The President of the Republic of Latvia
President Raimonds V jonis was born in June 15, 1966 in Pskov Oblast, in the former Soviet Union and attended school in the nearby town of Madona and completed his primary education. He graduated from Faculty of Biology of the University of Latvia in 1989 and obtained a Masters degree in 1995. He was trained as a biologist at the University of Latvia in 1989 while teaching biology in the small central Latvian town of Madona and also studied in Estonia and Finland, specializing in environmental engineering.
From 1989 to 1996 he was Deputy Director of Madona Regional Environmental board and was a member of Madona City Council from 1990 to 1993. From 1996 to 2002 he was a director of Greater Riga Regional Environmental board, during this period he was also a board member in Skulte port and served as state representative at Getlni Eko waste management company.
President V jonis became Minister of Environmental Protection and Re gional Development on 7th of November 2002. In 2003 when the ministry was split into two departments, he became the Minister of the Environment and remained in the office as member of several governments until 2011, when both departments were merged back and he again became Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. He lost the office on 25th October 2011 as new government was formed after a parliamentary election and continued his political carrier as a member of Parliament. In the year 2014 he became the Minister of Defense and held that office until becoming President in 2015.
President Raimonds V jonis is the first elected President of Latvia from Green Party. He took office as the President of the Republic of Latvia on 8th July 2015. He used his victory speech to promise to increase national security while protecting the environment.