Frustration of the Day

Feb 19

AleksDoesn't Fit Anywhere Else 26 Comments

RIGA – I talked to someone last night about the grand disillusionment in the ability of the people of Latvia to govern themselves. Before Latvia joined the EU, it adopted a series of reforms with a goal of joining the EU in mind, as opposed to evaluating whether policies are good for the people of this country. After Latvia joined the EU, she appeared to have decided to take a holiday from policy-making, creating havoc in the economy, which eventually overheated and stalled. Now she’s standing on the crutches supported by the EU and the IMF who will help her along the way to join the eurozone in a few years time. But after that, she’ll just surrender most of her independence to Frankfurt, Brussels, Washington and never learning to govern herself for the benefit of her own people.

26 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. joanna
    Feb 19, 2010 @ 14:14:08

    The question that comes to mind is what are you doing about it to build the capacity by which people can govern themselves? It takes time to move from a mindset of doing what your told or kicking against it to actually making those decisions for yourself. Very few people in reality are that proactive anyway. So how do you think people can move to that mindset, what questions do they need to be asking of each other and of their leaders? How do they organise in order to bring that change about? What should be taught in the schools? First the teachers will need to be taught first before they can pass it on. We can all moan, we can all hold up a mirror and say look, but that doesn’t always produce the right results. Well better stop now before writing an essay. (Just in case you are wondering I am actually a Brit living in Latvia and I love living here)

  2. Aleks
    Feb 19, 2010 @ 14:44:04

    Hi Joanna:

    Thanks for the comment. And welcome to Latvia. (In case you’re wondering I like living here. It’s not the best country in the world ™, but it’s home.)

    How to increase the capacity of people to govern themselves is a good question. I am a firm believer in education. I think a good quality education’s the key. It’s cutting the red tape in the area of education, inviting teachers from other countries, including foreign Latvians, to teach at Latvia’s university, promoting multi-linguistic environment, investing in research and development, promoting fair policies for research, fighting against plagiarism, encourage international publications in peer-reviewed journals. I’d promote critical thinking in the sphere of education, in general. I think for Latvia, good education should not mean the number of institutions of high learning we have, but the quality of the end product, i.e. graduates. That means whether they’re able to find a good job, instead of just getting a diploma of completion. I think then, the new generation of leaders will come about and bring change in the government sector, economy, etc. But I’ll save more for another blog post. ;)

  3. Ricardo
    Feb 19, 2010 @ 18:35:06

    What is really frustrating is comparing discourses and narratives from big-rich European countries and small-poor European ones. People from small and poor always talk extremely bad about own country. Do you ever listen to English, French and German people talking so badly about their own countries? Is it because their countries are perfect and there are no problems? Look: French people will never say their city mayors cannot run cities after more than 3000 cars have been burnt in cities all across France. Germans will never say they are becoming a paranoid and violent society eventhough shooting sprees at schools are becoming normal events. If it is not Latvians, Portuguese, Bulgarians, etc. to support their own countries and to praise and be proud of them, no one will ever will. There is no need to criticize Latvia’s politicians and societies: The Economist, Fiancial Times, Le Monde, Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung and so on already spend dozens and dozens of pages saying Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Iceland and so on are stupid, non-civilized, stupid countries with stupid politicians rulling stupid socities. Do you think Latvia is really that bad? I mean, even considering all the economic and financial troubles in Latvia, do you really think it is bad and inferior compared with Belgium, Germany, England and the US?

  4. joanna
    Feb 20, 2010 @ 11:26:29

    Hi Aleks I agree with you, I think the quality of education has to improve along with critical thinking skills. I am studying online with a Scottish institute (UHI) and I hope to gain a qualification in Managing Sustainable Rural Development so hopefully I can help by applying what I learn.

