Iveta Grigule-Pēterse

Iveta Grigule-Pēterse (born 30 September 1964) is a Latvian politician formerly for the Latvian Farmers' Union (until 2017). She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 as the sole representative for the Union of Greens and Farmers.

Iveta Grigule-Pēterse
Member of the European Parliament for Latvia
In office
1 July 2014 – 2019
Personal details
Born (1964-09-30) 30 September 1964
Riga, Latvia
Political partyLatvian Green Party (2005–2011)
Latvian Farmers' Union (2013–2017)
SpouseRomāns Mežeckis (1987–1996) Eric Peeters (2017–present)
RelationsMarried
Alma mater
Occupationcultural worker

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]

In February 2017 Grigule left the Latvian Farmers' Union.[3][4]

Member of the European Parliament

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.[5][6] 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.[7][8] Nigel Farage, EFDD co-president and head of UKIP (whose members made up more than half the group), claimed that Grigule was pressured to stand down if she wanted to lead a parliamentary delegation to Kazakhstan.[9] In April 2015 she joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats group.[10]

In 2016 Grigule voted against a European Parliament resolution to condemn Russia's use of propaganda. The move was harshly criticised by Prime minister Māris Kučinskis who categorically distanced himself from it and said that "she has crossed all the boundaries that were there to cross," and that "the party board is prepared to have Grigule leave".[11][12] Initially she refused to publicly explain her voting record,[13] but after meeting with the Latvian Farmers' Union chairman Valdis Veinbergs Grigule claimed that she had voted against the resolution because she believed it popularized Islam. Veinbergs called her a valuable contribution to the party and assured that as long as he's chairman Grigule won't be kicked out from the party.[14]

In November 2016 the Baltic Centre for Investigative Journalism Re:Baltica reported that Grigule and another Latvian MEP Andrejs Mamikins were circumventing the 2014 ban of hiring close relatives as assistants, with Grigule employing Mamikins' wife Natalya and Mamikins employing Grigule's daughter Anete. All four of them declined to comment, whether it was as a result of a mutual agreement.[15]

In December 2017, according to the ranking website MEPRanking.eu, Grigule was ranked as the least effective Latvian MEP and one of the least effective members of the European Parliament in general, receiving 0.36 score units and ranking 736th out of 751.[16]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iveta Grigule.
  1. Iveta Grigule Transparency International Latvia. Retrieved 18 June 2014
  2. Michael Birnbaum (16 July 2013) For Latvia, euro still attractive despite Europe's financial crisis The Guardian.
  3. "MEP Grigule leaves Latvian Union of Farmers". The Baltic Course. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  4. "Grigule writes request to leave Latvian Farmers Union". Baltic News Network. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. UKIP's Farage forms new grouping in European Parliament BBC. 18 June 2014
  6. "MEP Grigule joins newly-formed Europe of Freedom and Democracy party". Baltic News Network. June 19, 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  7. Eurosceptic MEP group collapses, BBC News, 16 October 2014
  8. "Latvian MEP torpedoes British Eurosceptics". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  9. Watt, Nicholas (16 October 2014). "Ukip to lose funding worth £1m as Farage's European group collapses". The Guardian.
  10. "Liberals and Democrats adopt Latvia's stray MEP". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  11. "PM's party ready to ditch MEP Grigule". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  12. "Kucinskis categorically distances himself from Grigule's behaviour in EP". Baltic News Network. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  13. "MEP Grigule refuses to explain her voting record". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  14. "MEP Grigule tries to explain herself". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  15. "MEPs can't hire relatives? Ask the Latvians how to get around the rules". Re:Baltica. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  16. Collier, Mike (8 December 2017). "Latvia's top MEPs are ..." Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
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