Krišjānis Kariņš

Krišjānis Kariņš

Minister of Foreign Affairs
minsek [at] mfa.gov.lv
  • Political experience

    • Since 15 September 2023 – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia

    • 2022 – elected as Member of the 14th Saeima; concurrently with holding the post of Prime Minister, served as Member of the Saeima until the approval of a new government in December 2022

    • 23 January 2019 – 15 September 2023 – Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia

    • 2014 – 2019 Member of the European Parliament – European People’s Party Coordinator for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Substitute of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Member of the Special Committee on Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance, Head of the Latvian Delegation to the Group of the European People’s Party, Member of the Delegation for Relations with the United States, Substitute of the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect, Member of the Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector, Member of the Delegation for the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, Member of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly

    • 2018 – present Chairman of the Board of the New Unity alliance of parties

    • 2009 – 2014 Member of the European Parliament – Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Substitute of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Substitute Member of the Committee on the Economic Crisis, Head of the Latvian Delegation to the Group of the European People’s Party, Member of the Delegation for Relations with the United States, Member of the Delegation for the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees

    • 2007 – 2008 Chairman of the New Era Party

    • 2004 – 2006 Minister of Economics of the Republic of Latvia

    • 2002 – 2009 Member of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia – Chairman of the New Era parliamentary group for several years, worked for the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee, the Budget and Finance (Taxation) Committee, the Audit Committee and the European Affairs Committee

  • Business activity

    • 1994 – 2002 President and co-founder of SIA PK (Lāču ledus) Manufacturing and distribution of frozen goods

    • 1999 – 2000 President of SIA Formula – Wholesale and retail trade of automobiles and office supplies

  • Education

    • 1990 – 1996 PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, specialisation in linguistics – Worked on natural language processing

    • 1987 – 1988 B. A. from the University of Pennsylvania, specialisation in linguistics – Summa Cum Laude, Member of the Phi Beta Kappa association 

    • 1984 – 1986 St. John’s College, B.A. studies in mathematics, philosophy and literature

  • Other

    • Married, has four children

    • Fluent in Latvian, English and German, has a good command of French and Russian