    Ricardo I don’t think Latvia is that bad and to listen to the Brits you would think that is one of the worst places to live, we are moaners too. One of the reasons I love Latvia is the way that the Latvians go out of there way to ensure that we don’t get ripped off, if we try to buy something expensive they nearly always show us a similar product at a cheaper price even if it means they don’t get as much money (we don’t live in Riga so maybe it would be different there or elsewhere). They try to be so helpful but I know we frighten many of them to death because of our lack of language – it should be the other way around. I do respect though the resilience and tenacity in the face of the crisis, the willingness to accept past faults as a failing but I don’t like the sense of despair and the lack of trust between Latvians. I think Latvia has so much to offer and I for one intend to stay here and help in whatever way I can.

  5. gl
    Feb 20, 2010 @ 15:11:35

    hello

    I think the problem come mainly from your useless government but also from the mentality of latvian people themself. The president of latvia is only a marionet for the americain, they do what the american told them to do. Every time I read your comment, It seem like there is 99.99% of latvian are living in latvia and all is about only themself, school, political, language, is it true, why we never heard about the 40% of russian people that live in latvia. They dont seem to be part of the country, dont want them anywhere, I think most of your problem is right in front of your eye, but you have to open your eye to see the reality. Accept them to be part of the country as they are anyway, give to all of them the right to vote, to have their own school and the right to go to latvian academic school (I know a young russian talent boy who was refused to go in latvian university because they want keep latvian first there) and to speak their own language and remove the stupid ALIEN passport that is only good to stay near latvia in europe, I am talking about people that live and work in latvia for over 20, 30 and 40 years. Usually we got what we deserved, no wonder latvia is in this bad situation and will be for many years to come but latvia is a nice country I agre but not a good place for living, not now anyway.

  6. Aleks
    Feb 20, 2010 @ 22:25:46

    What does Latvian mentality and the “uselessness” of our government have to do with a person’s ability or inability to travel to Canada? What does the debate of the role of the president of Latvia have to do with the discrimination against Russians?

    You brought up the issue of identity of the ethnic Russians living in Latvia. Yes, it’s a problem. But it’s not a discrimination. I myself have confused and conflicting identities, but I don’t feel discriminated against by the government. There’s a difference, you see. I certainly don’t believe that Latvia is 99.9 percent Latvian as I have written extensively about the Russian culture that is in Latvia. The issue at stake is Russians themselves. Many don’t want to belong to this country, others are angry, and again others are still living in the Soviet Union. Maybe other Russians do not know their own culture and history. When people here say stuff about the Russian culture that needs to be saved, I’m usually asking the question what is that culture? If some Russians feel alien and they don’t feel like they belong in this country, well, then why should they have any different passport?

    The stupid alien passports, by the way, can be easily eliminated if people go and naturalize. No one will prevent anyone to obtaining the passport of the citizen of Latvia. If people don’t want to belong to this country, why should they complain? The country itself cannot force them to belong here. They have to do their share.

    I cannot comment about the boy who wanted to get into the Latvian university and was refused because he was a Russian. I can tell you that my cousin, an ethnic Russian, from the countryside, is now a second-year student at the Latvian university. I can tell you that my friend, an ethnic Russian, is also studying in Latvian at a Latvian university. I do not know of anyone who would be refused to study at a university because of their ethnicity.

  7. gl
    Feb 21, 2010 @ 16:40:36

    Hi Alek
    My friend want get out of latvia very badly, why the government dont give a normal passport so she can get out tomorrow morning, she was born in latvia 50 years ago, what is wrong with this government, she is right to complaint ,you have passport because you were born long time after I think, no it is better force people to speak latvian then they can have a passport to go where noone speal latvian, , what is the point of speaking latvian in canada, they should force people to speak english to have a passpost so they can get out faster of latvia if this is they really want…….
    Government know very well many people can not learn easy because of their age and will be force to stay in latvia forever and their family as well, work there , pay tax.

    in canada, anyone can have a passport, alien passport do not exist because it is again the law, again the logic that you dont seem to understand. When you live long time in one place then you missunderstand many thing around yourself and only believe the media around you. no hard feeling, DOBRE DIN , ATA

  8. Pierre
    Feb 22, 2010 @ 16:56:40

    Anyone in Canada can have a passport… if they are born there or naturalise. It is pretty much the same process as in Latvia, although being born in Latvia does not necessarily garantee citizenship if neither parent is a Latvian citizen (you can correct me on this fine point, Aleks). No one in Canada gets citizenship only because they have lived there a long time.

