New Unity

New Unity
Jaunā Vienotība
AbbreviationJV
LeaderKrišjānis Kariņš
Founded23 April 2018; 6 years ago (2018-04-23)
HeadquartersZigfrīds Anna Meierovics Boulevard 12-3, Riga LV-1050
Youth wingVienotības Jaunatnes organizācija
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party
Members
  • Unity
  • For Kuldīga Municipality
  • For Valmiera and Vidzeme
  • Jēkabpils Regional Party
Associate membersLatgale Party
Colours
  •   Green
  •   Blue
  •   Light green
Saeima
26 / 100
European Parliament
3 / 8
Government of Latvia
7 / 15
Riga City Council
9 / 60
Mayors
5 / 43
Website
jaunavienotiba.lv

The New Unity (Latvian: Jaunā Vienotība, JV) is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia.[1] Its members are Unity and four other regional parties, and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism[2] and liberalism.[3]

History

Before the 2018 Latvian parliamentary elections the Unity party formed the New Unity party alliance (the party itself is still registered as Unity)[4] in April 2018 together with the regional For Kuldīga Municipality, For Valmiera and Vidzeme and For Tukums City and Municipality [lv] parties, joined by the Jēkabpils Regional Party in June.[5][6]

The Latgale Party, a previous partner of Unity that had run on its list in the past, initially was uncertain whether to join the alliance, since a faction of the party supported a partnership with the Latvian Association of Regions,[7] ended up ultimately signing a cooperation agreement in July.[8] An offer to join the list was also extended to the liberal Movement For! and the centre-left Progressives, but both parties eventually declined.[9][10]

While the JV list performed poorly at the 2018 elections, surpassing the 5% threshold by only 1.7% and becoming the smallest party in the newly elected parliament, the subsequent failure of the candidates for PM from the New Conservative Party and KPV LV to form a government by early January 2019 urged the President of Latvia, Raimonds Vējonis, to offer the opportunity to JV's candidate, former MEP Krišjānis Kariņš. The Kariņš cabinet, consisting of JV, the New Conservatives, KPV LV, Development/For!, the National Alliance was approved by the Saeima on 23 January 2019.[11][12][13] Alongside the Prime Minister's office, the alliance controls two ministries: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.

By 2021, the Latgale Party, a co-founder and later cooperation partner of the alliance, started to move closer to the For Latvia's Development party by running joint campaigns for the 2021 municipal elections. Although an offer to extend the partnership was also received from JV leadership, this ultimately resulted in the signing of a cooperation agreement for the 2022 parliamentary election in July 2022.[14][15] However, JV still claimed in September that it will continue cooperation with the party in the new 14th Saeima.[16]

Ideology

Economy

The party programme favours a market-driven economy aimed at stable economic growth, eventually achieving levels of welfare comparable to those of neighbouring Baltic states.

The party’s platform includes tackling corruption, minimising the role of the shadow economy, implementing a progressive tax system and pursuing environmentally sustainable economic growth.[17]

International relations

New Unity sees Latvia’s future as part of the Northern European geopolitical space and advocates for greater EU and NATO integration. It supported Latvia’s accession to these two alliances and strongly favours the country’s continued membership within them.[18]

The party is critical of Russia’s geopolitical role and sees the worsening of Russia–European Union relations primarily as a consequence of Russian aggression towards former Soviet bloc countries and its irredentist claims. It has been strongly critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, implementing sanctions against Russia and calling for increased arms shipments and financial aid to Ukraine.[19]

On Middle Eastern issues, New Unity favours a peaceful resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and advocates for a two-state solution contingent on continued Arab–Israeli normalization.[20]

National identity

New Unity takes a civic nationalist stance towards the integration of Latvia’s Russian-speaking minority, aiming to limit the role of the Russian language in local education programmes and state-funded news broadcasting.[21]

Simultaneously, the party is not opposed to the existence of linguistic minorities and does not favour forced cultural assimilation, instead calling for minorities to embrace the Latvian language and culture while being able to retain their personal culture and heritage if they so desire.

While addressing the nation following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, former Prime Minister of Latvia and New Unity party leader Krišjānis Kariņš stressed the need to separate Latvia’s Russian minority from Russia, claiming that they are, first and foremost, Latvian, regardless of native language or ethnicity.[22]

Social issues

The party has historically taken conservative stances on social and LGBT issues, before changing course following the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election when they announced their support for same-sex civil unions and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.[23]

While New Unity does not have an official party position on same-sex marriage, former party leader Arvils Ašeradens stated in a 2023 interview that he supports marriage equality so long as civil unions are legalised first. Additionally, Riga mayor Vilnis Ķirsis, a member of New Unity, marched at the 2023 Riga Pride parade, which endorsed the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Latvia.[24]

On women’s issues, the party takes a liberal stance towards abortion, favouring abortion access on demand up to 12 weeks for any reason and up to 22 weeks for medical reasons.[25]

