvia {{Latgale-geo-stub

Merge with

See also

References