Valdis Dombrovskis

Valdis Dombrovskis (2011)

Valdis Dombrovskis (born August 5, 1971 in Riga ) is a Latvian politician of the Vienotība party . He was Prime Minister of his country from March 12, 2009 to November 27, 2013 . From June to November 2014 he was a member of the European Parliament . As one of the Vice-Presidents of the Juncker Commission from November 2014 to November 2019, he was Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue .

On December 1, 2019, he became Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Economics and Capital Services at the Von der Leyen Commission.

Life

Valdis Dombrovskis attended school in the Iļģuciems district of Riga. He then studied physics at the University of Latvia ( Bachelor 1993) and Economics for Engineers at the Riga Technical University (Bachelor 1995). From 1995 to 1996 he worked as a laboratory assistant at the Institute for Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and in 1996 received his master's degree from the University of Latvia. He then worked at the Institute for Solid State Physics at the University of Latvia and from 1997 to 1998 as a research assistant at the University of Maryland (College Park) in the USA . From 1998 he worked as a macroeconomic specialist at the Latvian State Bank .

politics

Dombrovskis was a founding member of the Jaunais Laiks party in 2002 . The party chairman was his former superior at the state bank Einārs Repše . From November 7, 2002 to March 9, 2004 he was Latvian Minister of Finance in the Repše government. From 2004 to 2009 he was a member of the European People's Party - European Democrats in the European Parliament . In the parliamentary elections in 2006, he was the top candidate for Jaunais Laiks .

Latvian Prime Minister

After Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis resigned, President Zatlers asked him to form a new government on February 26, 2009 . On March 12, his government - Dombrovski's I cabinet - was confirmed by the Saeima . Although he had to lead a minority cabinet from March 2010, his work was relatively successful in the difficult time of a financial crisis . That is why he was elected the top candidate of the Vienotība alliance for the 2010 parliamentary elections. Dombrovski's party became the strongest force in the country and he himself became prime minister of a coalition of Vienotība and Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība , which was represented with 62 out of 100 seats in parliament. He formed his second cabinet . After the elections for the 11th Saeima in 2011 , he was once again entrusted with forming a government on October 19 by the President ( Dombrovski's III cabinet ).

On November 27, 2013, Dombrovskis announced his resignation as Prime Minister, but initially remained in office as managing director. He thus assumed political responsibility for the collapse of a supermarket in the capital Riga , in which at least 54 people died on November 21, 2013. His successor was Laimdota Straujuma , who had served as Minister of Agriculture under Dombrovskis since October 2011.

EU commissioner

For the 2014 European elections , Valdis Dombrovskis wanted to be a candidate for the European People's Party (EPP) for the office of EU Commission President ; however, he withdrew his candidacy one day before the EPP congress. Former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker was elected as the EPP candidate . Dombrovskis then stood as the top candidate of Vienotība for the European elections in Latvia in 2014 . With 46.19%, the Vienotība was clearly the strongest force ahead of the national party ; thus Dombrovskis moved into the EU Parliament.

When Jonathan Hill resigned as EU Financial Market Commissioner after the referendum on whether the United Kingdom would remain in the European Union on June 25, 2016, Commission President Juncker, after consulting Martin Schulz , President of the European Parliament, immediately transferred Hill's portfolio to Valdis Dombrovski's (up to provisional as of July 15, insofar as Hill's resignation becomes legally effective on that date).

On December 1, 2019, he was appointed Commissioner for Economy and Capital Services in the Von der Leyen Commission.

Private

Dombrovskis speaks Latvian, German, English and Russian. He is married to Ārija Dombrovska.

Web links

Commons : Valdis Dombrovskis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Valda Dobrovska. blogs. In: Personal homepage of Valdis Dombrovskis. Retrieved December 12, 2011 (Latvian). 
• Otra pasaules kara Dalibnieki. In: Latvian People at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Retrieved December 12, 2011 (Latvian, biographical entry). 
• Hendrik Kafsack and Michael Stabenow: "Exit would not be a solution for Greeks". In conversation: Valdis Dombrovskis. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . December 12, 2011, accessed on December 12, 2011 (interview with Dombrovskis on the euro crisis ). 
• Entry on Valdis Dombrovskis in the European Parliament 's database of deputies

Individual evidence

1. ↑ website of the commissioner
2. ↑ tagesschau.de: The new members of the European Commission. Retrieved November 28, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Werner Mussler: The brittle Baltic. The new financial market commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis is definitely hardworking. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 28, 2016, p. 24.
4. ^ Latvians confirm center-right government ( memento of October 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de, October 3, 2010
5. ↑ delfi.lv:prezidents-berzins-piedava-paplasinat-koaliciju-un-nomine-premjera-amatam-dombrovski (accessed on October 20, 2011)
6. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung : Latvia's head of government resigns . November 27, 2013.
7. ↑ Michael Stabenow: Whoever wants to be out has to suffer. Which is why people in Brussels are talking about the need to make an example of the British . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 27, 2016, p. 3.

predecessor	Office	Successor
Ivars Godmanis	Prime Minister of Latvia since 2009–2014	Laimdota Straujuma