The Latvian National Independence Movement (, LNNK) was a political organization in

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 ...

from 1988 until 1997. It formed in 1988 as the radical wing of Latvian nationalist movement. Unlike the mainstream Latvian Popular Front, which had supported more autonomy for Latvia within the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, LNNK insisted on independence from its beginning. The leaders of LNNK included

Eduards Berklavs Eduards Berklavs (June 15, 1914 – November 25, 2004) was a Soviet and Latvian politician. Eduards Berklavs was born in Kurmāle Parish, which is part of the Kuldīga Municipality as of today. During his youth, he was active in labour and com ...

, Aleksandrs Kiršteins, Andrejs Krastiņš, Einars Repše and Juris Dobelis. After Latvia regained independence, LNNK became a political party and renamed itself the National Conservative Party. It won 15 seats out of 100 in the 1993 parliamentary election and was an influential opposition party. In 1993 its candidate for Prime Minister was Joachim Siegerist, who lost by only one vote and ended up second. LNNK won the municipal election in the Latvian capital,

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 ...

in 1994 but its popularity quickly faded after that. It lost half of its seats in the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 1995 parliamentary election and eventually merged with ''Tēvzemei un Brīvībai'' ( For Fatherland and Freedom) in 1997, another right-wing party with similar origins in the Latvian independence movement. After entering into an alliance with For Fatherland and Freedom, the party increasingly sought to propagate a particularly 'Latvian' vision for Latvia as highlighted by a series of controversial adverts encouraging the consumption of Latvian goods, and warning of the dangers of non-Latvians.TB/LNNK advert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls2sFYTn53s TB/LNNK advert]
TB/LNNK advert
(all in Latvian) An organization with similar aims and almost identical name, the

Estonian National Independence Party The Estonian National Independence Party, or ENIP, (, ''ERSP''), founded on 20 August 1988 in Estonian SSR, was the first non-communist political party established in the former USSR. Founders of the party were nationalist and anti-communist diss ...

existed in Estonia.

References

{{Authority control Organizations established in 1988 Political parties established in 1988 1988 establishments in the Soviet Union 1988 establishments in Latvia Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union Political parties in Latvia Conservative parties in Latvia Non-profit organizations based in the Soviet Union Defunct political parties in Latvia Independence movements Popular fronts Anti-communism in Latvia Singing Revolution Latvian nationalism Political parties in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Restoration of the independence of the Baltic states

See also

References