Karins puts down his lawmaker's mandate, quits politics

RIGA - Parliament lawmakers, former prime minister and foreign minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) has put down his lawmaker's mandate, Edmunds Jurevics, the head of the New Unity faction of the Saeima, told LETA.

He will leave work at the parliament as of today and will focus on professional challenges in the private sector.

Jurevics said that Karins has been working for Latvia for more than 20 years.

Jurevics also said that it is not yet clear who will take up Karins' place at the parliament, but this issue will be solved in the nearest time.

Karins returned to the Saeima in the spring after resigning as the foreign minister. He resigned after a scandal over the use of private flights for business trips during his time as prime minister.

Karins was born in 1964 in the State of Delaware, the US. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and had a Doctor's Degree in Philosophy.

When moving to Latvia, he started as a businessman, establishing company Lacu Ledus in 1994, and was a guest lecturer at the University of Latvia.

Later Karins joined politics and was one of the founders of the New Era party. In 2022 he was elected to the parliament.

In 2024 Karins became the Economics Minister in the government led by Aigars Kalvitis (People's Party). In 2006 he resigned as the minister because the New Era left Kalvitis' government.

Karins was elected to the European Parliament from the New Era list in 2009 and from the Unity's list in 2014.

In 2019 Karins was appointed the prime minister by then president Raimonds Vejonis. He served as the prime minister until 2023.