The team of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, will be joined by Signe Znotiņa-Znota, Advisor on Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy, and Tomass Pildegovičs, Advisor on Security and Societal Resilience.
The Minister’s team is designed to ensure an effective internal and external communication and cooperation, thereby promoting the implementation of a visible, resolute and professional foreign policy of Latvia.
Signe Znotiņa-Znota is currently Head of Public Relations and Internal Communication Unit at the State Audit Office. From 2015 to 2019, Signe Znotiņa-Znota was the Press Officer of the European Parliament in Latvia and served as Press Secretary to the Cabinet of Ministers from 2012 to 2015. Signe Znotiņa-Znota worked for a public relations agency from 2006 to 2012. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration with Excellence from BA School of Business and Finance and has earned a Bachelor’s degree of Social Sciences degree in Communication Science at Riga Stradiņš University and Roskilde University, Denmark.
Signe Znota-Znotiņa will start work in the Foreign Minister’s team on 7 May.
Tomass Pildegovičs served as Senior Expert at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence from 2022 to 2024, and Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to Sandra Kalniete, Member of the European Parliament, from 2020 to 2022.
Tomass Pildegovičs holds a Master’s degree (MPhil) in International Relations and Politics from the University of Cambridge with Distinction and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations with First Class Honors from the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Tomass Pildegovičs completed the James S. Denton Transatlantic Fellowship Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in 2024; he has been nominated as New Security Leader by the 2023 Warsaw Security Forum and the 2021 GLOBSEC Young Leader in Security and Defence.
Tomass Pildegovičs will begin work in the Foreign Minister’s team on 20 May.
As reported earlier, the Office of the Foreign Minister is headed by Kaspars Krumholcs, former Head of the Eastern European and Central Asia Division at the MFA. The diplomat Andra Krūmiņa continues to serve as Deputy Head of the Foreign Minister’s Office.
The name of the Parliamentary Secretary will be made public following the completion of commitments to their current employer.
Baiba Braže was endorsed as Minister of Foreign Affairs by an overwhelming majority of vote at the extraordinary session of the Saeima (Parliament) on 19 April 2024.