VEIKO SPOLITIS (Mag. pol.scie. & Mag.hist) Plavu 29, LV 2169 Salaspils, Latvia Tel: (+371) 67949623 veiko.spolitis@saeima.lv / http://spolitis.blogspot.com EMPLOYEMENT AND POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia (Saeima) since November 2014 Member of the Parliament The Latvian Ministry of Defense (2010-2014) Parliamentary secretary The job of parliamentary secretary is equal to the job description of the deputy minister in other European Union countries. Representing minister in his/her absence, preparing speeches, representing minister in special occasions, as well as providing liaison between the standing Defence Committee in the Parliament and Ministry of the Defence were central parts of the job. Riga Stradins University (2005-2010) Head of the European Studies and International Relations Programme Coordinating the day-to-day academic and administrative operations of the programme. Developing curricula, setting essays and reading lists, marking essays and leading discussions with groups of undergraduate and graduate students for the courses, organizing weekly seminars. Liaising with more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students and staff/guest lecturers, administering the programme budget. Responsibilities also include coordinating ERASMUS exchange and other international academic exchange programmes. Freelance Journalist (2001-2011) Regularly contributing in Estonian daily Postimees ; Latvian dailies Latvijas Vēstnesis, Diena, international daily The Baltic Times (English); internet news portals www.delfi.ee/lv (Estonian/Latvian), www.ir.lv (Latvian); and public policy portal www.politika.lv (Latvian) with articles on various topics of public policy and governance in the Baltic States and the EU, EU affairs and current developments in the Baltic States. Regularly reporting for the Estonian Broadcasting Corporation and the BBC Russian Service and participating in radio discussion panels on the EU affairs and about current developments in the Baltic States. Riga Stradins University (1998-2013) Lecturer on European Studies and International Relations Lecturing undergraduate and graduate students on various aspects of the EU and historical development of the EU and its institutions. Setting and marking essays, weekly seminars and
preparing reading lists. Supervising and providing guidance for dissertation for undergraduate and graduate students. Ministry for Cooperation with Financial Institutions (2000-2001) Adviser to the Ministry Researched and prepared reports on Latvia s economic and political progress to meet the requirements of the acquis communutaire as well as the policies of the IMF. Periodically prepared presentations and briefed the Minister with respect to good governance practices being implemented in other accession countries. Actively engaged in the operational level of policy implementation in the Latvian public service and developed the ground framework of the EU pre-accession policies for Latvia. Civic Education Project (CEP) (1998-2000) Regional Director for the Baltic States Coordinated and administered the day-to-day operations of the Project in the Baltic States and Kaliningrad. Coordinated education programmes and visiting professors and local faculty in the three Baltic States and in Kaliningrad in support of enhancing university curricula in social sciences and humanities. Liaised with the university rectors and deans and ministry officials in order to oversee the implementation of the CEP programmes and placement of CEP faculty in the various faculties of social sciences. Administered the budget and raised independent funds under CEP s supervision for training programmes for university faculty, regional and international conferences and workshops to promote networking and training in higher education institutions. COMMUNITY WORK Salaspils Town Council (2005-2009) Elected Member Riga Region Council (January August 1996) Foreign Affairs Officer EDUCATION University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland) Department of Political Science Ph.D. in Political Science expected in December 2013. Dissertation: Governance in the Baltic States from 1999 2009 - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania between Europeanized regionalization and continued Post-Soviet political culture Université de Genéve (Geneva, Switzerland) Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Graduate Institute of International Studies) DEA, Diplome d etudes approfondies en Relations Internationales, 2003.
