Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica

Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica (born 30 June 1978) is a Latvian politician. Since 2022, she has been a Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament of Latvia.

Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica
Deputy Speaker of the Saeima
In office 1 November 2022
Prime Minister	Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš
Preceded by	Dagmāra Beitnere-Le Galla
President	Egils Levits
Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
Incumbent
Assumed office 2014 -2022
President	Andris Bērziņš Raimonds Vējonis Egils Levits
Prime Minister	Laimdota Straujuma Māris Kučinskis Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš
Personal details
Born	30 June 1978
Political party	Reform Party 2011-2014 Unity 2014-now

Professional Experience

Kalniņa-Lukasevica started her professional career in 1998 at the City Council of Jūrmala. Between 2003 and 2008 she worked for the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Government, first, as Deputy Director of Local Government Development and Reform Department and then as Deputy State Secretary.

In 2011, Kalniņa-Lukaševica was elected to the Parliament (Saeima) of Latvia and served as Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee (2011-2014) and a chairperson of the Innovation and Research Subcommittee, while serving also as a member of the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee of the parliament of Latvia. She played an active role during Latvia's accession process to the OECD. In 2016, Kalniņa-Lukasevica received an award of the Cabinet of Ministers for a significant contribution to ensuring Latvia’s successful accession to the OECD.

In November 2014, Kalniņa-Lukaševica was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia]. As Parliamentary Secretary, Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica ensured communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Latvian Parliament (Saeima) and European Parliament. She represented the government of Latvia at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings of Development Ministers and at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings of Trade Ministers. Since 2017 she chaired the Consultative Board for Development Cooperation Policy of Latvia. During the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU (2015) Kalnina-Lukasevica as Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs represented the Council at the European Parliament's plenary sessions.

In 2022, she became a Deputy Speaker and a Member of Parliament of Latvia. Simultaneously, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica is a part of a Committee of Foreign Affairs and a Committee of European Affairs. She was chosen as a Head of Latvian delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well.

Education

Kalnina-Lukasevica holds a Doctoral degree (PhD) in Management Science with a focus on public administration from the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Latvia (2013).

In 2004, after having obtained her first academic degree in social work, she obtained her master's degree at the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Latvia.

Kalniņa-Lukaševica speaks Latvian, English, German and Russian languages.

Civic activities

Kalnina-Lukasevica is also known for her civic activities. She is a member of the boards of a non-profit organization “European Movement–Latvia”.

Kalniņa-Lukasevica is a member of the board of trusties of the Brussels based think tank “Friends of Europe”.

She is also 2017 European Young Leader in the Friends of Europe (EYL40) programme, and 2014 Munich Young Leader in the Munich Security Conference and Koerber Stiftung joint programme.