On 17 July 2024, in an official ceremony in Riga Castle, the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, presented letters of credence to the future Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia, who will begin their tenures abroad or in international organizations in the near future.
Published: 17.07.2024.
Photo: Laura Celmiņa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The former State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, will assume the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Latvia to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UNESCO.
Andris Pelšs has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1998. He has served in the Security Policy Division, the NATO Division, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Latvia to the UN, the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to NATO, and was Foreign Adviser to the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers. While holding the post of Ambassador at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the European Union, Andris Pelšs was also a representative to the Political and Security Committee. Having served as Under-Secretary of State, Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since August 2016, Andris Pelšs was approved as State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2018.
In 2000, Andris Pelšs graduated from the History and Philosophy Department of the University of Latvia with a Master’s degree in Political Science. He has also received education in the United States of America and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Truman State University (1997), and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Morehead State University (2003).
Jānis Bērziņš, Director of the European Union Coordination and Policies Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be posted as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Latvia to the Republic of Korea.
Jānis Bērziņš began working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Investment Division in 2004. During his 20-year career as a diplomat, he has performed various duties both in Latvia and abroad. While working in Latvia, he was Second Secretary at the COREPER II Division, later becoming the Head of the division, as well as serving as Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Presidium of the Latvian Saeima. The range of duties assigned to Jānis Bērziņš included energy policy, protection of intellectual property, trade and economic cooperation policy, the EU’s multiannual budget negotiations, and coordination of the representation of Latvia’s interests in the EU. As of 2021, he has been Head of the EU Coordination and Policies Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Jānis Bērziņš has gained experience as a diplomat responsible for economic cooperation matters at the Embassy of Latvia in the Federal Republic of Germany from 2007 to 2011, and from 2016 to 2021, he was Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy. During Latvia’s first presidency of the Council of the European Union, Jānis Bērziņš headed the Press and Information Unit of the Permanent Representation of Latvia to the European Union and held the position of Press Secretary of the Presidency.
Jānis Bērziņš holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Free University of Berlin, as well as graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga with a Social Sciences Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration. Prior to working in public administration, he has gained experience in private business.
Latvia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Nations in Geneva will be Ivars Pundurs, who is the current Director of the Human Resources Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ivars Pundurs joined the Foreign Service in August 1991, after Latvia re-gained independence. During his diplomatic career, he worked in the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Law Department, the Planning Group, he was Under-Secretary of State for Security Policy and International Organizations, as well as Under-Secretary of State, Administrative Director. Ivars Pundurs has also gained considerable experience during his postings abroad – he has been the Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Austria, the Counsellor, Head of the Delegation of the Republic of Latvia to the OSCE, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Turkey, the Hellenic Republic, as well as to the Council of Europe.
Ivars Pundurs holds a degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia and a degree in Security Policy and Arms Control from the Institute of International Relations, Switzerland.
Raimonds Oškalns, currently Director of the Security Policy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will represent Latvia in the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations in Vienna.
Raimonds Oškalns started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Consular Legal Affairs Division of the Consular Department in 2001, later becoming the head of this department. During his career as a diplomat, he worked at the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Austria, was the Deputy Head of mission at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the UN, the OSCE and other international organizations in Vienna, and the special representative of the Latvian Chairmanship of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement Expert Group. Raimonds Oškalns has headed the Arms Control Division, the Strategic Communication Project Group and the Global Security Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Raimonds Oškalns holds a Master’s degree in International and European Security from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, and a professional Master’s degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia. He pursued further education in national and international security at Harvard Kennedy School, US.
Alise Balode, the Head of the Economic Relations, Trade and Development Cooperation Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be posted as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Latvia to the French Republic and the International Organization of La Francophonie.
Alise Balode has been working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1994. She has worked in the Policy Planning and the European Integration Divisions, served as Head of the EU Law Division, Head of the EU Enlargement and the Western Balkans Division, Head of the EU General Affairs Division. Ms. Balode has also served as Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister on the European Union matters. Alise Balode has accumulated significant professional experience by working at the diplomatic and consular missions of Latvia – the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Latvia to the UN, Geneva, and on several postings, at the Permanent Representation of Latvia to the European Union – as First Secretary and Deputy Ambassador-Permanent Representative, a representative on the COREPER I.
Alise Balode holds a Master’s degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in International Relations, as well as a Master’s degree in European Union Law from the University of Nancy in France.
Kārlis Eihenbaums, the Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will become the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Latvia to the People’s Republic of China.
Kārlis Eihenbaums has been working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since January 1993. Initially, he was the Director of the Western European Department, later became the Director of the America Department. During his career as a diplomat, he also served as director of the First Bilateral Relations Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was the Ministry’s Press Secretary, as well as the Head of the Latvian Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. He was also a Foreign Affairs Adviser to the President of Latvia, Guntis Ulmanis. Kārlis Eihenbaums has extensive experience of working in diplomatic and consular missions of Latvia abroad. He has served as First Secretary at the Embassy of Latvia in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. and Counsellor at the Embassy of Latvia in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first Permanent Representative of Latvia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the State of Israel, the Republic of Estonia, and Canada.
Kārlis Eihenbaums is a graduate of the Faculty of History and Philosophy of the University of Latvia. Ambassador Eihenbaums has received several high-ranking awards from the Latvian state and foreign countries, including the Order of the Three Stars in 2013.
