On 19 April 2024, the Saeima (Parliament) voted to endorse Baiba Braže as Latvia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Baiba Braže, a career diplomat, joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993. In her career at the MFA she has covered a wide variety of matters related to international law, international organisations, human rights, humanitarian action, the EU, and security. She has headed the Directorate of Security Policy and International Organisations and, later, the Communications Directorate. She has been the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Vilis Krištopans.
Baiba Braže has served as Latvia’s Ambassador to the Netherlands and as Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. Later, she was appointed as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. She has also served as Latvia’s first Ambassador to Indonesia (non-resident).
From 2020 to 2023, Baiba Braže held the post of Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Public Diplomacy – currently the highest-ranking position a Latvian official has held in NATO.
Baiba Braže has graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia and also holds a Master’s degree in Communication Science from its Faculty of Social Sciences. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is fluent in English, Russian and Dutch, and speaks French at an intermediate level.
The Office of the Foreign Minister will be headed by Kaspars Krumholcs – an experienced diplomat who, prior to this appointment, headed the Eastern European and Central Asia Division at the MFA. Krumholcs has extensive experience in EU affairs having worked at the Permanent Mission of Latvia to the EU and in the European External Action Service. Earlier, he was posted to the Embassy of Latvia to the UK.
Andra Krūmiņa will continue to serve as Deputy Head of the Foreign Minister’s Office. In her diplomatic career she has worked in the State Protocol and the Baltic, Nordic Countries and Regional Cooperation Division. She has also served at Latvia’s Permanent Mission to NATO in Brussels.
The names of the Parliamentary Secretary and other staff of the Minister’s Office will be made public following the completion of commitments to their current employers.
