Free Republic

Latvian leader remembers good, bad times in Canada By CHRIS JOHNSTON JURMALA, Latvia (CP) - Over a lifetime that has seen her go from a refugee in Morocco to a professor in Canada to the president of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga has learned that countries, like people, must pass through different phases. It's easy then to understand why the 68-year-old "Mother Latvia" - as she's affectionately known by some here - feels a bit like a proud parent while watching her country host this month's International Ice Hockey Federation championship. "It demonstrates that Latvia has achieved maturity as a country that...

A confrontation between the Baltic States and Eastern European countries, and Russia on how the significance of the end of the World War II should be interpreted intensified last week with harsh statements made by Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. "On May 9, Russian people will place a Caspian roach on a newspaper, drink vodka, sing folk songs, and recall how they had heroically conquered the Baltic area," RIA-Novosti cited her saying Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry made a quick and stinging response. "This public expression by the head of the Latvian state is deeply regretful," it said in a statement...

The notorious 1939 pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that divided up much of eastern Europe is open only to historical re-evaluation, a Kremlin spokesman said Saturday, suggesting that Moscow isn't prepared to support a legally binding renouncement of the agreement. "At present, only the historical evaluation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact is possible," Dmitry Peskov, deputy press secretary to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters. "There is no possibility of its juridical evaluation due to current realities." He did not elaborate, but the statement appears to dampen expectations, created this week by Estonian President Arnold Ruutel, that the Kremlin...

Riga. (Interfax) - Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has urged the international community to make Moscow acknowledge crimes the Soviet Union committed during Communist rule. All democratic countries ought to ask Russia to condemn the crimes committed in the Soviet era for the sake of Communism. Russia must acknowledge the darkest periods in its history, as Germany did after WWII, Vike-Freiberga said at a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Latvia. In May 2005, Latvia will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the declaration of its independence, an event that put an end to the 50-year long Soviet occupation, she said. Latvia, together...

Russian politician, Deputy State Duma Chairman Vladimir Zhirinovsky provoked a diplomatic scandal which resulted in worsening the relations between Russia and Latvia. On March 24 Mr. Zhirinovsky expressed criticism to Latvia"s joining NATO and the reform of Russian language schools in an interview to Latvian TV. Zhirinovsky predicted terrorist attacks on Latvia and said, "Latvia will be destroyed. Empty space will be there. Absolutely nothing will remain from Latvia. Everybody will forget the words "Latvia" and "the Latvian language". There will be nothing in Latvia, forever. We will destroy everything. If you touch Russians and Russian schools. I assure you....