New Unity is supportive of increasing women’s representation in the workforce and local government. Upon being elected Prime Minister of Latvia in September 2023, party member Evika Siliņa announced that she will do everything in her power to ensure women’s equality in society and before the law, including introducing legislation to combat domestic violence.[26]

Members

Name Ideology Position Leader Saeima MEPs
Unity
Vienotība 		Liberal conservatism Centre-right Arvils Ašeradens
23 / 100
2 / 8
For Kuldīga Municipality
Kuldīgas novadam 		Regionalism Juris Šulcs [lv]
1 / 100
0 / 8
For Valmiera and Vidzeme
Valmierai un Vidzemei 		Regionalism Jānis Baiks [lv]
1 / 100
0 / 8
Jēkabpils Regional Party
Jēkabpils reģionālā partija 		Regionalism Leonīds Salcevičs [lv]
0 / 100
0 / 8
Independents
1 / 100
0 / 8

Associate members

Name Ideology Position Leader Saeima MEPs
Latgale Party
Latgales partija 		Regionalism Jānis Lāčplēsis
Aldis Adamovičs [lv]
0 / 100
0 / 8

Election results

Legislative elections

Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
2018 Krišjānis Kariņš 56,542 6.74 New
8 / 100
 New 7th Coalition
2022 173,425 19.19 Increase 12.45
26 / 100
 Increase 18 1st Coalition (2022-2023)
Coalition (2023-)

European Parliament elections

Election Party leader Performance Rank EP Group
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
2019 Valdis Dombrovskis 124,193 26.40 New
2 / 8
 New 1st EPP

See also

References

  1. ^ "Political structure of Latvia". Economist Intelligence. 1 May 2021.
  2. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Parties and Elections in Europe". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  3. ^ "Parliamentary elections in Latvia: the fragmentation of the political scene". Centre for Eastern Studies. 10 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Legal entity". Uzņēmumu reģistra tīmekļvietne. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  5. ^ "Unity may become New Unity; Kariņš may become prime minister candidate". Baltic News Network. 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  6. ^ DELFI (2018-06-16). "'Jaunajai Vienotībai' pievienojas Jēkabpils reģionālā partija". DELFI (in Latvian). Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  7. ^ Egle, Ināra (2018-05-23). "Latgales partija ir apjukusi ("The Latgale Party is confused")". Diena. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  8. ^ "New Unity and Latgales party announce joint start at 13th Saeima elections". Baltic News Network. 2018-07-02. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  9. ^ 'Jaunā Vienotība' iesniedz deputātu kandidātu sarakstu; Kariņš un Straujuma nestartē Delfi
  10. ^ ""Par!" neiesaistīsies "Vienotības" piedāvātajā apvienībā ar reģionu partijām". Valmieras Ziņas (in Latvian). 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  11. ^ "The Saeima approves the government formed by Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš". The Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  12. ^ "Parliament approves Latvia's new coalition government". Xinhua News Agency. 2019-01-23. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  13. ^ "Latvia gets a new government led by Krišjānis Kariņš". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  14. ^ ""Latgales partija" saņēmusi sadarbības piedāvājumu dalībai parlamenta vēlēšanās no "Attīstībai/Par!" un "Jaunās vienotības"". TVNET (in Latvian). 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  15. ^ ""Latvijas attīstībai" paraksta memorandu ar "Vidzemes partiju" un "Latgales partiju" par kopīgu startu apvienības "Attīstībai/Par!" sarakstos 14. Saeimas vēlēšanās". Latvijas attīstībai (in Latvian). 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  16. ^ "Latgales avīze: Latgale ir īpašs reģions". Jaunā Vienotība (in Latvian). 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  17. ^ "Jaunā Vienotība: Programma". Jaunā Vienotība. 5 November 2023.
  18. ^ "Jaunā Vienotība: Programma". Jaunā Vienotība. 5 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Kariņš: Eiropai jāatbalsta Ukraina līdz tās uzvarai". Ministru kabinets. 26 May 2023.
  20. ^ "Latvia, together with EU, consistently stands for a two-state solution". The Baltic Times. 19 October 2023.
  21. ^ "Bijušais izglītības ministrs par pāreju uz mācībām latviešu valodā: tagad šmaukšanās iespējas skolās vairs nebūs". Latvijas Avīze. 5 September 2023.
  22. ^ "Kariņš vēršas pie Latvijas iedzīvotājiem ar aicinājumu". NRA. 1 March 2022.
  23. ^ "Rinkēvičs par Dzīvesbiedru likumu – zaudēta kauja nenozīmē zaudētu karu". Jaunā Vienotība. 22 June 2019.
  24. ^ "«Visi pēkšņi sasparojušies» – Ašeradens kritizē koalīcijas partnerus pēc trīspusējām sarunām ar ZZS un «Progresīvajiem»". LSM. 26 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Jaunā Vienotība: Programma". Jaunā Vienotība. 5 November 2023.
  26. ^ "Siliņa: Sieviete premjera amatā nenozīmē, ka ar līdztiesību valstī viss ir kārtībā". LSM. 15 September 2023.