Master s thesis: Small State Sovereignty in a Globalized World The Baltic Transition Revelia Academic Foundation Scholarship Central European University (Budapest, Hungary) M.A in European Studies and International Relations, 1997. Soros Foundation Open Society Scholarship Master s Thesis: Security Problems in Small States in Changing Europe: Norden and Future Integration of the Baltic States University of Tartu (Tartu, Estonia) Faculty of Social Sciences B.A. in Political Science, 1996. LANGUAGES Latvian and Estonian : Mother tongue English, French, Finnish, and Russian: Very good written and oral command German, Lithuanian and Turkish: Intermediate written and oral command PUBLICATIONS Veiko Spolitis, (2013) Läti poliitilise süsteemi muutused 2010 2012 ja tulevikuareng (in Estonian), Tallinn: Maailma Vaade, 5-10 Veiko Spolitis, (2013) Russia and the Nordic Countries in Ed. By Karmo Tüür & Viatcheslav Morozov, Russian Federation 2013 Short term prognosis, Tartu: Tartu University Press, 106-109 Veiko Spolitis (2012) Baltic Calculations or what Determines the Profoundness of the European Project in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in EUROPE the Final Countdown or Resurrection Time? Reclaiming the European Project, Böll Stiftung 1-9 Veiko Spolitis, (2012) Russia and the Nordic Countries in Ed. By Karmo Tüür & Viatcheslav Morozov, Russian Federation 2012 Short term prognosis, Tartu: Tartu University Press, 115-119 Erik Terk, Veiko Spolitis, Ramunas Vilpišausaks (2011): The future of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian integration: three possible scenarios in Estonian Human Development Report 2010-2011 Baltic Way(s) of Human Development: Twenty Years On, Eesti Koostöö Kogu, Tallinn, 177-192 Veiko Spolitis, (2010). Latvia s 90 th Anniversary between Partocracy and a Misconstrued Model of Liberal Economy in Smith, David J., David J. Galbreath and Geoffrey Swain (Eds.) From Recognition to Restoration. Latvia s History as a Nation State., Amsterdam/New York, NY: Rodopi: 99-116 Veiko Spolitis (2010) Läti valimised ja poliitlise süsteemi muutumine (in Estonian), Diplomaatia nr. 86, Oktober 2010 Veiko Spolitis, (2010). Euroliidu liikmesus, masu ja Läti sisu (in Estonian), Diplomaatia nr. 80, April 2010
Veiko Spolitis, (2009). Amidst Centripetal and Centrifugal Moves: The Ongoing Transformation of the Baltic States in Twenty Years after: Post-Communist Countries and European Integration, Brussels: Heinrich Böll Stiftung: 31-42 Veiko Spolitis, Dr. Toms Rostoks, (2009). Selection of candidates for the European Parliament and by National Parties and the Impact of European political parties Directorate General for Internal Policies Policy Department C Citizen s Rights and Constitutional Affairs, (Brussels: European Parliament): 179 194 Veiko Spolitis, (2009). Civic Culture and Europeanization Trends in the Baltic Sea Region the case of Latvia and Estonia in Pabriks Artis and Laizāne Marika eds. EU Strategic Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region, Procceedings of the Conference, Riga, 14 November, 2008; Valmiera: Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences: 99-109 Veiko Spolitis, (2008). Ajakirjanikuna Riias ja muutuvas Euroopas (in Estonian) Ed. Eestlased Lätis II Raamat, Tallinn: Kirjastus Välis-Eesti: 159-163 Veiko Spolitis, Dr. Axel Reetz (2008). Latvijas deviņdesmitā un trīsdesmit trešā gadskārta, Akadēmija, No. 45. (in Latvian): 21-29 Veiko Spolitis, (2008). Taking Root in Unfertile Soil: The Growth of the Estonian Green Parties, Ed. Green Identity in a Changing Europe, Brussels: Heinrich Böll Stiftung: 66-72 Veiko Spolitis, Dr. Axel Reetz (2007). Lettland, eine weiblische Gesellschaft? Mythos und Tatsachen Ed. Aktuelle Probleme postsozialistischer Länder Das Beispiel Lettland, Verlag Wilhelm Surbir Wittenbach. (in German): 77-86, 134 PAPERS PRESENTED (most recent) Veiko Spolitis, (2010) Governance without government - causes for the Latvian meltdown 2002-2008. Invited paper presented at the panel session The Politics in Hard Times: International Relations Responses to the Financial Crisis 7th Pan-European International Relations Conference, Stockholm, 9-11 September 2010 Veiko Spolitis, (2010) False expectations from the Lisbon Treaty and Latvia Ltd. Invited paper presented at the workshop Participation and Responsibility in the Post- Communist Society, Liepaja (Latvia), 13-14 th of March 2010. Veiko Spolitis, (2009) Prospects of EU Membership for Turkey. Invited paper presented at the conference Turkey and the EU, Riga (Latvia), 19 th of January 2009. Veiko Spolitis, (2008) Civil society in Latvia and Estonia in the early 21st Century Similar but still different. Invited paper presented at the conference at Söderton University College, Sweden, 4 th of December 2008. Veiko Spolitis, (2008) Domestic politics in Latvia since 1991. Invited paper presented at the conference at University of Glasgow Centre of the Eastern European Politics, Glasgow (Scotland), 28 th of November 2008. Veiko Spolitis, (2008) Civic culture and Europeanization trends in the Baltic Sea region. Invited paper presented at the conference EU Strategic Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region, Riga (Latvia), 14 th of November 2008.
