Progressives (Latvia)
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The Progressives ( , PRO) is a
social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...
and
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
political party in Latvia. The party was founded on 25 February 2017. Since 4 September 2021 its leaders have been
Antoņina Ņenaševa Antonina Nenaševa (born 17 July 1988) is a Latvian politician, educator. Currently a member of the 14th Saeima (Parliament), she serves on the Education, Culture and Science Commission and is a member of the Saeima Presidium. Member of the Board ...
and
Atis Švinka Atis Švinka (born 24 March 1973) is a Latvian politician serving as minister of transport since 2025. From 2022 to 2025, he was a member of the Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral p ...
. The Progressives have 11 seats on
Riga City Council Riga City Council () is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga City Council con ...
and 10 seats in 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 ...
and one seat in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
. It is currently a junior partner in the
Siliņa cabinet The Evika Siliņa cabinet (Latvian language, Latvian: ''Siliņas ministru kabinets'') is the 42nd and current Government of Latvia, government of Latvia, sworn in on 15 September 2023 after Evika Siliņa was proposed as Prime Minister of Latvia, ...
with three ministers.


History

The party is a successor of a social-democratic
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
of the same name () that was founded on 26 March 2011 and was led by Ansis Dobelis. The Progressives participated in the 2017 Latvian municipal elections in four municipalities. In two of these,
Aizpute Aizpute (; historically Polish language, Polish: ''Hazenpot'') is a town in South Kurzeme Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia, in the valley of the Tebra River, situated northeast of Liepāja. History The territory of modern Aizpute ...
and
Mārupe Municipality Mārupe () () is a town in, and the administrative centre of Mārupe Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. The town is a suburb of the Latvian capital, Riga, but is a separate entity. Mārupe borders Zemgale Suburb, Riga, Zemgale Suburb ...
, they won seats on the local councils. The Progressives participated in the 2018 parliamentary election. Prior to the election, the party declined to join the
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...
alliance
Development/For! Development/For! ( Latvian: ''Attīstībai/Par!,'' AP!) was a liberal political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicia ...
. The Progressives argued that staying out of the alliance was necessary to ensure that the party's left-wing policies and high standard for political donations were not compromised. The Progressives had a unique gender parity principle on their ballots, with all election list leaders being women. Their candidate for Prime Minister was . The party did not win any seats in 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 ...
, receiving only 2.6% of the vote, but qualifying for state funding of
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
15,000 per year for surpassing the 2% threshold. In May 2019, the Progressives participated in the
2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...
. They ran with the slogan "More Europe" on a
federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...
platform, with their main proposals concerning
social policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...
and
green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
. Although polling at 4.5% in March and 4.3% in April they ultimately received only 2.9% of the vote. After the election, on 28 May, Roberts Putnis resigned as party leader. That year they also organised a small protest against the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria in front of the Turkish embassy in Riga, as well as pickets against a labour law reform that was deemed to degrade workers rights and weaken
labour unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
. In early 2020, the
Riga City Council Riga City Council () is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga City Council con ...
was dismissed and a
snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...
was called. Due to technicalities and the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the election was postponed until 29 August. The Progressives formed a common
electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
with the liberal
Development/For! Development/For! ( Latvian: ''Attīstībai/Par!,'' AP!) was a liberal political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicia ...
alliance, claiming that ideological differences are not as important at the local level and stressed the importance of toppling Riga's ruling SDP Harmony
Honor to serve Riga Honor to serve Riga! (, GKR) is a municipal political party located in Riga, Latvia. It was created on 17 March 2012 and is led by Andris Ameriks, the former deputy mayor of Riga. In 2013 the party entered an electoral alliance with the centre ...
coalition that had been involved in multiple corruption scandals. The common electoral list won the election with 18 out of 60 seats, of which nine were members of the Progressives and 2 were independent city activists with ties to the Progressives. The Progressives' member Mārtiņš Kossovičs chairs the common City Council group of Development/For! and the Progressives,
Edmunds Cepurītis Edmunds Cepurītis (born 19 July 1991) is a Latvian politician and environmentalist. He is currently a member of the 14th Saeima, representing the Progressive Party. Previously, he was a member of the Riga City Council. Biography E. Cepurīt ...
is the chair of the housing and environment committee, and Viesturs Kleinbergs is the chair of the social issues committee. In the October 2022 parliamentary election, the Progressives won 6.2% of the vote, entering the Saeima with 10 seats. In June 2023, the Progressives were accepted as a Full Member of the
European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is a transnational, European political party representing national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–Eur ...
. In September 2023, the party joined the new
Siliņa cabinet The Evika Siliņa cabinet (Latvian language, Latvian: ''Siliņas ministru kabinets'') is the 42nd and current Government of Latvia, government of Latvia, sworn in on 15 September 2023 after Evika Siliņa was proposed as Prime Minister of Latvia, ...
.


Ideology and platform

The Progressives state that one of their main goals is implementing the Nordic welfare model in Latvia, and the party political programme is called "Turning towards the Nordic countries". The party's principles include implementation of 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, responsibility towards the environment, fighting against
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 ...
and the shadow economy, an active state role in the economy, dropping
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...
as the main measure of development, in favour of others which take the well-being of society into account such as the Happiness index,
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
and
LGBT equality Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...
.


Nationality and identity

The party is supportive of
dual citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...
among the
Latvian diaspora The Latvian diaspora refers to Latvians and people of Latvian descent residing outside Latvia. According to estimates by the Latvian Foreign Ministry, as at 2012, about 370,000 Latvian citizens permanently resided outside of Latvia, most of ...
. It supports further state funding for Latvian-language education (as well as a 0%
VAT A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...
on books published in Latvian) and the granting of free Latvian courses for returning migrants and
asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...
s, while at the same time also supporting
minority language A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...
s in the school curriculum as a form of cultural diversity. They define themselves as inclusive and oppose ethnic segregation and discrimination.


Foreign policy

The Progressives subscribe to a
pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
ideology and support Latvia's membership in
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 ...
. They are in favour of forming a common EU army, and believe that the EU should become a
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
permanent member state, while at the same time desiring to abolish permanent members' singular
veto power A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto p ...
. The party condemns what they dub the "aggressive policy of the Russian ruling regime", while at the same time expressing a desire for improved relations with both Russia and Belarus, which they opine would happen through "democratic processes" in these nations. They do not recognise the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...
and have called for an investigation into the "human rights violations in Russian-occupied Crimea". They condemn Israel's actions against Palestinians and support a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.


Economy

The Progressives call on the Latvian state to abandon
neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
economic policies and the "Russian-style" of restraint toward
economic interventionism A market intervention is a policy or measure that modifies or interferes with a market, typically done in the form of state action, but also by philanthropic and political-action groups. Market interventions can be done for a number of reas ...
, instead calling for active state participation in the national economy. They are in favour of trade diversification aimed at reducing Latvia's dependence on Russian cargo and advocate for state funding for
small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organiza ...
,
start-ups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to ...
and companies that adhere to their social and environmental criteria.


Election results


Legislative elections


European Parliament elections


Riga City Council


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Progressives, The 2017 establishments in Latvia Political parties established in 2017 Green political parties in Latvia Pro-European political parties in Latvia Social democratic parties in Latvia Progressive parties