“We have a great potential for cooperation and we will work towards its realization”
The Baltic States, particularly Latvia, have come a long way in their advancement towards Europe. In this they went far ahead of all the other post-Soviet countries. The experience of our Baltic neighbors in transforming a country according to European standards is extremely valuable to us. It is no accident, that Ukraine is closely studying the achievements and challenges of its Latvian friends. Our countries have great prospects for cooperation in economy, cultural and political spheres. The Day discussed these issues with the President of Latvia Andris Berzins during his last visit to Ukraine.
Ukraineis preparing to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union in November of this year. How can Latvia, given its experience of joining the EU, contribute to this process?
“The European Union was founded with the main goal to end the wars on the continent. Our peoples understand it especially well. This task was well fulfilled, now the main issues are the state of economy and finances. It is all about the common budget, however, euroskeptics are concerned with what they see as the loss of part of sovereignty. I don’t think that that’s the case. Therefore, I don’t see any major reasons that would prevent further integration.
“Economic development is quite rapid and the European Union has done much to speed up the process. Although there are still problems at this point, there is a main goal to look for other ways for development. We should analyze the achievements and the shortcomings in order to change those aspects that hinder the further development. After all, we managed to create common market for almost 500 million people. Even for countries like Germany and France it meant more opportunities.
“In this regard I see no reason why Ukraine, a big country rich in natural resources, should not be among the majority of European countries. You have a good basis for moving towards Europe. But you still need to do a lot inside the country to get it closer to the European standards. Things like that do not happen fast. Eastern Germany hasn’t reached the level of the western part of the country in 20 years with all the help provided to it. The aid provided to the east Germany was much greater than that provided to Latvia or any other country. It will take yet another 15 years for Eastern Germany to get to the same level of standards as Western Germany. It is way too optimistic to assume that such changes will take place in two generations. We also had certain difficulties – but this happens all the time. When you enter into a new system, you have to change many things and it is necessary to keep the balance between what is new and what is already familiar.
“Latvia is now fully open. We borrowed a lot of necessary and useful things and made considerable progress in country’s development. However, new problems arise. The main task for us now is to keep people in their homeland. They are able to freely move not only within Europe, but, in fact, all over the world. Accordingly, they have the freedom of choice, which they actively use. You also have this problem even though Ukraine is not yet fully open. It is understandable that people are looking for a place where they feel better, where they can realize their potential. For Latvia it is a great problem.”
Next year Latvia plans to adopt the euro. Is this move perhaps a little bit hasty, given the fact that the eurozone is experiencing a crisis at the moment? Many experts predict that some countries will soon leave it.
“For Latvia the situation is somewhat different. Right at the beginning after we stopped using Soviet rubles we switched to lats. This currency correlated with the currency basket of the US dollar and German mark, and later to euro. Estonia and Lithuania did the same. We should remember that the Central Bank is not a currency control tool in Latvia. Therefore, any issues with the national currency lat are very painful. Entering the eurozone will give Latvia the right to vote on financial matters of the Union. If things happening in Europe affect us anyway, it is better to have the right to vote and declare our position in some way. Besides, it is much easier to solve problems together then when you are on your own, especially for a small country like Latvia.
“However, I’d like to stress again that there are problems: dollar is devalued, the emission increases. It is much easier to keep export rates for export-oriented economy of Latvia within the eurozone. However, every step, especially as responsible as this one, has its pros and cons. But I do not see any reason to wait, difficulties and problems need to be solved and overcome. There is also no much sense in lagging behind.”
Latviahas rather gotten over its Soviet past. How did you manage to do so?
“It was rather difficult and, of course, there are various estimates of that period. In any large system the power of inertia is great. The speed and depth of changes can be compared with those that took place in Poland, which went through the same things at about the same time. For a country as big as yours it would be even more difficult. The complexity of the issue increases dramatically if there is a big difference between the very rich and the very poor. When a person wakes up in the morning and finds nothing in his pocket, he does not know what he is going to eat, but sees a billionaire who suddenly appeared next to him, it is much harder to overcome the past. These are not the evolutionary but the revolutionary processes in the minds of people.
“Things were somewhat easier in Latvia in some ways. There were no such resources in the country like Ukraine has. There was nothing that could become a reason to fight until complete destruction of your competitors.
“And another thing is that in time between the two world wars, when Latvia was an independent state, we had solved the land problem. There are various opinions on how it was done, but nevertheless, there appeared land owners and the middle class. This became the basis for transformations. Even deportation and destruction of many of those people didn’t change the social psychology significantly. Then the old owners or their successors returned and they too carried a different perception, different atmosphere. Nearly every house in Riga had its owner, some of the houses were returned to them or their heirs. Now they again are the owners.
“This was possible even despite the deportations. March 25 will mark the anniversary of what happened in 1949, when more than 40,000 women and children were deported in one night. Things like that happened in Ukraine on even a larger scale. I have been to a museum and I was touched by how these memories are preserved.”
Russia frequently criticizes Latvia for its language policy. This issue is quite complicated for Ukraine too. What is the actual situation in Latvia in the sphere of language use?
“It might seem strange, but I see the situation to be quite the opposite. I think that we are too liberal. The fact that we have one state language is natural and normal. Russia has one state language too. Although there are conditions for introduction of other languages as state ones, nobody is arguing regarding this and is not raising such question.
“In the European Union nobody opens special schools for others. We have Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Estonian, Lithuanian, and other schools. This is the way things were in Latvia between the two world wars and the way they are now. This is inherent to the Latvian state and nobody is going to change this situation. There were even German schools, but all the German population of Latvia left the country before 1941, that’s why there are no German schools in Latvia nowadays.
“Besides, there are no contradictions related to the language issue. Students study five languages in our schools: surely their native tongue, for example, Ukrainian, Latvian, Russian, of course English, and lately French and German have become quite popular. We have a wonderful Ukrainian school. We spend a lot of money on it but we believe that it is important and even, in fact, beneficial. We receive textbooks and books from Ukraine to maintain Ukrainian language culture in Latvia.
“I take part in meetings of the Council of National Minorities, where prominent scholars, teachers, and culture activists discuss various issues, including ones related to language use.
“Latvia has a great interest in Ukraine. I have been to Kyiv many times already and every time I come here I don’t feel that I came to some strangers. We have great potential for cooperation and we will work towards its realization.”
