AKIPRESS.COM - Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs has revealed he is gay in a tweet posted in English to his 14,000 followers.

In the tweet published at around 8pm GMT, the minister said: 'I proudly announce I am gay...good luck all of you.

'Our country has to create a legal status for all kinds of partner relationships, and I will fight for this. I know that there will quickly be mega-hysteria, but #proudtobegay.'

The revelation is a major political statement as Latvia is one of a handful of EU countries that has a ban on same-sex marriage.

There is open hostility to gay people in the country and they are often attacked in the streets or in meeting places.

Elsewhere, a law that would confine sex education in schools to traditional opposite-sex marriage is making its way through Parliament.