Dace Melbārde

Member of the European Parliament

On May 25th, 2019 Dace Melbārde was elected to the European Parliament, where she will be a member of the Education and Culture Committee. Melbārde was the Minister for Culture for the Republic of Latvia from October 31st, 2013 through June 18th, 2019. When she became the Minister for Culture she also returned to her role as President of the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO. In 2013 Melbārde served as Chair of the Culture Commission during the 37th session of the UNESCO General Conference. Prior to her role as Minister for Culture Melbārde was Director of the National State Centre for Arts Education and Intangible Heritage (2011–2013) and helped organise the Latvian National Song and Dance Festival in 2013. She has also worked as Country Manager for the British Council in Latvia from 2009 through 2011.

From 2004 until 2009 Melbārde served as Deputy State Secretary on Cultural Policy at the Ministry of Culture. In 1999 Melbārde became Secretary General of the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO and spent five years working on various nationally relevant projects, such as the integration of cultural components into the Latvian National Development Plan and the National Programme of the Lisbon Strategy. Dace Melbārde holds an MA in Theory of Culture (Latvian Academy of Culture, 1996) and an MS in Public Administration (University of Latvia, 2001).