Member of European Parliament
What position did Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš take from Jul 2009 to Jun 2014?
Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš ( born 13 December 1964 ) is an American-born Latvian politician , linguist , and businessperson who has served as Minister of Economics , a Member of the European Parliament , and is currently the Prime Minister of Latvia . Born in Wilmington , Delaware , United States , to parents who had left Latvia during the Soviet occupation , he was active in the American Latvian community throughout his youth . After completing a bachelors degree and PhD in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania , Kariņš moved to Latvia in 1997 and founded a frozen food business . He helped found the New Era Party in 2002 , which in 2011 merged with others to form the Unity Party ( renamed New Unity in 2018 ) . After serving as a deputy in Latvias parliament ( the Saeima ) , as Minister of Economics , and also as a Member of the European Parliament throughout the 2000s and 2010s , Kariņš was selected by New Unity to be its prime ministerial candidate in the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election . In the event , New Unity was the smallest party elected to the 13th Saeima . Following months of contentious negotiations in which leaders of the larger parties were unable to form a coalition , Kariņš was nominated by President Raimonds Vējonis in January 2019 as a compromise candidate to form a government . He took office on 23 January 2019 , and survived a 58–33 vote of no confidence on 11 April 2019 . Early life . Kariņš was born in Wilmington , Delaware , United States , to a Latvian American family . His parents had fled from the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1944 and had grown up , met , and married in Sweden before migrating to the United States . His father , Uldis , was a civil engineer who founded a firm in Delaware which later acquired other companies in the Mid-Atlantic region . According to Kariņš , he and his older sister were the only two ethnic Latvian children in their elementary school . His family was active in Delawares Latvian community , regularly attending Latvian church and Sunday school , singing in Latvian choirs , and attending and later working at Latvian summer camps including Garezers in Michigan . Throughout his youth , Kariņš played guitar and drums with his Latvian friends in a band that traveled throughout the United States and played at events such as weddings . He also took part in demonstrations in Washington , D.C. , against the Soviet occupation . Kariņš first visited Latvia in 1984 and he spent summers there until moving to the country full-time in 1997 . Education and business career . After graduating from high school , Kariņš studied at the Münster Latvian Gymnasium in 1983 . One of his teachers was Egils Levits , who was elected President of Latvia in 2019 a few months after Kariņš would become prime minister . From 1984 to 1986 , he studied at St . Johns College in Annapolis , Maryland , before switching to a linguistics program at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated summa cum laude in 1988 . In 1990 , he received a grant from the American government to take Russian language classes in Leningrad , and in 1994 , he received another government scholarship to study pitch accents and to teach sociolinguistics courses as a guest lecturer at the University of Latvia . In 1996 , Kariņš finished a Ph.D . in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania and specialized in the field of automatic speech recognition . Soon after , he moved to Latvia , where he intended on teaching language but was denied a teaching position as an academic due to inexperience in teaching . Instead , he founded Lāču ledus , a producer and distributor of ice and frozen foods , that he led until 2002 . According to Kariņš , negative experiences working with the Latvian bureaucracy during his time in business was his original inspiration for joining Latvian politics . He was also briefly the president of an automobile and office supplies company called Formula from 1999 to 2000 . Political career . New Era Party , Saeima deputy and Minister for Economics . In the early 2000s , Einars Repše invited Kariņš to take part in the founding of the New Era Party , and Kariņš helped write the partys original platform . He was elected to the Saeima on the partys ticket in October 2002 , with New Era becoming the single largest party in parliament . While in the Saeima , he served on the education , culture , and science committee as well as on the constitutional committee . He also served as the chairman of the parliamentary faction of New Era from 2002 to 2004 . Upon the resignation of Prime Minister Einars Repše in early 2004 , Kariņš was discussed as a candidate to become the next prime minister . However , he was passed over by President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga in favor of Indulis Emsis , and again in favor of Aigars Kalvitīs after Emsiss resignation a few months later . He instead became Minister for Economics in the First Kalvītis cabinet from December 2004 to April 2006 . According to Kariņš , he had a contentious relationship with Kalvītis during his time as minister . In April 2006 , Kariņš was threatened with prosecution due to his relationship with a company that allegedly misused EU funds . Although Kariņš initially refused to resign , his entire New Era party left the government on 6 April 2006 due to an ongoing conflict with Kalvītis and his Peoples Party . Kariņš was re-elected to the Saeima