On behalf of the Latvian Foreign Service, the Minister expresses his deepest condolences to Krastiņš’s relatives and friends as he passed away.
Rinkēvičs emphasizes that Krastiņš made a great contribution to the renewal and strengthening of the Latvian diplomatic service after the restoration of the country’s independence.
Krastiņš was born on June 16, 1927, graduated from the Latvian Conservatory in 1951, and in 1965 – graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory.
From 1951 to 1955 he was a teacher at the Pāvuls Jurjāns Music School, from 1955 to 1970 he was a sound director at the Latvian Radio, and from 1970 to 1991 he was an assistant professor at the Latvian Conservatory.
Krastiņš has been a diplomat since 1992. From 1993 to 1997, he was the Ambassador of Latvia to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, from 1996 to 1998 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey, and from 1998 to 2000, the Ambassador of Norway.
Krastiņš ran for the European Parliament elections from the New Time party list in 2004, and since 2007 he has been the head and ambassador of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. In 2010, he ran in the 10th Saeima elections from the list of the party association “Vienotība”.
He was awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit and the 1st Order of the White Rose of Finland. In 2012, the ambassador’s book “Very Personal. The Story of a Latvian Diplomat 1992-2008” was published.
In honor of the former ambassador, a book of condolences will be opened at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 17 from 2 pm to 4 pm and on January 18 from 10 am to 12 noon.
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