- By Thomas Mackintosh
- BBC News
In his very first speech as president, Edgars Rinkevics said the “battle versus corruption, criminal activity and cartels should be a nationwide concern”
Latvia’s long-serving foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics has actually ended up being the very first freely gay president of a European Union country.
Mr Rinkevics, who had actually acted as foreign minister given that 2011, was sworn in as Latvia’s president on Saturday in Riga.
Although typically a ritualistic position, Latvia’s president can ban legislation and call referendums.
The EU has actually had freely gay heads of federal governments in the past, however never ever a gay president.
In lots of nations, the presidents and heads of federal government are various individuals – for instance a president and prime minister. Former Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo was the EU’s very first freely gay head of federal government.
Mr Rinkevics, 49, initially came out in 2014 and has actually been a singing champ of LGBT rights since.
Gay marital relationship is unlawful in Latvia, though the nation’s constitutional court identified exact same sex unions in 2015.
In May, Mr Rinkevics was chosen by Latvia’s parliament to be the nation’s next president at the 3rd round of ballot.
On Saturday in his inaugural speech, Mr Rinkevics promised to continue supporting Ukraine’s continuous war effort versus Russia.
He said Latvia’s diplomacy “does not have time for errors”, including he will act “rapidly, decisively and carefully”.
Also in his speech, Mr Rinkevics motivated young Latvians to “break the glass ceiling” as he dealt with inequality as being a “considerable issue”.
“The social divide in our society is too huge,” he said.
“During my presidency, I will defend the production of a modern-day and strong Latvia, for a legal and simply Latvia, for the health and wellbeing of individuals, for an inclusive and considerate society.
“And it is possible for everybody to attain this by collaborating.”
Mr Rinkevics takes over from Egils Levits who acted as president for 4 years and will represent Latvia at Nato’s top next week in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Latvia is among 3 Baltic states, consisting of Lithuania and Estonia, which signed up with the EU in 2004 after breaking away from the falling apart Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
