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42-656: Founded in 1990, the party was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019. It is positioned in the centre-right of the political spectrum and supports socially conservative and green policies. The party is notable for producing the world's first green head of government when Indulis Emsis briefly served as Prime Minister of Latvia in 2004 and the first green head of state when Raimonds Vējonis served as President of Latvia from 2015 to 2019. In April 1989, representatives from Green movements in multiple Baltic countries sent

84-604: A just and sustainable economy, strengthening inclusive democracies, safeguarding diversity, and ensuring social justice. Green politics in Europe emerged from several grassroots political movements, including the peace movements, the ecology movement and movements for women's rights. The anti-nuclear movement in Germany first had political expression as Vereinigung Die Grünen , which formed in March 1979, and established itself as

126-801: A letter to the Paris Green Congress citing the USSR as the reason for ecological ruin in the region. One of the representatives was Arvīds Ulme , a member of the Latvian Environmental Protection Club, who would go on to form the Latvian Green Party alongside Indulis Emsis the following year. The party was registered on 13 January 1990, becoming the first official political party in Latvia four months before it officially declared its independence from

168-714: A party for the European Parliament in January 1980. Similarly, activists in Britain's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament would eventually form the Ecology Party . However, it also brought in ecological movements, which had become active across Western European nations in the 1970s. Environmental groups became especially political after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, which strengthened groups such as

210-576: A passage from the Book of Moses that could be loosely translated as: "men having gay sex must die, and their corpses must be left soaking in their own blood". Additionally, Latvijas Pirmā Partija members had several times made public statements saying that they don't feel that there is a necessity for a gay pride march in Riga , which allegedly contradicts the Freedom of Speech and Peaceful Assembly enshrined in

252-618: The 2006 parliamentary election , the party won four seats as part of the ZZS. The party remained part of the centre-right coalition government along with the People’s Party, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way , and For Fatherland and Freedom . Party chairman and former prime minister Indulis Emsis became Speaker of the Saeima from November 2006 until September 2007, when he resigned amid a criminal corruption investigation. In 2015, Raimonds Vējonis

294-661: The Constitution of Latvia . The pressure group Mozaīka (Mosaic) have mostly organized Gay Rights Rallies that some religious organizations see as overt frontal attacks on the Latvian way of life. Mozaīka have stated that they have done this to raise awareness for the rights of gays in Latvia via international media. Between annual rallies Mozaīka has done little to slowly generate improved understanding of gays in Latvia and has preferred to follow its strategy of shock tactics. ( articles 100 and 103 ). Some have alleged that quoting

336-928: The European Parliament which is formed by elected Green party members along with the European Free Alliance , European Pirate Party and Volt Europa . The European Greens' partners include its youth wing the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG), the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Global Greens family. Green parties are in government in seven countries in Europe: Austria ( The Greens ), Belgium ( Groen and Ecolo ), Bulgaria ( Green Movement ), Germany ( Alliance 90/The Greens ),

378-700: The Italian Green Party . In the Netherlands, feminists dominated GroenLinks party. Elements of all these national parties would go on to form the European Green Party. Representatives from these and other parties sat in the European Parliament after the 1984 European Parliament election . The following 11 members of this grouping, which was briefly known as the Rainbow Group , came from parties which went on to be part of

420-556: The Republic of Ireland ( Green Party ), Latvia ( The Progressives ) and Poland , ( Zieloni / Civic Coalition ) Spain ( Catalunya en Comú / Sumar ). The European Greens have committed themselves to the basic tenets of Green politics as seen across Western Europe, namely environmental responsibility , climate action, individual freedom , inclusive democracy , diversity , social justice , gender equality , global sustainable development and non-violence . The European Greens

462-730: The Soviet Union . The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia elected in 1990 contained seven Green delegates. After the Constitution of Latvia was restored, following the collapse of the Soviet Union , the election of the 5th Saeima (1993-1995) returned one Green deputy, Anna Seile , on the list of the Latvian National Independence Movement (LNNK). In the 6th Saeima (1995-1998), there were four members: Indulis Emsis , Guntis Eniņš , Jānis Kalviņš and Jānis Rāzna . From 1993 until 1998 ,

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504-464: The "father" in Latvian society. The national holiday, "Father's Day" has been proposed with the corresponding encouragements for fathers to take their paternal responsibilities seriously. Stiffer penalties for "deadbeat dads" who avoid paying child support have been enacted. The first chairman of the party, Ēriks Jēkabsons, resigned as Minister of the Interior. Later, due to various disagreements about

546-628: The Bible as a reference point for legislation can be viewed as unconstitutional, since Latvia is a secular state , where religion is separate from the state ( article 99 of the Constitution of Latvia). Supporters of the First Party denied that the "separation of church argument" can properly be used to keep people of faith silent when it comes to issues of morality or the passing or failing of laws that have strong moral dimensions. The ideas under

