Union of Greens and Farmers

Union of Greens and Farmers
Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība
AbbreviationZZS
LeaderAivars Lembergs
ChairmanViktors Valainis
Founded25 July 2002; 22 years ago (2002-07-25)
HeadquartersLielirbes iela 17a-30, Riga
Membership (2017)2,254[1][2]
IdeologyGreen conservatism[3]
Economic nationalism[4]
Soft Euroscepticism[5]
Agrarianism[6]
Political positionCentre[7][8]
Members
Colours
  •   Green
  •   Yellow
Saeima
16 / 100
European Parliament
0 / 8
Mayors
11 / 43
Website
zzs.lv

The Union of Greens and Farmers (Latvian: Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia.[9] It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils.

It is positioned in the centre[7][8] on the political spectrum, sometimes also described as a centre-right[10][11] or a centre-left party.[6][12] It is orientated towards agrarian,[6] conservative,[13] Eurosceptic,[5] and green policies,[14] and can be considered a centrist Nordic agrarian alliance,[11] with nationalist and anti-liberal elements.[15][16][17]

While the alliance's formal leader is Edgars Tavars, its leading figure and chief financial supporter is the oligarch Aivars Lembergs.[18] The ZZS has had the world's first prime minister, Indulis Emsis (Prime Minister of Latvia in 2004), and first head of state, Raimonds Vējonis (President of Latvia 2015–19), to be affiliated with a green party.[19]

  1. ^ "What's up with Latvia's feeble civic engagement?". LSM.lv. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Latvijā partijās daudzkārt mazāk biedru nekā Lietuvā un Igaunijā. Kāpēc tā?" (in Latvian). LSM.lv. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. ^ Holmberg, Karl. "The green formula: Key underlying factors for success of a green party". Lund University. p. 4.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference pariah was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Hyndle-Hussein, Joanna (10 October 2018). "Parliamentary elections in Latvia: the fragmentation of the political scene". Centre for Eastern Studies.
  7. ^ a b "Māris Kučinskis nominated as Latvian prime minister". POLITICO. 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  8. ^ a b "Ethnic Russians have big influence in Latvian election". Associated Press. 6 October 2018.
  9. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  10. ^ Tom Muller, ed. (2012). Political Handbook of the World 2012. SAGE. p. 814. ISBN 978-1-60871-995-2.
  11. ^ a b Tāre, Ineta (2010). Labour Law in Latvia. London: Kluwer Law International. p. 15. ISBN 978-90-411-3325-0.
  12. ^ Kroet, Cynthia (18 December 2014). "Laimdota Straujuma: Latvia's prime minister". Politico.
  13. ^ Stephanie Daimer (2006). "Latvia and the EU constitution: a pragmatic "yes"". In Thomas König; Simon Hug (eds.). Policy-Making Processes and the European Constitution: A Comparative Study of Member States and Accession Countries. Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-134-17336-5.
  14. ^ "Latvia poised to gain its first female prime minister". POLITICO. 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  15. ^ David J. Galbreath; Daunis Auers (2010). "Green, Black and Brown: Uncovering Latvia's Environmental Politics". In David J. Galbreath (ed.). Contemporary Environmentalism in the Baltic States: From Phosphate Springs to 'Nordstream'. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-317-96590-9.
  16. ^ Jeffrey Sommers (2014). "Austerity, internal devolution, and social (in)security in Latvia". In Jeffrey Sommers; Charles Woolfson (eds.). The Contradictions of Austerity: The Socio-Economic Costs of the Neoliberal Baltic Model. Taylor & Francis. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-317-80014-9.
  17. ^ Auers, Daunis (May 2012). "The curious case of the Latvian Greens". Environmental Politics. 21 (3): 522–527. doi:10.1080/09644016.2012.671579. ISSN 0964-4016. S2CID 144438163.
  18. ^ Goehring, Jeannette (2007). Nations in Transit 2007: Democratization from Central Europe to Eurasia. London: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 404. ISBN 978-0-932088-26-0.
  19. ^ Miranda Schreurs; Elim Papadakis, eds. (2019). Historical Dictionary of the Green Movement. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-5381-1960-0.