The New Unity (, JV) is a

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Its members are Unity and four other regional parties, and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism and

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

History

Before the 2018 Latvian parliamentary elections the Unity party formed the New Unity party alliance (the party itself is still registered as Unity) in April 2018 together with the regional ''For

Kuldīga Kuldīga () () is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in the western part of the country. It is the center of Kuldīga Municipality with a population of approximately 13,500. Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic L ...

Municipality'', ''For

Valmiera Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and ...

and

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

'' and parties, joined by the ''

Jēkabpils Jēkabpils () is a state city in Jēkabpils Municipality in southeastern Latvia, located roughly halfway between the capital Riga and Daugavpils, and spanning the Daugava River. The name of the city literally translates into "Castle of Jacob". H ...

Regional Party'' in June. The Latgale Party, a previous partner of Unity that had run on its list in the past, initially was uncertain whether to join the alliance, since a faction of the party supported a partnership with the Latvian Association of Regions, ended up ultimately signing a cooperation agreement in July. An offer to join the list was also extended to the liberal Movement For! and the centre-left Progressives, but both parties eventually declined. While the JV list performed poorly at the 2018 elections, surpassing the 5% threshold by only 1.7% and becoming the smallest party in the newly elected parliament, the subsequent failure of the candidates for PM from the New Conservative Party and KPV LV to form a government by early January 2019 urged the

President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of this office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. The presi ...

, Raimonds Vējonis, to offer the opportunity to JV's candidate, former MEP

Krišjānis Kariņš Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš (; born 13 December 1964) is a Latvian American politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 2019 until 2023. A linguist and businessman by profession, he previously served as Latvia's minister of Economic ...

. The first Kariņš cabinet, consisting of JV, the New Conservatives, KPV LV, Development/For! (AP!), the National Alliance was approved by the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the p ...

on 23 January 2019. Alongside the Prime Minister's office, the alliance controls two ministries: the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. By 2021, the Latgale Party, a co-founder and later cooperation partner of the alliance, started to move closer to the For Latvia's Development party by running joint campaigns for the 2021 municipal elections. Although an offer to extend the partnership was also received from JV leadership, this ultimately resulted in the signing of a cooperation agreement for the 2022 parliamentary election in July 2022. However, JV still claimed in September that it will continue cooperation with the party in the new 14th Saeima. New Unity won the 2022 parliamentary election, gaining 18 more seats, and afterwards, the second Kariņš cabinet was formed, swapping the now-extra-parliamentary KPV LV, AP! and the Conservatives for the United List. The First Kariņš cabinet is so far the longest-serving cabinet in the history of democratic Latvia, serving 1421 days. Kariņš resigned as Prime Minister in September 2023 as he wanted to expand the coalition to include ZZS and The Progressives in contrary to the wishes of coalition partners. Kariņš was succeeded by fellow party member and then- Minister for Welfare Evika Siliņa, with Kariņš becoming Foreign Minister. Her cabinet's partners are ZZS and The Progressives, with the National Alliance and United List moving to the opposition. Kariņš served as minister in the government until March 2024, when he stepped down due to a spending probe into his excessive use of private flights as Prime Minister and returned to being a Saeima MP. Nevertheless, he joined EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and MEP Sandra Kalniete as one of the front-runners of the party at the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

Ideology

Economy

The party programme favours a market-driven economy aimed at stable economic growth, eventually achieving levels of welfare comparable to those of neighbouring

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. The party’s platform includes tackling

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

, minimising the role of the shadow economy, implementing a

progressive tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...

system and pursuing environmentally sustainable economic growth.

International relations

New Unity sees Latvia’s future as part of the

Northern European The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors s ...

geopolitical space and advocates for greater EU and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

integration. It supported Latvia’s accession to these two alliances and strongly favours the country’s continued membership within them. The party is critical of Russia’s geopolitical role and sees the worsening of Russia–European Union relations primarily as a consequence of Russian aggression towards former Soviet bloc countries and its irredentist claims. It has been strongly critical of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, implementing sanctions against Russia and calling for increased arms shipments and financial aid to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. On

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

issues, New Unity favours a peaceful resolution to the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

and advocates for a

two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

contingent on continued Arab–Israeli normalization.

National identity

New Unity takes a civic nationalist stance towards the integration of Latvia’s Russian-speaking minority, aiming to limit the role of the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

in local education programmes and state-funded news broadcasting. Simultaneously, the party is not opposed to the existence of linguistic minorities and does not favour forced cultural assimilation, instead calling for minorities to embrace the

Latvian language Latvian (, ), also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken in the Baltic region, and is the language of the Latvians. It is the official language of Latvia ...

and culture while being able to retain their personal culture and heritage if they so desire. While addressing the nation following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, former

Prime Minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia () is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obtain the support of a p ...

and New Unity party leader

stressed the need to separate Latvia’s Russian minority from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, claiming that they are, first and foremost, Latvian, regardless of native language or ethnicity.

Social issues

The party has historically taken

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

stances on social and LGBT issues, before changing course following the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election when they announced their support for same-sex civil unions and the ratification of the

Istanbul Convention The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is a International human rights instruments, human rights treaty of the Council of Europe oppos ...

. While New Unity does not have an official party position on

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, former party leader Arvils Ašeradens stated in a 2023 interview that he supports marriage equality so long as civil unions are legalised first. Additionally,

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

mayor Vilnis Ķirsis, a member of New Unity, marched at the 2023 Riga Pride parade, which endorsed the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Latvia. On women’s issues, the party takes a liberal stance towards

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, favouring abortion access on demand up to 12 weeks for any reason and up to 22 weeks for medical reasons. New Unity is supportive of increasing women’s representation in the workforce and local government. Upon being elected Prime Minister of Latvia in September 2023, party member Evika Siliņa announced that she will do everything in her power to ensure women’s equality in society and before the law, including introducing legislation to combat

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

Members

Associate members

Election results

Legislative elections

European Parliament elections

References

{{Latvian political parties 2018 establishments in Latvia Conservative parties in Latvia European People's Party Liberal conservative parties Liberal parties in Latvia Political parties established in 2018 Political party alliances in Latvia