The Latvian Green Party (, LZP) is a green conservative political party in Latvia.
Founded in 1990, the party was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019. It is positioned in the centre-right of the political spectrum and supports socially conservative and green policies. The party is notable for producing the world's first green head of government when Indulis Emsis briefly served as Prime Minister of Latvia in 2004 and the first green head of state when Raimonds Vējonis served as President of Latvia from 2015 to 2019. One of the representatives was Arvīds Ulme, a member of the Latvian Environmental Protection Club, who would go on to form the Latvian Green Party alongside Indulis Emsis the following year. The party was registered on 13 January 1990, becoming the first official political party in Latvia four months before it officially declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
For the 2002 parliamentary election, the party formed the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) with the Latvian Farmers' Union. His minority government was forced to resign in December of the same year.
In 2015, Raimonds Vējonis was elected President of Latvia with the support of 55 out of 100 members of the Saeima, becoming the first ever head of state in Europe from a green party. On 7 May 2019, despite support from his party and coalition, Vējonis announced he would not seek re-election and he was succeeded by longtime judge of the European Court of Justice Egils Levits, who Vējonis had defeated in the 2015 election.
Leading politicians of the party have often supported nationalist and socially conservative views, In May 2022, LZP formed a political alliance for the 2022 Saeima elections together with the Latvian Association of Regions, the Liepāja Party and the "United List of Latvia" NGO led by Liepāja construction contractor Uldis Pīlēns, the United List.
The United List won 15 seats in the 2022 election and joined the New Unity and National Alliance coalition as part of the second Krišjānis Kariņš government. On 14 August 2023, Kariņš resigned as prime minister after his coalition fell apart when the National Alliance, a national-conservative party, refused to allow the Union of Greens and Farmers and The Progressives, the only major left-wing party in Latvia, to join the coalition. Since then, the United List has been part of the opposition to the Evika Siliņa government.
Ideology
Unlike most green parties in Europe, the Latvian Green Party holds socially conservative views, variously campaigning on right-wing populism, xenophobia, and homophobia.
The party platform states that their environmental goals are centered on sustainable development and they are aligned with Agenda 21.
Municipal Success — Jēkabpils Local Elections (June 2025)
In the 2025 local elections held in June, LZP achieved notable gains in Jēkabpils municipality. The party received 29.15% of the vote and secured 7 seats, up from 4 in the previous council — a clear sign of increasing support.
See also
- Green party
- Green politics
- List of environmental organizations
- Politics of Latvia
References
External links
- Official website
- Info of Latvian Green Party on European Green Party website <sup>(page not found)</sup>
