Latvia as a Northern European state?

According to Peteris Strautins, Toomas Hendrik Ilves's visit to Latvia is aimed at healing old wounds. Strautins says those wounds were inflicted eight years ago when Ilves said Estonia was not a Baltic but a Nordic state. "Back then we were all feeling very offended. … Yet we too should perhaps cultivate the idea of being part of Northern Europe. The Northern states have an international reputation as leaders in science and research and as economically successful states with humane societies. … The term 'Central and Eastern Europe', on the other hand, was first associated with the desire for freedom and is now associated with populism and the resurgence of an aggressive form of nationalism. We should leave this region as quickly as possible."

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