Mesdames Vaira and Natalia

Yet the new female President proved to be a politician to the bone literally from her first day in office. As soon as she settled in the Castle of Riga she promised to start taking Russian lessons. "Wait and see, I'll start speaking Russian faster than you do Latvian," she told her Russian-speaking fellow countrymen. (Of course, they felt sure that she would.) And she refused to sign the official language bill which had caused so much chagrin at the Kremlin and even among international human rights organizations. She did so after meeting with OSCE Commissioner Max van der Stoel, accepting his argument, proving wiser than many of the sage Latvian politicians sitting in Parliament.

Why? Because she is a woman? Or maybe because she was raised in a different, far more tolerant society? This makes the distinction between Mmes. Vaira and Natalia [Vitrenko] especially conspicuous, although both were engaged in the scholarly realm before taking up politics.

They were, but in different environments. Thus Mme. Natalia promises to send all her enemies to the devil and Mme. Vaira is concerned about her country's prestige and accord among her citizens. This is why Mme. Natalia is so popular in Ukraine and Mme. Vaira will be popular in Latvia. This is why Latvia will eventually be among the countries considering Ukraine's desire to join Europe and not vice versa.

The fact remains that Mme. Natalia has always lived in Ukraine and Mme. Vaira in Canada. Perhaps if Natalia Vitrenko had lived all her life in Canada we would never recognize her; she would dress differently, use different makeup, have a different complexion, different views on the economy, and a different approach to the people and her country.

If she were that way, this charming woman would be worthy of being elected the next President. We would have no reasons to feel ashamed before the rest of the world.

Or before Mme. Vaira.