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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...

Soviets never annexed the Baltic states: Putin Correspondents in Moscow and Washington May 07, 2005 RUSSIA has angrily denied that the Soviet Union ever annexed the Baltic states, fuelling a bitter dispute that is threatening to overshadow Victory in Europe Day celebrations in Moscow on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that there was no need to apologise further for the "tragedy" inflicted on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as the Soviet act had already been condemned. But he kept to the Kremlin line that the Soviet Union took over the three states by agreement rather than force. "In effect,...

RIGA, Latvia -- As the president of a country that suffered immensely under Soviet and Nazi rule, I recently faced a dilemma. I had to decide whether to accept an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend a rally in Moscow on Monday. That is the date when Russia traditionally celebrates its military victory over Nazi Germany, and this year is particularly significant, as it marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Numerous heads of state and government, including George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder and Silvio Berlusconi, had already said they...

RIGA, Latvia -- As the president of a country that suffered immensely under Soviet and Nazi rule, I recently faced a dilemma. I had to decide whether to accept an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend a rally in Moscow on Monday. That is the date when Russia traditionally celebrates its military victory over Nazi Germany, and this year is particularly significant, as it marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Numerous heads of state and government, including George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder and Silvio Berlusconi, had already said they...

Frankly speaking, I can't be objective when talking about upcoming May 9 60th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany to be marked in Russia and throughout the fmr. Soviet Union. Without exaggeration, the 1941-1945 Soviet-German War (aka "Great Patriotic War") touched nearly everyone in the fmr. Soviet Union and became the bloodiest chapter of the WWII. If you are from the former USSR and even if you are born after the World War II, you are likely to have a parent, grandparent or other family member or someone your family knew who went to the war. You or your...

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...