Iveta Grigule-Pēterse
Iveta Grigule | |
---|---|
Member of the European Parliament for Latvia | |
In office 1 July 2014 – present | |
Personal details | |
Born | Riga, Latvia | 30 September 1964
Political party | Latvian Green Party (2005–2011) Latvian Farmers' Union (2013–present) |
Spouse | Romāns Mežeckis (divorced) |
Alma mater | |
Occupation | cultural worker |
Iveta Grigule (born 30 September 1964) is a Latvian politician for the Latvian Farmers' Union. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 as the sole representative for the Union of Greens and Farmers.
She was formerly a member of the Latvian Green Party and was elected to the Saeima in 2010 for the Union of Greens and Farmers. She was excluded from the Green Party in 2011, but successfully ran as an independent for the Union of Greens and Farmers in the 2011 Latvian parliamentary election. In 2013, she joined the Latvian Farmers' Union.[1]
She opposed the Latvian adoption of the Euro in January 2014.[2]
She was elected to the European Parliament in the May 2014 elections, and joined the eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group, which soon thereafter became the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group.[3] On 16 October 2014 it was reported that Grigule was defecting to the European People's Party, leading to the crisis in the EFDD group as it was temporarily one country short of the required seven member states.[4] Nigel Farage, EFDD co-president and head of UKIP (whose members make up more than half the group), claimed that Grigule was pressured to stand down if she wanted to lead a parliamentary delegation to Kazakhstan.[5] In April 2015 she joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats group.[6]
References
- ^ Iveta Grigule Transaprency International Latvia. Retrieved 18 June 2014
- ^ Michael Birnbaum (16 July 2013) For Latvia, euro still attractive despite Europe's financial crisis The Guardian.
- ^ UKIP's Farage forms new grouping in European Parliament BBC. 18 June 2014
- ^ Eurosceptic MEP group collapses, BBC News, 16 October 2014
- ^ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/16/ukip-efdd-group-collapse-brussels
- ^ http://www.lsm.lv/en/article/politics/liberals-and-democrats-adopt-latvias-stray-mep.a127286/