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.

Early life and education

Rinkēvičs was born in Jūrmala, where he completed high school in 1991. Upon graduating from high school, he started a bachelor's degree at the University of Latvia's Faculty of History and Philosophy, which he acquired in 1995. During the same time, in 1994 and 1995 he studied Political Science and International Relations at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, for which he received a certificate in 1995. In 1997, he obtained his master's degree in political science, followed by a second master's degree from the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, of the National Defense University in the United States, obtained in 2000.

Career

In 1993 and 1994, Rinkēvičs worked as a journalist reporting on foreign policy and international relations at Latvian Radio, while still studying. In 1995, he took the job as senior referent in the Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence, a role he held until March 1996, when he became acting leader of the Policy Department, a role he occupied until September the same year, when he was made acting Deputy Secretary of State for Defence. In May 1997, he became acting Secretary of State for Defence, before becoming the main Secretary of State for Defence in August 1997, a role he possessed until October 2008. In May 2014, Rinkēvičs joined the Unity party.

Rinkēvičs with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 7 March 2022

Following the resignation of the Dombrovskis cabinet in 2014, he continued his ministerial roles in Laimdota Straujuma's first cabinet. In 2014 he stood in the parliamentary elections and was elected to parliament before again being confirmed to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs, this time in Straujuma's second cabinet. He also expressed deep concern over the escalation of hostilities in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately halt fighting and progress towards a peaceful resolution.

President of Latvia (2023–present) Rinkēvičs was elected president of Latvia on 31 May 2023. He took office on 8 July 2023.

On 20 November 2023, he visited Israel to express solidarity with the country during the Gaza war.

On 15 December 2023, Rinkēvičs met with Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair in the Riga Castle to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially in the areas of defence and security policy.

On 5 August 2025, Rinkēvičs welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Latvia, stating that the country does not currently plan to recognize Palestine. On 28 August, Rinkēvičs met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Palestine Varsen Aghabekian.

After the Saeima passed a bill on 30 October for Latvia to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, Rinkēvičs pledged to assess the decision by "taking into account state and legal, rather than ideological or political considerations". He subsequently requested a second review of the law by the Saeima, citing unresolved legal, procedural, and international concerns: namely, that the withdrawal lacked proper preparatory work, reflected insufficient cooperation between the legislature and executive, and that ratifying and then denouncing the Convention within a single Saeima term sends a contradictory message that could undermine Latvia's credibility and commitments to human rights within the European Union and Council of Europe.

Rinkēvičs has described the U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran as an understandable response to decades of Iranian actions. While expressing a preference for diplomacy, Rinkēvičs stipulated that diplomatic engagement is only viable if Iran abandons its military nuclear program.

Personal life

On 6 November 2014, he publicly announced on his Twitter profile that he is gay, making him the first lawmaker in Latvia to announce his homosexuality. Upon election as the president of Latvia in 2023, Rinkēvičs became the first openly gay head of state in an EU country and the first ever openly gay president of any state.

Views

On LGBTQ+ issues

Rinkēvičs has said that despite some progress, LGBT people still face serious rights violations in many countries, and expressed support for global efforts to decriminalize LGBT, stressing that it is about universal human rights, not imposing Western values. Citing cases like Chechnya, he warned of worsening persecution and torture of LGBT people and called on the international community to use all available diplomatic and bilateral tools to strengthen civil society, protect human rights, and eliminate all forms of discrimination. In an interview with Latvian news portal Delfi, Latvian drag queen and LGBTQ+ activist Rojs Rodžers stated that he wanted that Rinkēvičs be "a little braver" on LGBTQ+ rights issues and that he was "more on side being disappointed" that Rinkēvičs has not participated in Pride events.

In January 2025, Rinkēvičs stated in interview with Channel 4 News that in his opinion the discussions around trans rights, at some point, "went probably too far to one extreme" and expressed hope that "it’s not going to go too far to the other extreme".

Honours National

Foreign Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Lion (10 March 2026) Knight of the Order of the Elephant (28 October 2025) Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (1 July 2026) First Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (10 April 2019) Second Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (2 April 2009) Third Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (5 December 2005) Commander First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland (9 October 2013) Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose (16 September 2025) Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (22 February 2019) Grand cross of the Order of the Redeemer (2 July 2024) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (14 January 2019) Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (27 June 2005) Grand Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown (2023) Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (11 June 2018) Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (18 March 2015) Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2005) Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (18 February 2025) First Class of the Order of Merit (29 August 2022) Recipient of the NATO Meritorious Service Medal (10 January 2007)