Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete

Kalniete in 2014
Member of the European Parliament for Latvia
Assumed office
14 July 2009
European Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries
In office
1 May 2004 – 11 November 2004
President Romano Prodi
Preceded by Franz Fischler
Succeeded by Mariann Fischer Boel (Agriculture and Rural Development)
Joe Borg (Fisheries and Maritime Affairs)
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
7 November 2002 – 9 March 2004
Prime Minister Einars Repše
Preceded by Indulis Bērziņš
Succeeded by Rihards Pīks
Personal details
Born (1952-12-22) 22 December 1952
Togur, Soviet Union
(now Russia)
Political party Popular Front (Before 1993)
New Era Party (2002–2008)
Civic Union (2008–2011)
Unity (2011–present)
Alma mater Art Academy of Latvia
University of Leeds
University of Geneva
Website www.kalniete.lv

Sandra Kalniete (born 22 December 1952) is a Latvian politician, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as Foreign Minister of Latvia 2002–2004 and as European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries in 2004. Since 2009, she has served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the European People's Party.

She is currently a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and a substitute member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI). Additionally she is a member on the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a substitute member on the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and on the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.[1]

After her reelection in 2014 she became Vice-Chair of the Group of the European People's Party in the European Parliament.

Kalniete is also the chairperson of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group, an all-party group in the European Parliament involved in promoting the Prague Process. The group includes 40 MEPs from across the political spectrum including the European People's Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Greens, and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.[2]

She has previously served as Ambassador to the United Nations (1993–97), France (1997–2000) and UNESCO (2000–02). Beside her native Latvian language she is also fluent in English, French and Russian.

Background

Kalniete was born in Togur, Tomsk Oblast, Siberia, Russia, where her family had been deported from Latvia by the Soviet secret police during the occupation of her country by the Soviet Union, for use as slave labour.[3][4] She only saw her native country when she was seven years old.

She studied art at Latvian Academy of Art from 1977 to 1981 and worked as an art historian, publishing a book, Latvian textile art, in 1989. She joined politics in 1988, during Latvia's independence movement, and was a deputy chairwoman and one of the founders of Latvian Popular Front, the main pro-independence political organization. Ms. Kalniete has graduated from the Department of Art History and Art Theory at the Art Academy of Latvia (1981), the Institute for International Studies at the University of Leeds (1992), The Graduate Institute of International Studies at the University of Geneva (1995), and has a Master of Arts from the Art Academy of Latvia (1996).

After Latvia declared independence, Kalniete worked in Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as Latvia's ambassador to the UN (from 1993 to 1997), France (from 1997 to 2000) and UNESCO (from 2000 to 2002).

Political career

Kalniete became Foreign Minister of Latvia in November 2002 and served in this position until in 2004 when she was appointed the first Latvian Commissioner of the European Union in charge of Agriculture and Fisheries.

A big part of the Latvian society was shocked after she was not re-nominated as Latvia's EU Commissioner. Afterwards, Kalniete stepped aside from politics and refused the low-rank diplomatic positions she was offered.

At the beginning of 2006, Kalniete joined the New Era Party. In October 2006, she was elected to the Latvian parliament. She was the 2007 candidate of the New Era Party for the post of Latvian president, before withdrawing in favor of Aivars Endziņš on 24 May 2007.

Between 2006 and 2007, Kalniete served as member of the Amato Group, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treaty of Lisbon following its rejection by French and Dutch voters.

In 2008, Kalniete announced she was leaving the New Era Party. She joined the newly founded Civic Union and became the party's leader. In the 2009 European Parliament election she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament and reelected in the European Parliament election, 2014 (Latvia).[5] She put herself forward as a potential candidate to succeed Andris Bērziņš as President of Latvia after his decision to step down in 2015.[6]

Human rights activism

Having been born into a family who were the victims of Soviet crimes, Sandra Kalniete is involved in many human rights causes pertaining to totalitarian crimes. She is the chair of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group, an all-party group in the European Parliament aimed at coming to terms with the totalitarian past in many countries of Europe.

In 2004, she argued that "behind the Iron Curtain the Soviet regime continued to commit genocide against the peoples of Eastern Europe and, indeed, against its own people [...] the two totalitarian regimes—Nazism and Communism—were equally criminal." She elaborated on this in 2006 when she came up with death counts for the two regimes, pointing out that the Soviet Union killed around 94.5 million people.[7]

Publications

She is an author of three books:

With dancing shoes in Siberian snows was published in French as En escarpins dans les neiges de Sibérie and was nominated for the documentary book of the month by the readers of Elle magazine. Since its publishing it has been translated into more than ten languages.

Translations

The book Ar balles kurpēm Sibīrijas sniegos, Riga, Latvia: Atēna, 2001 (ISBN 9984-635-78-3) has been translated into several languages:

Career experience and political activities

Awards

Board-member/affiliations

References

  1. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/96934/SANDRA_KALNIETE_home.html
  2. ↑ "About Us – Reconciliation of European Histories Group". Reconciliation of European Histories Group. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "MEPs Honor Victims of Baltic Deportations". News - ERR. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Valters Nollendorfs, Crimes of communism in Latvia, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
  5. ↑ http://ep2014.cvk.lv/?lang=1
  6. ↑ http://bnn-news.com/aboltina-doubts-kalniete-gain-support-coalition-126206
  7. ↑ Peter Meusburger, Cultural Memories: The Geographical Point of View, Springer, 2011
  8. ↑ "Un Think Tank libéral, progressiste et européen". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "What is RISE?". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Publications - Friends of Europe". Friends of Europe. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "La Fondation Robert Schuman". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Kokneses Fonds website
  13. ↑ "Accueil". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Eiropas Kustība Latvijā". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
Political offices
Preceded by
Indulis Bērziņš		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
2002–2004 		Succeeded by
Rihards Pīks
New office Latvian European Commissioner
2004 		Succeeded by
Andris Piebalgs
Preceded by
Franz Fischler		 European Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries
2004
Served alongside: Franz Fischler		 Succeeded by
Mariann Fischer Boel
as European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development
Succeeded by
Joe Borg
as European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs
Party political offices
New office Leader of the Civic Union
2008–2011 		Position abolished
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