For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK

For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (Latvian: Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK, abbreviated to TB/LNNK) was a free market national conservative political party in Latvia. It has two members in Latvia's parliament, the Saeima, and belongs to the National Alliance, which has eight seats.

The party was founded from smaller groups in 1993 as 'For Fatherland and Freedom' (TB), focusing on promoting the Latvian language and putting a cap on naturalisation. It won six Saeima seats in its first year, and 14 in 1995, when it entered the governing centre-right coalition. It merged with the moderate Latvian National Independence Movement (LNNK) in 1997, and moved its emphasis to economic liberalisation. TB/LNNK's then-leader, Guntars Krasts, was Prime Minister from 1997 to 1998. It remained in government until 2004, and again since 2006.

Initially from the nationalist right, the party has become more moderate since the 1997 merger. It has also shifted from supporting economic interventionism to the free market. A predominantly ethnic Latvian party, the party's support base is university-educated, middle class, and concentrated in Riga. The party is soft eurosceptic, and is a member of the anti-federalist Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists. Its one MEP, party leader Roberts Zīle, sits with the ECR group in the European Parliament. It has caused controversy with its commemoration of Latvian Legion Day.

For the 2010 parliamentary election, the party formed an alliance with far right nationalist All For Latvia!. In July 2011, both parties merged into a unitary party, bearing the name National Alliance.

Read more about For Fatherland And Freedom/LNNK:  Ideology, Political Support, International Relations and Criticism, Electoral Performance

Famous quotes containing the words fatherland and/or freedom:

    A state always calls itself fatherland when it is ready for murder.
    Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)

    The child-rearing years are relatively short in our increased life span. It is hard for young women caught between diapers and formulas to believe, but there are years and years of freedom ahead. I regret my impatience to get on with my career. I wish I’d relaxed, allowed myself the luxury of watching the world through my little girl’s eyes.
    Eda Le Shan (20th century)