In 1993 and 1994, Rinkēvičs worked as a journalist reporting on foreign policy and international relations at
Latvian Radio, while still studying. In 1995, he took the job as senior referent in the Policy Department of the
Ministry of Defence, a role he held until March 1996, when he became acting leader of the Policy Department, a role he occupied until September the same year, when he was made acting Deputy Secretary of State for Defence. In May 1997, he became acting Secretary of State for Defence, before becoming the main Secretary of State for Defence in August 1997, a role he possessed until October 2008. In May 2014, Rinkēvičs joined the
Unity party. , 7 March 2022 Following the resignation of the Dombrovskis cabinet in 2014, he continued his ministerial roles in
Laimdota Straujuma's
first cabinet. In 2014 he stood in the
parliamentary elections and was elected to parliament before again being confirmed to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs, this time in
Straujuma's second cabinet. He also expressed deep concern over the
escalation of hostilities in the disputed region of
Nagorno-Karabakh and called on
Armenia and
Azerbaijan to immediately halt fighting and progress towards a peaceful resolution.
President of Latvia (2023–present) Rinkēvičs was elected
president of Latvia on 31 May 2023. He took office on 8 July 2023. On 20 November 2023, he visited Israel to express solidarity with the country during the
Gaza war. On 15 December 2023, Rinkēvičs met with Canadian Minister of Defence
Bill Blair in the
Riga Castle to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially in the areas of
defence and security policy. On 5 August 2025, Rinkēvičs welcomed Israeli President
Isaac Herzog to Latvia, stating that the country does not currently plan to
recognize Palestine. On 28 August, Rinkēvičs met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Palestine
Varsen Aghabekian. After the
Saeima passed a bill on 30 October for Latvia to withdraw from the
Istanbul Convention, Rinkēvičs pledged to assess the decision by "taking into account state and legal, rather than ideological or political considerations". He subsequently requested a second review of the law by the Saeima, citing unresolved legal, procedural, and international concerns: namely, that the withdrawal lacked proper preparatory work, reflected insufficient cooperation between the
legislature and
executive, and that ratifying and then denouncing the Convention within a single Saeima term sends a contradictory message that could undermine Latvia's credibility and commitments to human rights within the
European Union and
Council of Europe. Rinkēvičs has described the
U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran as an understandable response to decades of Iranian actions. While expressing a preference for diplomacy, Rinkēvičs stipulated that diplomatic engagement is only viable if Iran abandons its military
nuclear program. == Personal life ==