Riga

Kevin's Favorite capital of the week (March 23, 2014): Riga, the Capital of Latvia

One of the biggest stories out of Riga before it joined the Eurozone on January 1^st 2014 was the collapse of a supermarket that killed 54 people and injured 41 others, and also precipitated the resignation of the then prime minister, Valdis Dombrovskis. The supermarket was apparently not built to regulatory standards and was not noticed by those who should have. Thoughts on the Latvian government's effectiveness are not kind from the view of most news agencies.

Thoughts about regulatory restructuring and management have been put on hold by most officials in Riga though, with the advent of the Ukraine crisis and the annexing of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula by Latvia's gigantic Eastern neighbour, Russia. As Lativia, until 1991, was part of the USSR and there is a large Russian minority in Latvia, Russian president, Vladimir Putin's talk of “being the president (and “protector”) of all Russian speakers” regardless of where they live, is likely jangling some nerves in Riga. Given that a large amount of trade is done between Russia and Latvia, the sanctions that the EU is intending to impose on trade with Russia, will not help Latvia's situation. Perhaps adding to the tensions, US Vice President Joe Biden, recently announced the possibility of the US sending ground troops to the Baltics (including Latvia) to help bolster the Eastern NATO allies against Russian aggression. This came after the sending of a dozen F16 jets to Polish air bases and the expanding of US military training in Poland to help its army modernize.

Back in Latvia, there has been constant tensions growing between the Latvian majority and the Russian speaking minority (some of whom can barely speak Latvian), since independence. Not helping with this cultural clash is the, now former, Latvian Environment minister and member of the (Latvian Nationalist) National Alliance (NA) party, Einars Cilinskis, who was recently fired from his post by the Prime Minister, Laimdota Straujuma (the first woman to be so in Latvia), for joining a march of Latvian veterans who fought in the Waffen SS Nazi units during World War 2, through the streets of Riga. Many Latvians do consider the veterans heroes, as they fought against the Soviet Union to free Latvia. There is no need to mention that the veterans were all ethnically Latvian and probably not huge fans of Russians, especially the sizable Russian minority in Latvia. Like all nationalist parties, the NA plays on the fears of the majority and uses them to try and pass discriminatory laws, fortunately they only 14 seats in parliament. They will not likely be helpful in Latvia's relations with Russia in these precarious times. Hopefully Mr. Putin will not decide that such parties being allowed in state politics in Latvia poses a threat to his fellow Russians there.

 We would like to go to Riga some day, but perhaps this would not be the best year to do it. Perhaps 2015 will be a less tense year for Riga and hopefully still part of an independent Latvia.