Sandra Kalniete, a candidate for president.
Posted in Uncategorized on September 5th, 2006It came as no surprise. What it did, it made it official.
Latvia’s New Era party is reaching out, no doubt, to some new voters out there — officially nominated Sandra Kalniete for president next year.
Under the Latvian Constitution, the parliament elects the president.
Kalniete’s biography represents Latvian history before and after the fall of the Soviet Union.
She wrote about her family story in a book called Ar balles kurpem Sibirijas sniegos (With dancing shoes in Siberian snows).
She was born in Russia to a family deported from Latvia, following Soviet occupation. In 1988, she joined Latvian independence movement. According to Wikipedia, “After Latvia declared independence, Kalniete worked in Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as Latvia’s ambassador to the UN (from 1993 to 1997), France (from 1997 to 2000) and UNESCO (from 2000 to 2002). She became Foreign Minister of Latvia in November 2002 and served in this position until being nominated as Latvia’s EU Commissioner in 2004.”
She is a well-respected politician. However, after the government dissolved in Dec. 2004, Kalniete was not re-nominated to the post of EU Commissioner. In the long run, it’s for the best. Kalniete needs to remain in Latvia, where she would be of benefit to the Latvian people, rather than in Brussels.
She stepped away from politics after she lost the job of EU Commissioner. But most recently, she joined Jaunais Laiks party to symbolize her return to Latvian politics.
The party obviously banks on her political stature and reputation on the domestic and international arenas to gain some votes in the Oct. 7 elections.
Additions, corrections
Sept. 6, 2006 2:05: added the link to Apollo article about Kalniete’s announcement.
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