588-679: The EGP are the Council and the Committee. [REDACTED] Mar Garcia (from January 2015) The EGP hosts a collection of networks that have specific special interest focus, including: The table below shows the results of the Greens in each election to the European Parliament, in terms of seats and votes. It also shows how many European Commissioners the European Greens have, and who led

630-522: The EPP, opened the door to collaboration with the far right. The European Green Party is a European political party , constituted out of political parties from European countries. Parties can also become associate members. Members of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament not belonging to a member party can be admitted as a special member with speaking rights but no vote. The governing bodies of

672-494: The European Greens is working towards a just and sustainable transition towards societies "respectful of human rights and built upon the values of environmental responsibility, freedom, justice, diversity and non-violence". The charter's guiding principles provide a framework for the political actions taken by member parties. The priorities outlined in the charter include protecting human health and wellbeing, maintaining biological diversity, combatting global warming, transitioning to

714-675: The European Greens: The European Green Party itself was officially founded at the 4th Congress of the European Federation of Green Parties on 20–22 February 2004 in Rome. At the convention, 32 Green parties from across Europe joined this new pan-European party. As such, the European Greens became a trans-national party, and the very first European political party. In the 2004 European Parliament election , member parties won 35 Seats and

756-473: The First Party, saying that it was little more than a business project to further Slesers' interests in real estate business. His supporters pointed to many examples of improvement in Latvia's transportation infrastructure, including the airport and the national railroad. Largely because of the influence of the First Party, a new cabinet-level ministry was developed, The Ministry of Children and Family Affairs. The position of Minister of Children and Family Affairs

798-510: The Greens were part of the governing coalition with Indulis Emsis as Minister of State for Environmental Protection. The LZP contested the 1995 general election in an electoral list with the LNNK, but lost its parliamentary representation in the 1998 general election , which it contested in alliance with the Workers' Party and Christian Democratic Union . For the 2002 parliamentary election ,

840-647: The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament secured 43 in total. In the 2009 European Parliament election , even though the European Parliament was reduced in size, the European Greens' member parties won 46 seats, the best result of the Green Parties in 30 years. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament secured 55 seats in total. In the 2014 European Parliament election , the Green candidates were José Bové and Ska Keller . These elections marked

882-521: The Latvian Green Party include: As of 2011, chairpersons are Viesturs Silenieks and Raimonds Vējonis. European Green Party The European Green Party ( EGP ), also referred to as European Greens , is a transnational, European political party representing national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) parliamentary group in

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924-611: The alliance on 11 June 2022; they were later joined by the Liepāja Party . In May 2022, LZP formed a political alliance for the 2022 Saeima elections together with the Latvian Association of Regions , the Liepāja Party and an upcoming political NGO led by Liepāja construction contractor Uldis Pīlēns , the United List . Three co-chairpersons share the leadership position at any one time. Former chairpersons of

966-644: The audience that a collaboration with the ECR "depends very much on how the composition of the Parliament is, and who is in what group." Numerous analyses in European quality media consider this as a win for the Greens and the turning point of the 2024 election campaign. The European Greens criticised heavily that von der Leyen, as incumbent president of the European Commission and lead candidate for

1008-517: The breakdown of the four-party government, Indulis Emsis was appointed to form a new government and became the first head of government of a country anywhere in the world from a Green party . His minority government was forced to resign in December of the same year. A new coalition government led by the People’s Party took office, in which the party was again represented as part of the ZZS. For

1050-455: The campaign was 'Change Europe, vote Green'. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament obtained 50 seats in total. The candidates for the 2019 European Parliament election were Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout , who campaigned for climate protection, a social Europe, more democracy and stronger rule of law. That year, the Greens made the strongest ever showing across Europe, in part due to rising public awareness about climate change and

1092-516: The centre of today's political agenda". Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout were elected by the European Greens to be lead candidates for the 2024 European Parliament election. The campaign ran under the slogan "Choose Courage". They were elected by more than 300 delegates at an Extended Congress in Lyon, France in February 2024. The campaign is focused on a Green and Social Deal, and the fight against

1134-452: The direction that the party was taking, he left the party itself and became an independent MP. Following the 2005 municipal election, a Jūrmala businessman Germans Milušs attempted to bribe the members of city council to ensure the election of Juris Hlevickis, a First Party member, as Jūrmala mayor. Hlevickis fell one vote short of becoming the mayor and, in 2007, both Milušs and Hlevickis were convicted and received prison sentences. During

1176-579: The first time there were primaries including Spitzenkandidaten at the European elections, which allows Europeans to not only vote for who should represent them in the European Parliament, but also help to decide who should lead the European Commission. In May they presented a common programme including the Green New Deal at the launch of the European Greens' campaign which called for "a new direction of economic policy aimed at reducing our carbon footprint and improving our quality of life". The slogan of

