Raimonds Vējonis

Raimonds Vējonis
9th President of Latvia
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 July 2015
Prime Minister	Laimdota Straujuma Māris Kučinskis (Designate)
Preceded by	Andris Bērziņš
Minister of Defence
In office 22 January 2014 – 7 July 2015
Prime Minister	Valdis Dombrovskis Laimdota Straujuma
Preceded by	Artis Pabriks
Succeeded by	Raimonds Bergmanis
Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
In office 6 January 2011 – 25 October 2011
Prime Minister	Valdis Dombrovskis
Preceded by	Vladimirs Makarovs
Succeeded by	Edmunds Sprūdžs
Personal details
Born	(1966-06-15) 15 June 1966 Pskov Oblast, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Political party	Green Party
Alma mater	University of Latvia
Religion	Paganism

Raimonds Vējonis (born June 15, 1966) is the current President of Latvia, in office since 2015. He is a member of the Green Party, part of the Union of Greens and Farmers. He served as Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development in 2002 and in 2011 and as Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2011, while the Ministry of Regional Development was a separate department. He became Minister of Defence of Latvia in 2014 and held that office until becoming President in 2015.

Early life and career

Vējonis was born on June 15, 1966 in Pskov Oblast to a Latvian father and a Russian mother, while his father was serving in the Soviet army there. He grew up in Sarkaņi and attended school in the nearby town of Madona. Vējonis became interested in environmental protection after his grandfather was blinded by chemicals used on a Soviet collective farm. He graduated from Faculty of Biology of the University of Latvia in 1989 and obtained a Masters degree from it in 1995. During his studies he worked as a biology teacher in Madona. From 1989 to 1996 he was deputy director of Madona Regional Environmental board. He was a member of Madona city council from 1990 to 1993. From 1996 to 2002 he was director of Greater Riga Regional Environmental board, during this period he also was a board member in Skulte port and served as state representative at Getliņi Eko waste management company.

Political career

Vējonis became Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development on 7 November 2002. In 2003 when the ministry was split into two departments, Vējonis became the Minister of the Environment and remained in the office as a member of several governments until 2011, when both departments were merged back and he again became Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. He lost the office on 25 October 2011 as a new government was formed after a parliamentary election and his Union of Greens and Farmers was not included. He continued his political career as a member of parliament. In 2014 he became the Minister of Defense after his coalition entered government again. He was elected as President of Latvia on 3 June 2015. He used his victory speech to promise to ensure national security, in light of events in Ukraine, while protecting the environment.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Vladimirs Makarovs	Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development 2002–2003	Succeeded by (Minister of Environment)
Preceded by (Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development)	Minister of Environment 2003–2011	Succeeded by (Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development)
Preceded by (Minister of Environment)	Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development 2011	Succeeded by Edmunds Sprūdžs
Preceded by Artis Pabriks	Minister of Defence 2014–2015	Succeeded by Raimonds Bergmanis
Preceded by Andris Bērziņš	President of Latvia 2015–present	Incumbent