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Veidemane, Elita
4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Real Latvians don't speak Russian
Latvia's Transport Minister Kaspars Gerhards has refused to speak Russian with the moderator of a television programme. The nationalist conservative daily Neatkarīgā rīta avīze has no problem with the politician's attitude: "Certainly, some believe the move was part of a campaign manoeuvre with which Gerhards wanted to come across to voters as a particularly staunch nationalist. But most people applauded the minister's consistent attitude regarding Latvian as our national language. It's not at all infrequent to hear people say: why didn't this happen sooner? But enlightenment is better late than never. ... Even the president [Valdis Zatlers] holds firmly to his promise and speaks only Latvian, and that is to be welcomed. But the most dramatic example was set in February 2008 by Estonian President Toomas Hendrik, who refused to talk Russian on the grounds that speaking it would mean ignoring 50 years of Soviet occupation."
» full article (external link, Latvian)
More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Minorities, » Languages, » Latvia, » Estonia
Latvia still occupied today
In Latvia the beginning of the Soviet occupation of the county in 1940 is commemorated today, June 17. The daily Neatkarīgā rīta avīze draws parallels between the Latvia of Soviet times and the country today: "This day commemorates the price we paid by imitating a happy Soviet society for 50 years. And today we are still imitating: a democratic, European country inhabited by content people with - let's not deny it - their problems, but problems that can be solved, right? In the past we could give free reign to our dissatisfaction with politics at the kitchen table. Today we do this with comments on the Internet. But it doesn't change anything. The humiliation of the people by those in power is the same suffered during Soviet times - they foist laws on us as they see fit and we consent with our silence. The only difference is that back then it was foreigners while today it's our own people."
» full article (external link, Latvian)
More from the press review on the subject » Remembrance culture, » Latvia, » Russia
Latvia's unknown national holiday
Latvia celebrates Lačplēša Diena (Lačplēša Day) today. On this date Latvians commemorate the country's fallen soldiers. But according to the conservative daily Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze most Latvians have no idea what the date means: "It's hardly surprising that so many Latvians don't know about Lačplēša Diena and attach no importance to it: this is a consequence of education and upbringing in our restored republic, or simply of our cultural policy. The goal is to raise Latvians to be members of an open and liberal society. This means that despite their deeply-entrenched Latvian traditions, people are also open to trends from abroad and celebrate for example Halloween or Valentine's Day, and of course more money can be made selling pumpkin masks and pink hearts. … In Latvia a whole generation has grown up that has learned about the history of its country from films, if at all."
» full article (external link, Latvian)
More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » History, » Weltanschauung, » Latvia
Latvian protest then and now
The daily Neatkariga Rita avize rejects comparisons between the riots of 13 January 2009 in Riga and the fight for independence in 1991: "Back then we were simply fighting for Latvia, as crude as the barricades were back then. At that time our state was still in its infancy, and we ourselves were also children. And at that time we could not imagine our innocent thoughts and hopes would be abused by others for unlawful gain. But are we not also guilty? When times were good we let ourselves be lulled by the European bureaucrats. We closed almost all of our factories because Europe was only interested in us as consumers. We scrapped our ships because Europe already had enough fish. And we sold our land, lured by the promise of so much money in return. Is that what we manned the barricades for in 1991?"
» full article (external link, Latvian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Agriculture, » Economic Policy, » Latvia
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