on 7 October 2006 . Although New Era was tied for the second largest party in parliament with 18 seats , the party did not re-join Kalvītiss coalition and remained in opposition . In March 2007 Kariņš became one of two co-leaders of New Era together with Repše . When New Era voted to merge with the Unity party in July 2011 , Kariņš became a member of Unity . In July 2017 , he criticized five members of parliament who left Unity for the new For ! party as being primarily motivated by their re-election prospects , and indicated that he would not be leaving the party has his values had not changed . He remained a member when the party was renamed New Unity in April 2018 . Member of European Parliament . In July 2009 , Kariņš became a Member of European Parliament . He was a Member of the Committee on Industry , Research and Energy , substitute in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and was a substitute in the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect . In the Parliament he was part of the European Peoples Party , the largest political grouping the parliament . He was also a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group . Kariņš was re-elected at the 2014 European Parliament election . In a May 2015 interview , Kariņš argued in favor of Latvia accepting its controversial quota of refugees proposed by the European Union in order to alleviate the European migrant crisis , saying that in the future Latvia would expect help from other EU countries in settling Ukrainian migrants from a potential major crisis . Upon assuming the prime ministership , Aleksejs Loskutovs took his seat in European Parliament . Committee assignments . - Industry , Research and Energy - Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector - Special committee on financial crimes , tax evasion and tax avoidance 2018 candidacy for Prime Minister . On 23 April 2018 , Kariņš was announced as New Unitys candidate for the Latvian premiership for the 2018 election . He decided not to run for election to the Saeima , instead choosing to maintain his seat in the European Parliament . In announcing his candidacy , he criticized the Kučinskis government as foolish , even though five of the thirteen ministers were fellow members of New Unity . Despite polls predicting as late as July that New Unity would not receive the minimum 5% share of the vote necessary for election to the Saeima , the party was able to stage a comeback and on 6 October was elected as the smallest of seven parties with just eight seats . On 7 January 2019 , he was tasked by Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis with forming the next government , following the failures of previous nominees Jānis Bordans and Aldis Gobzems in a contentious negotiation process . In accepting the nomination , Kariņš announced that his governments priorities would include financial sector reform , education reform , anti-corruption action , and liquidation of a controversial green energy surcharge that had been abused by companies in previous years . Mayor of Ventspils Aivars Lembergs called on Kariņš , a dual citizen of both the United States and Latvia , to give up his American citizenship while the prime minister , but he refused to do so . Kariņš took office as prime minister on 23 January 2019 , leading a broad centre-right coalition of five conservative and liberal parties that includes KPV LV , New Conservative Party , Development/For! , National Alliance and New Unity . The Union of Greens and Farmers and Harmony parties went into opposition , as did independent Member of Parliament Jūlija Stepaņenko . 2019 European elections . Kariņš led his party into the 2019 European Parliament elections in Latvia . His party lost half his seats , going to 2 from 4 . Prime Minister . During his confirmation session , Kariņš promised that his government would be evolutionary , not revolutionary” , and announced a seven-point program that prioritized financial sector reform , implementing anti-corruption measures , continuing the Kučinskis governments education reforms , improving but not overhauling the health care system , eliminating the controversial green energy subsidy , reducing the number of administrative divisions , and addressing demographic issues . On 5 April 2019 , he supported Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Juris Pūces action in dismissing long-serving Mayor of Riga Nils Ušakovs from his position due to multiple violations of the law . Domestic policy . Financial sector reform . On 13 June 2019 , the Saeima approved measures that allowed Latvian institutions to implement UN sanctions more quickly , reduced the Financial and Capital Market Commission from five members to just three , and made these commissioners positions subject to appointment by parliament . Commission chairman Peters Putniņš protested that the measures would allow politicians to have greater control of what should be a non-political regulatory body . Education . Upon his confirmation , Kariņš announced that his government would continue implementing reforms that had been planned by the previous government led by Māris Kučinskis . These included the reorganization and liquidation of schools that had low numbers of students , the gradual transition to Latvian-only education in public high schools , and new competence-based curriculum standards . On 7 February 2019 , Kariņš announced that there would be no increase in 2019 to teachers salaries as promised according to a timetable agreed upon by the Latvian teachers union and the Kučinskis cabinet . This led to a picket protest on 20 March , as well as the threat of an