Unity (Latvia)

Unity
Vienotība
LeaderArvils Ašeradens
General SecretaryArtis Kampars
FounderValdis Dombrovskis
Founded6 March 2010;
14 years ago
 (2010-03-06)
(electoral alliance)
6 August 2011;
13 years ago
 (2011-08-06)
(party)
Merger of
HeadquartersZigfrīds Anna Meierovics Boulevard 12-3, Riga LV-1050
Youth wingVienotības Jaunatnes organizācija[1]
Membership (2017)2,397[2]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right
National affiliationNew Unity
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party Group
Colours  Green
Saeima
23 / 100
European Parliament
2 / 8
Riga City Council
9 / 60
Mayors
3 / 43
Website
vienotiba.lv

Unity[3] (Latvian: Vienotība, V) is a liberal-conservative political party in Latvia.[4][5] It is a member of the New Unity alliance and is positioned on the centre-right on the political spectrum.[6] Since 2017, its chairman of the Main Board has been the former Minister for Economics of Latvia, Arvils Ašeradens,[7] who succeeded former European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.[8]

It was formed in 2010 as an electoral alliance and in 2011, it was registered as a political party. It was the leading party in Valdis Dombrovskis and Laimdota Straujuma's cabinets from its inception in 2010 until February 2016. Since its foundation, the party has taken part in all of the country's coalition governments, and has been a member of the incumbent coalition government since January 2019, with its member Evika Siliņa as Prime Minister of Latvia. Unity is a member of the European People's Party (EPP).[9]

  1. ^ "Vienotiba/Youth". www.jaunavienotiba.lv. Unity. 13 March 2015.
  2. ^ "What's up with Latvia's feeble civic engagement?". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Legal entity". Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  4. ^ Kjetil Duvold (2017). "When Left and Right is a Matter of Identity: Overlapping Political Dimensions in Estonia and Latvia". In Andrey Makarychev; Alexandra Yatsyk (eds.). Borders in the Baltic Sea Region: Suturing the Ruptures. Springer. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-352-00014-6.
  5. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  6. ^ "13th Saeima elections: The parties (Part 4)". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  7. ^ "New leader at the helm of Unity party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  8. ^ "New leader of Latvia's Unity party calls for reconciliation among members, fresh start". The Baltic Times. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Latvia: PM Krisjanis Karins delivers a stable government for the Latvian people". European People's Party. 23 January 2019.