Veiko Spolitis, (2008) EU multilevel governance and declining political participation in the Baltic States effects of rapid Europeanization or post-soviet legacy?.invited paper presented at the Political Science Centre Conference, Zagreb (Croatia), 29 th of May 2008. Veiko Spolitis, (2008) Imagining the Future of the EU. Invited paper presented at Jean Monnet Centre Conference, Istanbul (Turkey), 15-18 May 2008. Veiko Spolitis, (2007) Kuhu liigub Venemaa? (in Estonian). Invited paper presented at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Conference, Tallinn (Estonia), 23 rd of November 2007. Veiko Spolitis, (2007) Good Citizen A Project or Lifestyle Inivited paper presented at the Estonian Civil Society 5th Annual Conference, Tallinn (Estonia), 22 nd of November 2007. Veiko Spolitis, (2005) The Future of Transatlantic Relations- More Europe, Less NATO?. Invited paper presented at the conference Changing landscape in Transatlantic relations New EU member states and candidate countries between Brussels and Washington, Prague (Czech Republic), 23 rd of September 2005. CONFERENCES PARTICIPATED AND ORGANIZED Participated in the annual ABCD conference with presentation Managing Latvian defense policy during times of austerity in Tallinn (Estonia), September 19, 2012 Participated in the 4th World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations (2006), Rhodes (Greece), September 2006. Participated in the XXth AABS Conference in Georgetown University (Washington D.C.), 15-17 June 2006. Participated in the 5th Pan-European International Relations Conference, Hague (The Netherlands), September 2004. Organized 6th CEP Baltic International Student Conference Lights and Shadows of Post Communism in Tartu (Estonia), March 2000. Chaired in Interethnic Relations in CIS Countries at the CEP International Student Conference in Minsk, (Belarus), March 2000. Chaired Environmentally Sustainable Development in the Baltic States at the UNDP and CEP Joint Human Development Conference in Kaunas (Lithuania), 3-5 December 1999. Participated in the 7th Central and Eastern European Fundraising Conference in Bratislava (Slovakia), November 1999. Chaired Social Science Education Impact on Development of the CIS Countries at the CEP International Student Conference in Chisinau, (Moldova), February 1999. GUEST LECTURESHIPS AND PARTICIPATIONS Guest lecture Mutual defense and Solidarity clause of the Lisbon Treaty a new way forward? in the workshop organized within framework of the French-the Baltic
States annual XX by the French Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies in September 23-24, 2010 in Paris (France) ''Eiropas Savienība pēc Lisabonas līguma un mazo valstu izdzīvošana - Latvijas krustceles'' (in Latvian) discussion moderator, with participation of Vaira Vīķe Freiberga and Pēteris Zilgalvis on May 10, 2010 in Brussels (Belgium) Guest lecture Latvian government austerity programme and change of political structure in the Tallinn University Faculty of Social Sciences on March 23, 2010 Guest lecture Major reasons for the lack of trust in democratic institutions in Latvia (in Latvian) for the Riga Retired Teachers Society on March 16, 2010 ERASMUS Lecturer Mobility Programme Guest Lecturer in Ege University Department of Political Science and International Relations, Izmir (Turkey), 13-14 March 2008, March 15-25, 2009. Guest Lecture Üks seadus, üks õigus kõigile (in Estonian) in the University of Tartu International Relations Society on May 5, 2009 ERASMUS Lecturer Mobility Programme Guest Lecturer in National Louis University in Nowy Sacz (Poland), March 2006, March 2007 and March 2008. ERASMUS Lecturer Mobility Programme Guest Lecturer in Tallinn University in Tallinn (Estonia), March 2007 and March 2008. Guest Lecture Transformative politics in the Baltic States high or low - still politics at the Fridrich Ebert Stiftung Summer Academy in Roja, July 2006. Guest Lecture The Structural reforms, economic liberalization and the Baltic States after the EU Enlargement Lessons for Central Asia in Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economic and Strategic Research (KIMEP) Almaty, (Kazahstan), April 2006. Guest Lecture at Lecture Series Latvia - Pros and Cons of the European Union Accession" in cooperation with the Latvian European Integration Bureau, September- December 2000. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Vice Chairman of the non profit organization - Society for Electoral Change in Latvia. Member of the board of the Freedom and Solidarity Fund Member of the Revelia fraternity (University of Tartu) AWARDS RECEIVED Knight of the Order of the Lion (Finland) in September 2013. Terra Mariana Third class award (Estonia) for merits in May 2012.