Rēzekne Municipality

Rēzekne Municipality (Latvian: Rēzeknes novads) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Audriņi parish, Bērzgale parish, Čornaja parish, Dricāni parish, Feimaņi parish, Gaigalava parish, Griškāni parish, Ilzeskalns parish, Kantinieki parish, Kaunata parish, Lendži parish, Lūznava parish, Mākoņkalns parish, Malta parish, Nagļi parish, Nautrēni parish, Ozolaine parish, Ozolmuiža parish, Puša parish, Rikava parish, Sakstagals parish, Silmala parish, Stoļerova parish, Strūžāni parish and Vērēmi parish, town Viļāni.^[3] The population in 2020 was 24,127.^[4]

Rēzekne Municipality Rēzeknes novads
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Latvia
Formed	2009
Reformed	2021
Centre	Rēzekne (extraterritorially)
Government
• Council Chair	Monvīds Švarcs (V)
Area [1]
• Total	2,810.90 km2 (1,085.29 sq mi)
• Land	2,588.52 km2 (999.43 sq mi)
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	28,305
• Density	10/km2 (26/sq mi)
Website	www.rezeknesnovads.lv

2021 reform

Within the 2021 Latvian administrative reform it was initially planned to merge Varakļāni Municipality into Rēzekne Municipality. After protests from locals, parts of which wanted to preserve the status quo or preferred joining Madona Municipality, the municipal council submitted a case to the Constitutional Court of Latvia in June 2020.^{[citation needed]} On 28 May 2021 the court declared the planned merge is unconstitutional.^[5] However, on June 31 the Saeima voted to proceed with the merge, which prompted the involvement of the President of Latvia Egils Levits to avoid triggering a constitutional crisis.^[6] Ultimately, a decision was made to postpone the decision on the future of the Varakļāni and Rēzekne municipalities until 2025.^[7] Due to this, the 2021 Latvian local elections for the new municipalities were also held in Varakļāni.^[8][9]

Twin towns — sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Latvia

Rēzekne Municipality is twinned with:^[10]

• Aust-Agder, Norway
• Biržai, Lithuania
• Edineț, Moldova
• Gölbaşı, Turkey
• Kupiškis, Lithuania
• Pastavy, Belarus
• Polotsk, Belarus
• Zgierz, Poland

See also

• Administrative divisions of Latvia

References

1. "Reģionu, novadu, pilsētu un pagastu kopējā un sauszemes platība gada sākumā". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
2. "Iedzīvotāju skaits pēc tautības reģionos, pilsētās, novados, pagastos, apkaimēs un blīvi apdzīvotās teritorijās gada sākumā (pēc administratīvi teritoriālās reformas 2021. gadā)". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
3. "Administratīvo teritoriju un apdzīvoto vietu likums".
4. "ISG020. Population number and its change by statistical region, city, town, 21 development centres and county". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
5. Auers, Dainis (June 2021). "CONTINUITY IN CHANGE? Latvia's Local Governments after Regional Reform and Local Government Elections" (PDF). Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Baltikum - Perspective. ISBN 978-9934-8853-5-8.
6. "President of Latvia expects Varakļāni region status issue to be resolved according to Satversme | Valsts prezidenta kanceleja". www.president.lv. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
7. "Deputies elected in Varaklani: People's election was motivated by the future of the local area after the regional reform". Baltics News. 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
8. Šteinfelde, Ilze (2021-09-13). "The election results confirm that combining Varakļāni and Rēzekne municipalities would be a mistake". Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
9. "Administrative territorial reform comes to force in Latvia". Baltic News Network - News from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
10. "Starptautiskā sadarbība". rezeknesnovads.lv (in Latvian). Rēzeknes novads. Retrieved 2019-09-09.

56°30′46″N 27°20′34″E