Veiko Spolītis

Veiko Spolītis was born in Riga to a Latvian father and an Estonian mother. Spolītis has two native languages: Latvian and Estonian.^[1]

He obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Tartu in 1996.^[1] He went on to get a master's degree in European studies and international relations in 1997 at the Central European University of Budapest, and a master's degree in history in 2003 at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.^[2]

In 1998, he became a lecturer of European Studies at Riga Stradiņš University; a position he held until 2010.^[2]

In 2012, he received the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana IV class, and in 2013 the Knight Order of the Order of the Lion of Finland.^[1]

He was elected in 2001 on the Salaspils City Council as part of the list of the Latvian Farmers' Union.^[3] After a stint as the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Defence,^[4] he became Deputy Minister of Defense of Latvia from 2010 to 2013.^[1][5][6]

In 2014, he made a bid to get elected to the 2014 Latvian parliamentary election but was defeated. Still, he won a temporary mandate in parliament while another contender who ran on the same electoral list of the Unity party but was elected, Edgars Rinkēvičs, fulfilled his duties as minister.^[7]

A few days before he was set to join Parliament, Veiko Spolītis was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol.^[8][9] His driver's license was revoked for two years.^[10] He announced his withdrawal from the Unity party, but continued to work in Parliament as part of the New Unity faction.^[11]