Edgars Rinkēvičs

Edgars Rinkēvičs (born 21 September 1973) is a Latvian public official and politician serving as the 11th and current president of Latvia since July 2023. He previously served as the minister of foreign affairs of Latvia from 2011 to 2023, and head of the Chancery of the President of Latvia as state secretary of the Ministry of Defence, as well as a deputy of the Saeima.

Upon taking office as president, Rinkēvičs became the first openly gay head of state in a European Union country. Prior to becoming president, Rinkēvičs had represented Latvian Way, Reform Party, and the Unity party since May 2014. He left Unity after being elected president as it is customarily expected in Latvia for presidents to maintain political neutrality.

Quotes

A year ago Russia started full scale war against Ukraine, many doubted if Ukrainians would withstand. They did, their moral victory is great.
Today many ask, if Ukraine can win militarily. The answer is yes and we must send more weapons, more help.
Ruzzia delenda est
- 24 February 2023 on Twitter
- Alluding to Carthago delenda est by Cato the Elder

I fully support @EmmanuelMacron: we should not draw red lines for ourselves, we must draw red lines for Russia and we should not be afraid to enforce them. Ukraine must win, Russia must be defeated. Russia delenda est!
- March 15 2024 on Twitter

External links

Encyclopedic article on Edgars Rinkēvičs on Wikipedia