indefinite strike later that year . In an interview on 28 February , Kariņš expressed a wish to raise teachers salaries without having to raise taxes , finding savings by liquidating and consolidating schools with low numbers of students . On 30 March , Minister for Education Inga Šuplinska claimed that money to finance the planned wage increases could be found by mid-May . In April 2019 , the Kariņš government announced a proposal for four tiers of minimum student numbers for schools based on the municipalitys size and location . According to Šuplinska , roughly half of Latvias schools would not meet the minimum requirements under the plan . On 23 April 2019 , the Constitutional Court of Latvia ruled that the planned transition to Latvian as the sole language of instruction in public schools did not violate the constitution . Health care reform . In February 2019 , the Kariņš government announced that it would abandon the two basket system of health care funding that the Kučinskis government had begun to implement , a reform which would have made full access to state-provided health care only available to people paying social contribution taxes . The government announced in April 2019 that the health care system and tax code would both be reformed in 2021 . Green energy subsidy . On 11 April 2019 , he survived a 58-33 vote of no confidence spearheaded by Saeima Deputy Aldis Gobzems for not adhering to the Saeimas demand that his government cancel the green energy subsidy by the end of March . On that day , in a phone interview with Latvian Public Radio , he committed to canceling the subsidy within a reasonable timeframe and argued that the Minister of Economics , Ralfs Nemiro , Gobzemss former party member , had already published a report proving that doing so by the end of March was a legal impossibility . Administrative territory reform . On 9 April 2019 , Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Juris Pūce announced a controversial plan for the Kariņš government to reduce the number of municipalities in Latvia from 119 to 35 , eliminating the republican city status for all cities aside from the capital of Rīga . The government attempted to block the town of Iksķile from holding a survey regarding citizens opinions about the reform , claiming that municipalities only have the legal right to hold public debates on municipal issues , but the survey continued as planned and found that 98.45% of respondents were opposed to the reforms . Foreign policy . Like his predecessors , Kariņš has stressed a commitment to a western-oriented foreign policy and has expressed caution regarding Russias foreign policy intentions . On 7 January 2019 , he announced that fellow party member Edgars Rinkēvičs , who had already at the time been Latvias longest-serving foreign minister and had worked under prime ministers Valdis Dombrovskis , Laimdota Straujuma , and Māris Kučinskis , would continue in his current role . On 8 February , he made his first foreign visit to the neighboring country of Estonia , stressing the importance of relations between the two nations . On his first official visit to Brussels on 22 February 2019 , Kariņš assured that Latvia would maintain a Euro-Atlantic course , and that Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier had his full support . He addressed European Parliament on 17 April , arguing that it was useless to fight against the rise of populism and that it was necessary to understand why people listened to the promises of populists . In a 9 May meeting with other EU leaders in Sibiu , Romania , he expressed support for the Spitzenkandidat process of electing a new European Commissioner used in 2014 that had come under fire by other leaders such as President Emmanuel Macron of France and President Dalia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania . Along with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković of Croatia , Kariņš represented the governments ruled by the center-right European Peoples Party ( EPP ) in the negotiations on new appointments to top posts in the European Union following the 2019 European elections , including the European Council , the European Commission and the European Central Bank . In January 2021 , Kariņš declared that he would not see it possible for Minsk to host the 2021 IIHF World Championship because of violent suppression of peaceful protests in Belarus . Personal life . Kariņš is married to family doctor Anda Kariņa , and has four children : Otomārs Krišjānis , Kārlis Vilhelms , Māra Aleksandra , and Anna . In March 2019 , Saeima Deputy Aldis Gobzems asked law enforcement officials to investigate a property transaction between Kariņš and Kariņa from one side and Russian citizens , who are associated with Gazprom and Government of Moscow from another , that he alleged could be related to money laundering and tax avoidance . On 18 May 2019 , state police announced that they would not be initiating criminal proceedings after finding no signs of illegal wrongdoing . Aside from Latvian and English , he speaks fluent German , French , and some Russian . During a visit to Minsk in January 2020 , Karins stated in a meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko that it is easier for him to comprehend Russian than speak , which forces him to speak to Russian speakers through a translator so as not to say anything wrong . External links . - Official website of Krišjānis Kariņš - Official website of the Prime Minister of Latvia - Official website of Member of Parliament Krišjānis Kariņš - Biography of Krišjānis Kariņš on New Unitys official website . - News archive on Latvian Public Media