Minister of Defence of Latvia
Expertise:
• Strategic Concept of NATO
• Meaning and Importance of Article 5
• NATO in a Changing Security Environment
H. E. Mr. Liégis finished his studies of law at Newcastle University in 1976 and graduated from College of Law, Guilford the following year. Then he worked as practising lawyer in the United Kingdom. In 1992 he became Adviser on European Community and Council of Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. After that he moved back to the United Kingdom and became the Adviser of Latvian Ambassador. In September 1993 he was appointed Deputy State Secretary. From 1994 to 1997 Mr. Liégis held the position at the Latvian Embassy in Sweden as a Counsellor and then as a Charge d’Affaires ad interim. From April 1997 to January 2000 he was the Ambassador of Latvia to Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg with residence in Brussels. For the following four years he was the Head of Delegation and Permanent Representative of Latvia to NATO in Brussels, becoming the Ambassador of Latvia to the EU in 2005. From September 2008, Mr. Liégis was Latvia’s Ambassador to Spain and in March 2009 he was appointed Minister of Defence of Latvia. He was awarded the Order of the Three Stars of the Republic of Latvia.
