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Address by H. E. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President of the Republic of Latvia, to the foreign diplomatic corps in Riga January 14, 2005:
Distinguished dean
of the diplomatic corps,
Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,
I extend my warmest welcome to you all and convey my best wishes
for a successful, happy and peaceful new year.
Unfortunately, the year 2005 has begun on a tragic note, in the
aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Southeast
Asia. I express my deepest sympathies and solidarity to the
representatives of those countries that experienced the loss of
life and property. I also thank those countries that offered
support and assistance to Latvians who were in the region at the
time.
The recovery efforts from this cataclysm are likely to continue
for several years to come, and will require a massive,
coordinated worldwide response. Within its limited means, Latvia
has provided aid for assisting the tsunami victims. I fear that
the international community has learned some bitter lessons from
this tragedy. The world still lacks the means to predict such
events, as well as a workable warning and evacuation
system.
Just a few days ago, Northern Europe was struck by another
natural disaster, albeit one of a much smaller scale than that
which hit Southeast Asia. This calamity took the form of a severe
storm. According to environmental specialists, such extreme
climactic events will become ever more frequent in Europe as a
result of global warming.
Other parts of the world are also being adversely affected by
climate changes that we, as humans, are bringing onto ourselves
through a reckless disregard for our environment. I urge the
governments of the world to pay particular attention to the
growing problem of environmental degradation and to increasing
energy consumption that shows no sign of abating.
The last year has been replete with events that have been both
disconcerting and encouraging. New occurrences of violence and
man’ inhumanity to man have broken out in the Darfur region of
Sudan, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Iraq and
elsewhere.
Yet there have also been heartening developments. The election of
a new Palestinian leader has opened new avenues for dialogue with
Israel, and raised hopes for at last achieving an enduring peace
in the Middle East. The fragile cessation of hostilities achieved
between the Sudani government and the country’s southern-based
rebels is a welcome development, and provides hope that a similar
negotiated settlement may arise in the conflict-ridden Darfur
region.
The successful presidential elections in Afghanistan last year
provided the first opportunity for the Afghan people to express
their will at the ballot box. This represents an important step
toward the establishment of a civil society, and is to be
followed by parliamentary elections later this year. In Iraq,
where parliamentary elections are also scheduled later this
month, the political situation is much more volatile, but we can
only hope that the elections do take place. The newly elected
representatives will then have to work at developing a government
that enjoys widespread legitimacy, the restoration of civil order
and an abatement in the violence that has rocked the country. In
support of these efforts, Latvia remains committed to maintaining
its military contingent as part of the international peacekeeping
forces in Iraq.
Our common dream of world peace still remains an elusive one.
Latvia will continue to take part in peacekeeping operations
wherever they are required, and stands ready to contribute to new
peacemaking initiatives, be they in the Middle East, the Caucasus
or elsewhere.
Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,
This year the United Nations will celebrate its 60th
anniversary. Unfortunately, the challenge of establishing a
collective security system for preventing the occurrence of
widescale killings, systematic rapes and other crimes against
humanity remains as acute as it was in 1945. Another pressing
issue concerns the reform of the Security Council, which has been
on the discussion table for the past 12 years. Although none of
the proposed reform models is beyond reproach, Latvia believes
that with sufficient political will, a workable agreement on a
reformed Security Council could be attained during this
anniversary year.
We are pleased to note that in Ukraine, a serious political
crisis has been averted with the election of President Viktor
Yushchenko. We admire the courage and tenacity of the Ukrainian
people in standing up for their right to obtain fair elections
without falsification and interference. Latvia is ready to offer
Ukraine wholehearted support in all its efforts to consolidate
freedom, protect democracy and ensure the rule of law, as well as
to reform and to restructure its economy.
This incoming year 2005 is deeply significant for Latvia in that
it marks a number of important anniversaries. First, these very
days of January mark the 100th anniversary of the
Revolution of 1905, which lasted a whole year but was brutally
suppressed by Tsarist forces. Nevertheless, that revolution
played an important role in heightening in our own people a
resolve to fight for their rights and laid the foundations for
the creation of an independent Latvian state 13 years later, in
1918.
In May of this year, Latvia will be celebrating its first
anniversary as a full member State of the European Union and the
NATO Alliance. For Latvia, accession to these two international
bodies signified the final, concluding chapter of a tragedy that
began in 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union secretly
agreed to divide Central and Eastern Europe amongst themselves.
It signified the end of the immoral and outdated division of
Europe into artificial spheres of influence. And it marked the
return of my country to an extended European family of free and
democratic nations.
As the President of a new member of the European Union, I
congratulate the Netherlands on a successful presidency, during
which accession talks were concluded with Bulgaria and Romania,
and during which a consensus was reached regarding the beginning
of accession talks with Turkey and Croatia. Latvia views the
continuing expansion of the European Union as a priority, along
with the adoption of the new European constitution. The
implementation of the Lisbon Strategy for rendering Europe
economically more competitive remains on our common agenda as
well.
