President of Latvia

President of the Republic of Latvia
Latvijas Valsts prezidents
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Edgars Rinkēvičs since 8 July 2023
Head of State
Style	Mr. President (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Status	Head of state
Member of	Latvian National Armed Forces
Residence	Riga Castle
Seat	Riga, Latvia
Appointer	Saeima
Term length	Four years, renewable once consecutively
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Latvia
Inaugural holder	Jānis Čakste
Formation	14 November 1922; 102 years ago (1922-11-14)
Abolished	1940–1991
Deputy	Speaker of the Saeima
Salary	€54,732 annually[1]
Website	www.president.lv

The president of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Valsts prezidents lit. 'State President of Latvia') is head of state and commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia.^[2]

The term of this office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. The president may be elected any number of times, but not more than twice in a row.^[3] In the event of the vacancy in the office of the president, the speaker of the Saeima assumes the duties of the president. For example, after the death of Jānis Čakste, Pauls Kalniņš, the speaker of the Saeima, was acting president briefly in 1927 until a new president could be elected.

The president is not a fully executive post, as is the case with the president of Lithuania. However, unlike the president of Estonia, his role is not entirely ceremonial. Under the constitution of Latvia, the president shares executive power with the cabinet and prime minister. However, the president is not politically responsible for carrying out his duties. His orders are not valid without the countersignature of a member of the cabinet – usually the prime minister.^[2]

The current president is Edgars Rinkēvičs, former Latvian foreign minister, who was elected by the Saeima on 31 May 2023 after three rounds of voting, and began his four-year term on 8 July 2023.^[4] This made Rinkēvičs the first openly gay head of state of any EU member state.