Former foreign minister is Latvia's new man in Moscow

A career diplomat of considerable experience, from 2007 to 2010, Māris Riekstiņš was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and won a reputation as a dependable presence at the head of the country's foreign policy.

Since September 2015, Riekstiņš had been performing the duties of Ambassador – Inspector General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Earlier in his career, from 2011 to 2015, he had been the Ambassador of Latvia to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), from 2004 to 2007 –  Ambassador to the United States of America, and from 2006 to 2007 – Non-Resident Ambassador to the United Mexican States.

In the period from 1993 to 2004, Māris Riekstiņš held the position of the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ambassador has also headed the Latvian delegation at the accession negotiations to a number of important international organisations, for instance, NATO and the World Trade Organisation. 

He has received the Order of Three Stars in the rank of Commander (Third Class) and the Cross of Recognition in the rank of Grand Officer (Second Class), as well as higher awards from several other countries.    

In his post, Māris Riekstiņš will succeed Astra Kurme, who had been Ambassador to Russia since 2013. She in turn moves on to become ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.