1218-467: The government should do everything possible to stimulate economic growth, even at the cost of possibly running deficits. In its first parliamentary election in 2002, First Party also ran on an anti-corruption agenda. In the next election, it emphasized its competence and experience (in particular, the achievements of its leader, Šlesers, as the Minister of Transportation). On ethnic relations, First Party

1260-695: The impact of youth movements for climate. The strongest surge was in Germany as Alliance 90/The Greens replaced the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany as the second-strongest party. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament obtained 74 seats in total. The Greens' results signified a new balance of power as the European People's Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) lost their majority. By 2023, The Economist analysed that "the policies espoused by environmentalists sit squarely at

1302-452: The parliamentary group. It also lists how the Green parliamentary group and supra-national organisations was named and what European parliamentary group they joined. Latvia%27s First Party The Latvia's First Party ( Latvian : Latvijas Pirmā Partija ) was a socially conservative , Christian-democratic right-wing political party in Latvia . It merged with Latvian Way to form Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way in 2007. It

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1344-594: The party formed the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) with the Latvian Farmers' Union . Three members of the Green party were elected: Indulis Emsis , Arvīds Ulme and Leopolds Ozoliņš . The ZZS joined a four-party center-right coalition government and was represented with three ministers, one of them from the Green party, Minister for the Environment Raimonds Vējonis . In February 2004, after

1386-479: The party have often supported nationalist and socially conservative views, leading to its expulsion from the European Green Party on 10 November 2019. By 2022, however, ZZS was embroiled in internal turmoil, with the Green Party announcing that it sees no way of further cooperation in the framework of ZZS with For Latvia and Ventspils , still led by oligarch Aivars Lembergs . Ultimately, it voted to leave

1428-451: The popular vote and 10 out of 100 seats in the Saeima after the elections of October 5, 2002 and joined all the coalition governments since that time until its dissolution. In the 2006 elections , it ran together with Latvian Way ; the bloc took 8.58% but also won 10 seats in parliament. The parties merged in the following years. The party proclaimed itself to be a strong supporter of

1470-477: The rise of the far right in Europe. At the 2024 Maastricht Debate , organised by Politico and the University of Maastricht , European Green top candidate Bas Eickhout asked directly to Ursula von der Leyen , top candidate of the European People's Party , what her position was towards the far right in Europe, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy . Von der Leyen told

1512-405: The separation of church and state doctrine have to do with (a) the state not being allowed to control the church, or (b) the church not being allowed to control the state. All legislators have the right to vote their conscience. Economically, First Party supported the existing status quo in Latvian economics. Compared to other parties, it was less concerned with budget deficits and believed that

1554-582: The traditional family. It sponsored a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, unambiguously excluding homosexual unions. Several prominent members of the party had been labelled as homophobic by its critics. E.g. Jānis Šmits who was appointed to the position of chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee has called his parliamentary colleagues to get familiar with religious writings "in case they can actually, read", quoting

1596-492: Was elected President of Latvia with the support of 55 out of 100 members of the Saeima, becoming the first ever head of state in Europe from a green party. On 7 May 2019, despite support from his party and coalition, Vējonis announced he would not seek re-election and he was succeeded by longtime judge of the European Court of Justice Egils Levits , who Vējonis had defeated in the 2015 election. Leading politicians of

1638-473: Was founded on 25 May 2002, led by Ēriks Jēkabsons and Ainārs Šlesers . The party included a number of priests from all the major branches of Christianity in Latvia ( Lutheran , Catholic , Orthodox and Baptist ) as well as members of Jaunā Paaudze (New Generation) , a charismatic church. As a result, it was informally nicknamed "the party of priests" or the "pastors' party". Using populist promises and support from religious organisations, it won 9.5% of

1680-409: Was held by Baptist pastor Ainars Bastiks from 2002 to 2009. This ministry has emphasized reducing the number of children in Latvia's orphan care system. One strategy has been the development and implementation of a new national foster care recruiting and training program, which has grown considerably every year since 2004. Another emphasis of this ministry has to do with the elevation of the importance of

1722-518: Was the first party to form out of various national movements to become a European entity, committed to the integration of Europe. The party aims to amplify the views of member parties by having common policy positions, mutual election manifestos, and cohesive European election campaigns. The European Greens also has networks which brings Green politicians together, such as the Local Councillors Network. According to its charter,

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1764-457: Was viewed as more Russian-friendly than most of the Latvian political parties. Most of the party's supporters were ethnically Latvian, but it does not attempt to appeal to Latvian nationalism and has a number of ethnic minorities among its voters. Recently, it created a "Russian centre" for its ethnically Russian members. The leadership of the party included several prominent businessmen, most notably, its leader Ainars Šlesers. His critics attacked

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