Sandra Kalniete (born 22 December 1952) is a

Latvian politician The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Hea ...

, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as

Foreign Minister 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 ...

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 A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

. She is currently a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and a substitute member of the

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee AGRI is the European Parliament committee responsible for: #The operation and development of the Common Agricul ...

(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 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

) and a substitute member on the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and on the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. 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 The Reconciliation of European Histories Group is an informal all-party group in the European Parliament involved in promoting the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism, Prague Process in all of Europe, aimed at coming to terms ...

, 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

, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Greens, and the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the Political groups of the European Parliament, political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and ...

. She has previously served as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(1993–97),

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(1997–2000) and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

(2000–02). Beside her native Latvian language, she is also fluent in English, French and Russian.

Early life and education

Kalniete was born in , Kolpashevsky District,

Tomsk Oblast Tomsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited loca ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, Russia, where her family had been

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

from

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 ...

by the

Soviet secret police There were a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The Okhrana was abolished by the Provisional government after the first revolution of 1917, and the first secret police after the October Revolution, created by Vladimir Leni ...

during the occupation of her country by 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 ...

, for use as

slave labour Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. Her mother Ligita Kalniete (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Dreifelde, 1926-2006) was first deported together with her mother and father in 1941, after which Ligita returned in 1948, just to be deported again in 1949. Her father Aivars Kalnietis (born 1931) was deported together with his mother in 1949 as well. She only saw her native country when she was five years old, when the family was allowed to return in 1957. She studied art at the Latvian Academy of Art from 1977 to 1981 and worked as an art historian, publishing a book, ''Latvian Textile Art'', in 1989.

Early career

She entered 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 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 The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

(1992), The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies - now Geneva Graduate Institute - (1995), and has a Master of Arts from the Art Academy of Latvia (1996). The Geneva Graduate Institute later dedicated to her a place in it
Hall of Inspiring Stories
After Latvia declared independence, Kalniete worked in Latvia's

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 served as Latvia's ambassador to the UN (from 1993 to 1997), France (from 1997 to 2000) and

(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. She was not re-nominated as Latvia's EU Commissioner. At the beginning of 2006, Kalniete joined the

New Era Party The New Era Party (, JL) was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011. New Era was a member of the European People's Party (EPP), and ...

. 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 The Amato Group, officially the Action Committee for European Democracy (ACED) was a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working, over 2006–2007, on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became ...

, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an Ratification, unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...

into what became known as the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all EU member states o ...

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 The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent s ...

she was elected as a

and reelected in the 2014 European Parliament election in Latvia. She put herself forward as a potential candidate to succeed Andris Bērziņš as

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 ...

after his decision to step down in 2015. She was reelected as a

and in the 2019 European Parliament election in Latvia. She was mentioned as a possible candidate for the 2023 Latvian presidential election. She was reelected once again as a

and in the 2024 European Parliament election in Latvia.

Human rights activism

Kalniete is involved in many human rights causes pertaining to

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

crimes. She is the chair of the

, an all-party group in the European Parliament aimed at coming to terms with the

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.

Publications

She is an author of four books: * ''Latviešu tekstilmāksla'' (''Latvian Textile Art''), 1989. * ''Es lauzu, tu lauzi, mēs lauzām. Viņi lūza'' (''I Broke, You Broke, We Broke. They Fell Apart''), a book about Latvia's independence movement, published in 2000. * ''Ar balles kurpēm Sibīrijas sniegos'' (''With Dancing Shoes in Siberian Snows''), a book about the deportation of her family to

during the

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

era and her family's efforts to return to their home country, first published in 2001. * "Prjaņiks. Debesmannā. Tiramisū." (

Pryanik Pryanik ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak: ''perník''; ; ) refers to a range of traditional sweet-baked goods in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and some neighboring countries such as in Poland () and Lithuania (). It is also ...

Semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

mousse A mousse (, ; ) is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savory. as early ...

. Tiramisu), Rīga, Zelta grauds, 2012. The French translation of ''With Dancing Shoes in Siberian Snows'' published in 2003 by ''Editions des Syrtes'' as ''En escarpins dans les neiges de Sibérie'' was nominated for the ''Aocumentary Book of the Month'' for December by the readers of ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''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 () has been translated into several languages: * Albanian: "Këpucë balerine mbi dëborën siberiane". Transl.: Durim Taçe. Skopje, Macedonia: Shkupi (2010). * French: ''En escarpins dans les neiges de Sibérie''. Transl.: Velta Skujina. Paris, France: Editions des Syrtes, 2003. * German: ''Mit Ballschuhen im sibirischen Schnee''. Transl.: Matthias Knoll. München, Germany: Herbig Verlag, 2005. * Italian: ''Scarpette da ballo nelle nevi di Siberia''. Transl.: G. Weiss. Milano, Italy: Libri Scheiwiller, 2005. * Japanese: ''Dansu shûzu de yuki no Shiberia e''. Transl.: Ayumi Kurosawa. Tôkyô: Shinhyôron, 2014. * Czech: ''V plesových střevíčkách sibiřským sněhem''. Transl.: Michal Škrabal. Praha, Czech Republic: Lubor Kasal, 2005. * Swedish: ''Med högklackade skor i Sibiriens snö''. Transl.: Juris Kronbergs. Stockholm, Sweden: Atlantis, 2005. * English: ''With Dance Shoes in Siberian Snows''. Transl.: Margita Gailītis. Riga, Latvia: The Latvian Occupation Museum Association, 2006. * Russian: ''В бальных туфельках по сибирским снегам''. Riga, Latvia: Atēna, 2006. * Finnish: ''Tanssikengissä Siperiaan''. Transl.: Hilkka Koskela. Helsinki, Finland: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, 2007. * Dutch: ''Op dansschoenen in de Siberische sneeuw''. Transl.: Marijke Koekoek. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij van Gennep, 2006. * Arabic: Cairo, Egypt: Sphinx Agency for Arts and Literature, 2009. * Spanish: ''Con zapatos de fiesta en las nieves de Siberia''. Transl.: Jānis Kleinbergs; text editor: María Maestro; iluustrator: Agnese Čemme, Lasītava, 2019 * Tamil: ஸைபீரியப் பனியில் நடனக் காலணியுடன். Transl: C. S. Lakshmi (Ambai), Kalachuvadu Publications, 2019. Hungarian: Báli cipőben Szibériába, Transl. Béla Jávorszky, Magyar Napló Kiadó, Budapest,2021, ISBN 978-963-541-041-5