After pegging the lat to the euro on January 1st of
this year, Latvia plans to adopt the euro as its currency in
2008. As to the Schengen visa regime, Latvia foresees acceding to
it by the year 2007.
We hope that a political agreement will be reached during the
current presidency of Luxembourg regarding the EU’s financial
perspective for the years 2007-2013. Latvia is seriously
concerned about the current ceilings regarding the allocation of
cohesion funds, under which Latvia, as the least prosperous of
the EU member states, would receive the least support per capita.
At a time when we are earnestly striving to attain the same
standard of living as the more developed EU member countries,
such ceilings place my country at an unfair disadvantage.
Another priority for Latvia is strengthening a Common Foreign and
Security Policy for Europe, and to ensure that Europe speaks with
one voice as much as this is possible. The substantial EU
assistance provided for assistance to the tsunami victims in
Southeast Asia, the important role of the EU in monitoring the
recent presidential elections in Ukraine, the takeover of NATO
military peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, all these
are just some examples of Europeans’ ability to work successfully
together.
The European Union has also made great strides in developing its
military capacities under a European Security and Defence Policy.
Latvia has begun preparations for creating an EU Battle Group by
the year 2009 or 2010 together with Lithuania, Poland, Germany
and Slovakia. Nevertheless, Latvia continues to view NATO as a
necessary and complementary organization for maintaining Europe’s
security, and for dealing with such security threats as the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the outbreak of
regional conflicts and the spread of terrorism.
The United States and Canada continue to be our important allies
and partners with whom strong links must be maintained and
cultivated. It is to be hoped that the upcoming visit by
President Bush to Europe in February next will serve to
strengthen the Transatlantic partnership between Europe and North
America. Latvia is also ready to contribute to the NATO Response
Force and believes that the resources and functions between
NATO’s Response Forces and the EU’s Battle Groups should be
wisely allocated to ensure their maximum efficiency and avoid a
needless duplication in functions. My country is eager to host
the next NATO summit in 2006 or 2007 and hopes that a positive
decision will be made to the effect later this year.
Ladies and gentlemen,
2005.gada 14.janvārī Rīgas pilī rīkotajā pieņemšanā par godu Jaunajam gadam: Latvijas Valsts prezidente Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga uzrunā ārvalstu diplomātisko korpusu Foto: Normunds Mežiņš, A.F.I. |
In May of this year, Latvia will
also be remembering three other important events. On May the
4th, Latvia will commemorate the 15th
anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet
Union, following fifty years of occupation and oppression.
On May the 8th, Latvia will join Europe in celebrating
the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi
Germany. However, unlike the case in Western Europe, the fall of
the hated Nazi German empire did not result in my country’s
liberation. Instead, the three Baltic countries of Latvia,
Estonia and Lithuania were subject to another brutal occupation
by another foreign, totalitarian empire, that of the Soviet
Union.
On May the 9th, Latvia and 24 other countries will
celebrate the 55th anniversary of the signing of the
Schuman Declaration, which gave rise to what is now known as the
European Union. These celebrations will be taking place in
Moscow, on the same date that Russia traditionally celebrates its
victory over Nazi Germany.
For Latvia, the jubilation at the fall of Hitler will be tinged
with sorrow at my country’s further subjugation at the hands of
the Soviet Union and the untold suffering that it imposed on our
people as a result of inhuman persecution and mass deportations.
But on May the 9th I will be expressing my sympathy to
the Russian people as well for their losses and suffering. The
Russian people played an important part in ridding Europe of one
bloodthirsty tyrant – Hitler. But they, no more than people in
Latvia and other countries, did not gain freedom from Stalinist
tyranny and from the oppression of totalitarian Communism.
In attending the official events planned in Moscow on May the
9th, I will be extending a hand of friendship and
reconciliation to the Russian people, while encouraging the
present-day leadership of their country to denounce the crimes
committed by the Stalinist in regime Latvia and elsewhere in
Central and Eastern Europe. I believe it the duty of all
democratic countries to urge Russia to condemn the crimes that
were committed during the Soviet era in the name of communism.
Russia must face up and come to honest terms with its history,
just as Germany did following the end of the Second World War,
and just as my own country is doing today.
In closing, I would like to thank each and every one of you for
the close and fruitful cooperation that we have achieved together
in many areas during the past year. I am very pleased at the
expansion of our foreign diplomatic corps with the arrival of the
Belgian and Spanish ambassadors in Riga, and at the opening of a
Kazakh representative office. I also look forward to the opening
of the Embassies of Ireland and Turkey later this year.
My husband and I wish a happy and prosperous New Year to you and
to your families. May the year 2005 bring peace, prosperity and
happiness to our nations and to our people.