Sanita Pavluta-Deslandes, the permanent representative of Latvia to the United Nations, detailed an ambitious agenda for her country’s two-year term in the Security Council, the primary decision-making arm of the world body. Latvia began its membership in the Council on Jan. 1, 2026.
In an exclusive interview with PassBlue held inside the chamber where the 15-member Council meets regularly, Pavluta-Deslandes said that Latvia’s priorities are framed through the lens of a country shaped by its struggle for independence, in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet republic. That experience, she said, gives Latvia a keen understanding of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the international rules embedded in the UN Charter.
Pavluta-Deslandes said her country will reinforce the principles of accountability, opposition to impunity and the defense of international law in the Council. Her country also intends to emphasize the women, peace and security agenda even as the issue is challenged by the United States and Russia. Describing Latvia as one of the world’s most gender-equal countries, the ambassador said that sustainable peace and prosperity are impossible without the full participation of women.
“There are enough women in this world capable of doing this job,” Pavluta-Deslandes told PassBlue in early January, while discussing the need to have a woman secretary-general as the UN begins the process to select a new leader this year.
Damilola Banjo is an award-winning staff reporter for PassBlue who has covered a wide range of topics, from Africa-centered stories to gender equality to UN peacekeeping and US-UN relations. She also oversees all video production for PassBlue. She was a Dag Hammarskjold fellow in 2023 and a Pulitzer Center postgraduate fellow in 2021. She was part of the BBC Africa team that produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, "Sex for Grades." In addition, she worked for WFAE, an NPR affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Banjo has a master's of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an undergraduate degree from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
Congratulations to Latvia on its service on the Security Council at a moment when the rules-based international order is facing an extraordinary stress test.
Latvia brings to the Council something increasingly rare and deeply needed: lived historical insight into what it means to lose sovereignty through aggression—and to restore it through law, diplomacy, and international solidarity. Having endured both Nazi occupation during World War II and decades of Soviet occupation, Latvia understands from experience why the UN Charter, respect for territorial integrity, accountability, and universal human rights are not abstract ideals but hard-won safeguards.
At a time when unilateralism and power politics are again being normalized, Latvia’s voice matters—not as a great power, but as a principled one. Its commitment to opposing impunity and advancing the women, peace and security agenda reinforces the idea that sustainable peace depends on inclusion, legality, and responsibility.
Latvia’s participation underscores why smaller states, especially those with historical memory of occupation and recovery, are indispensable to the credibility and effectiveness of the United Nations today.