On Thursday, the 20th of June, Latvian Saeima approved Agnese Lāce as the new Minister of Culture.
She was proposed for this post by Progressives party after Agnese Logina stepped down due to personal reasons. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa later decided to propose Lāce as a candidate for approval in the Saeima.
52 Saeima deputies voted for her, 27 voted against. No one abstained in the vote.
Lāce was one the leading researcher in the field of migration and integration affairs of Providus social policy centre.
She graduated from the University of Latvia with a Master’s degree in Political Sciences and European Master’s Degree in Sociology with a specialisation in international migration and social cohesion from the universities of Amsterdam, Deusto and Osnabrück.
According to information from Providus website, her previous work experience includes several Latvian public administration and local government institutions, the position of research assistant at the Office of the High Commissioner for National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the position of researcher at the Migration Research Institute at Koch University, and the position of expert on migration and diversity at the Society Integration Foundation.
Lāce has worked as a consultant at the UN Refugee Agency and as a researcher at the University of Latvia.
Lāce was a candidate in the last European Parliament elections from Progressives party in Latvia. Lāce has excellent knowledge of English, good knowledge of German and Dutch, as well as basic knowledge of Spanish language.
As previously reported, Latvian Minister of Culture Agnese Logina submitted her resignation and will be stepping down from her post for personal reasons.
The criteria Progressives have for the next minister are experience in the work of the ministry, a high understanding of cultural, media policy and integration issues, as well as impeccable reputation. The faction will invite the factions of the New Unity and the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), as well as the opposition factions of the Saeima, to meet with the candidate.