He is a member of theLatvian Green Party, part of theUnion of Greens and Farmers. He served as Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development in 2002 and in 2011 and as Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2011, while the Ministry of Regional Development was a separate department. He becameMinister of Defence of Latvia in 2014 and held that office until becoming president in 2015.[1] Since 2020 he is the president ofLatvian Basketball Association.
Vējonis with U.S. Vice PresidentJoe Biden in Washington, D.C., on 23 August 2016
Vējonis was born on 15 June 1966 inPskov Oblast to a Latvian father and a Russian mother, while his father was serving in theSoviet army there. He grew up inSarkaņi and attended school in the nearby town ofMadona.[2] Vējonis became interested in environmental protection because his grandfather had been blinded by chemicals used on a Sovietkolkhoz.[3]
He graduated from Faculty of Biology of theUniversity of Latvia in 1989 and obtained a master's degree from it in 1995. During his studies he worked as a biology teacher in Madona. From 1989 to 1996 he was deputy director of Madona Regional Environmental board. He was a member of Madona city council from 1990 to 1993. From 1996 to 2002 he was director of Greater Riga Regional Environmental board, during this period he also was a board member inSkulte port and served as state representative at Getliņi Eko waste management company.[4]
In 2002, Vējonis became Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.[5]
He waselected asPresident of Latvia on 3 June 2015, receiving the votes of 55 of the 100 members of theSaeima.[4] He used his victory speech to promise to ensure national security, in light ofevents in Ukraine, while protecting the environment.[3] He became the first head of state in the European Union to be a member of agreen party.[3][5]
In 1986, he marriedIveta Vējone, a teacher and former first lady. The couple have two sons, Ivo and Nauris.[3] Vejonis speaks fluent Russian[7] and decent English in addition to Latvian.
On 18 January 2016, Vējonis was hospitalized. He was first transported to the Toxicology andSepsis Clinic of the Riga East Clinical University Hospital branch Gaiļezers, but a day later was transferred to the Latvian Cardiology Center atPauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital.[8][9] The press counselor of the president initially did not disclose the nature of the illness and suggested that the president had a viral infection. However, independent medical experts theorized that Vējonis probably had aninfective endocarditis. On 20 January Vējonis underwent emergencyopen heart surgery to eliminate the source of infection in which the heart valve damaged bysepsis was replaced with anartificial heart valve.[10][11] Later on unnamed sources told the press that the illness was likely caused by untreatedtonsillitis, the press counselor of the president, while still refusing to disclose exact diagnosis, confirmed that the president had been having issues with his throat and his voice had been very hoarse.[12]
Vējonis left hospital on 26 February to undergophysical therapy at National Rehabilitation Center "Vaivari".[13] He was reported to be doing some work during his illness, but fully resumed his official duties on 30 March after spending more than two months recovering.[14]
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