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Latvian politician (born 1971) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Veiko Spolītis (born 5 September 1971) is a Latvian politician, representing the Unity party (Latvian: Vienotība). From 2014 until 2018, he served as an elected member of the Saeima.[1]
Veiko Spolītis was born in Riga to a Latvian father and an Estonian mother. Spolītis has two native languages: Latvian and Estonian.[1]
He obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Tartu in 1996.[1] He went on to get a master's degree in European studies and international relations in 1997 at the Central European University of Budapest, and a master's degree in history in 2003 at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.[2]
In 1998, he became a lecturer of European Studies at Riga Stradiņš University; a position he held until 2010.[2]
In 2012, he received the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana IV class, and in 2013 the Knight Order of the Order of the Lion of Finland.[1]
He was elected in 2001 on the Salaspils City Council as part of the list of the Latvian Farmers' Union.[3] After a stint as the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Defence,[4] he became Deputy Minister of Defense of Latvia from 2010 to 2013,[5][6][7]
In 2014, he made a bid to get elected to the 2014 Latvian parliamentary election but was defeated. Still, he won a temporary mandate in parliament while another contender who ran on the same electoral list of the Unity party but was elected, Edgars Rinkēvičs, fulfilled his duties as minister.[8]
A few days before he was set to join Parliament,Veiko Spolītis was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol.[9][10] His driver's license was revoked for two years.[11] He announced his withdrawal from the Unity party, but continued to work in Parliament as part of the New Unity faction.[12]
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