Career experience and political activities

* June 2014 – Member of the European Parliament (Committee on Foreign Affairs, Agricultural un Rural Development committee) * June 2009 – Member of the European Parliament (Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee, Agricultural un Rural Development committee, Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee) * April 2008 – Leader of the "Civic Union" party * January 2008 – Left party "New Era" * October 2006 – Member of Parliament of Republic of Latvia (Foreign Affairs commission and European Affairs commission) * January 2006 – Member of right conservative party "New Era" * March 2005 – Ambassador, Special Adviser to EU Commissioner for Energy * March 2005 – Member of the Board of Trustees of the independent think tank Friends of Europe, Member of Editorial Board of Europe's World * December 2004 – Member of the Administrative Board of Robert Schuman Fondation (France) * 1 May – 20 November 2004 – the European Commissioner * 7 November 2002 – 9 March 2004 – Minister of Foreign Affairs * 2000 – 2002 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Latvia to UNESCO * 1997 – 2002 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to France * 1993 – 1997 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the United Nations in Geneva * 1990 – 1993 Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Chief of Protocol, Deputy Foreign Minister * 1988 – 1990 Latvian Popular Front (LPF): General Secretary of the LPF Coordinating Council, Deputy Chairman * 1987 – 1988 Latvian Artists' Union: General Secretary

Awards

* 1995 – Commander of the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

(Latvia) *2000 – Cabinet of Ministers Award (Latvia) *2001 – Commander of the Legion of Honor (France) *2002 – Commander of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

(France) *2004 – Commander's Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (Lithuania) *2005 – Commander of the Great Cross of the Cross of Recognition (Latvia) * 2009 – Order "Mérite Européen" in Gold (Fondation du Mérite Européen, Luxembourg): ''for promoting a stronger and more united Europe'' * 2009 – Medal of the

Baltic Assembly The Baltic Assembly (BA) is a regional organisation that promotes intergovernmental cooperation between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It attempts to find a common position in relation to many international issues, including economic, political ...

: ''for organizing and coordinating the

Baltic Way The Baltic Way (; ; ) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning across the three Baltic ...

manifestation, for developing and strengthening unity among the Baltic Nations, and for the support and work lent to the people of the Baltic Nations'' *2012 – Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd degree (Estonia) *2018 – Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom *2020 –

Order of Princess Olga The Order of Princess Olga () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian civil decoration, featuring Olga of Kiev and bestowed to women for "personal merits in state, production, scientific, educational, cultural, charity and other spheres of social activities, fo ...

, 1st Class (Ukraine)

Board-member/affiliations

* La Fondation pour l’innovation politique * Rural Investment Support for Europe (RISE) Foundation * Friends of Europe * Fondation Robert-Schuman *

Koknese Koknese () is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River. It has a population of nearly 3,000. According to the provisions of the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, Koknese gained ...

Fund (''Kokneses Fonds'') * Notre Europe * European Movement – Latvia * Baltic - Black Sea Alliance (''Baltijas-Melnās jūras alianse'') * Board of the Friends of EUROCLIO Foundation * Advisory board member of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity

References

External links

Official website

Sandra Kalniete's Twitter account

European People's Party page on Sandra Kalniete

European Voice topics page on Sandra Kalniete

International Who's Who. , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalniete, Sandra 1952 births Living people People from Kolpashevsky District New Era Party politicians Civic Union (Latvia) politicians New Unity politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Latvia Deputies of the 9th Saeima Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni Art Academy of Latvia alumni Ambassadors of Latvia to France Latvian expatriates in Switzerland Civic Union (Latvia) MEPs Latvian European commissioners MEPs for Latvia 2009–2014 MEPs for Latvia 2014–2019 MEPs for Latvia 2019–2024 Permanent delegates of Latvia to UNESCO Permanent representatives of Latvia to the United Nations Office at Geneva Female foreign ministers Women MEPs for Latvia Women European commissioners Women government ministers of Latvia 21st-century Latvian women politicians Latvian women diplomats Latvian women ambassadors Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class Women deputies of the Saeima MEPs for Latvia 2024–2029 Alumni of the University of Leeds