Latvian newly-elected President Egils Levits waves to people in Riga, Latvia, May 29, 2019. Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday elected European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits the Baltic country's new president. Levits was elected Latvian president in a single round of voting by 61 of Latvia's 100 parliamentarians. (Xinhua/Edijs Palens)
RIGA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday elected European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits the Baltic country's new president.
Levits was elected Latvian president in a single round of voting by 61 of Latvia's 100 parliamentarians.
Levits already ran for the Latvian presidency in 2014 but was beaten by outgoing President Raimonds Vejonis, who did not seek reelection this time.
During a parliamentary debate that preceded the presidential election, MPs of the center-right government coalition gave their support to Levits, praising him as the best and most capable of the three contenders standing in the presidential election.
The two other presidential candidates in the race where Ombudsman Juris Jansons, backed by the opposition centrist Greens and Farmers Union, and MP Didzis Smits, a candidate put forward by several members of his KPV LV party.
Riga-born Levits, 63, spent his youth in Germany. He has graduated from the University of Hamburg where he studied political science and law.
