Latvian Parliament elects foreign minister as new president

Published May 31, 2023 9:14 AM

By JARI TANNER
Associated Press

HELSINKI (AP) — Latvian lawmakers have picked the Baltic country’s long-serving and popular foreign minister as its new head of state in a tight vote. The 100-seat Saeima legislature elected Edgars Rinkevics as president to serve for a four-year term. He received 52 votes. That’s one vote more than required to win the race. He served as Latvia’s top diplomat since 2011. Egils Levits has been Latvia’s head of state since 2019. But he didn’t seek reelection. Rinkevics is the first openly gay president in the Baltic nations.

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