  9. Ricardo
    Feb 23, 2010 @ 15:09:43

    The post is about hopes and disillusionment in Latvia since before it joined European Union, it is not about the situation of ethnic Russians living in Latvia.

    Anyway, it would be supreme irony to say that the economic and financial problems in Latvia today were caused by the supposed discrimination ethnic Russians suffer in Latvia.

    Less far-fetched and much more fair would be to say that if Latvia had not been invaded and russified in 1940 (or so, cfr. Wiki), it could very well have belonged to the West bloc which could mean that today Latvia would be already much richer, developed and so on. Also, had Russia never invaded, for instance, Estonia, Latvia, Lituania, these countries might have stayed non-communist and might have joined European Union (then European Economic Community) dozens and dozens of year ago.

    Of course, this is a “what-if, what-if” kind of argument. But still this argument is much more convincing that claiming that today’s economic problems in Latvia are a consequence of Latvians badly treating Russians…

    As of comments about education and its impact in making society and politicians more civic minded… well, this is one of those never ending discussions. Germany was already one of the best educated societies and still it accepted anti-semitism and voted for Hitler. At the international univ where I study, I realize that excellent curricula, knowledge of many foreign languages and so on is far from being enough to wipe nationalisms, stereotypes and other forms of discrimination away from the hearts and brains of people. Very highly educated people still mock with stupid southern-europeans, joke about Polish people who still cars, ridicules “all those yugoslavian gypsies”, makes fun of “Aids-infected baltic peoples” and so on and so forth.

    No, education is far from being enough: the difference between an highly educated “racist” and an “ordinary one” is that the first is clever enough to use sarcasm which protects him (“I didn’t really meant it, it was just a joke”).

    No simple solutions exist to make a society and politicians better. But I don’t believe a discourse of self-rejection helps much either.

  10. Aleks
    Feb 24, 2010 @ 12:09:06

    Quick answer, as I’m pressed for time at the moment:

    Pierre is right, anyone (with very rare exceptions) in Latvia can obtain the passport through naturalization. Your friend can pass the language test and the history test and obtain the citizenship. If she cannot speak Latvian, then ask yourself, how can a person who has been born in Latvia and has lived here for 50 years be unable to communicate in Latvian? Are there any Canadian-born Canadians unable to speak English/French? I highly doubt it.

    It’s not about what the Government needs to do, it’s about what your friend could do to remedy her situation.

    As to Ricardo: it is absolutely more than education when it comes to responsible citizenry. It comes to changing the culture. In the post-Soviet Latvia rarely anyone gets fired or steps down amidst the accusation of impropriety. So to get the end result, it’s of course a combination of educated public, and self-critical and critical media.

  11. Asehpe
    Mar 02, 2010 @ 02:07:23

    I think experience and a desire to keep trying are important, too (not simply education). I come from a country (Brazil) where we were often told, back in the late ’70s, that we “weren’t ready for democracy”, that Brazilians “simply wouldn’t know what to do with the power”, that we were “too stupid to make the right decisions”, etc. At first this was sort of true (up until when we elected Fernando Collor). Now… I think it is possible to say that Brazil has finally developed a political culture that makes real debate and real decision-making a real possibility. Of course there still are demagogues, but the people are learning what to do about them.

    The same should be true for Latvia. Keep going, Latvians; keep believing in your country; don’t despair; get the best education you can; and keep trying to choose the right politicians. Eventually you’ll get the hang of it! :-)

    I’m actually very interested in your country, and in the Baltics in general, so much that I am currently trying to learn Latvian (and Estonian). Maybe someday I’ll visit this beautiful country — maybe not the best in the world, but certainly far from the worst! :-)

  12. Bea
    Mar 04, 2010 @ 17:10:18

    Well, what Zatlers told to the LATVIANS of Canada was certainly a plain rhetorical figure to mean that he as a Latvian loved Latvia the most of all countries in the world (no matter how good some were) simply because Latvia was the country he was born in. It was said to other Latvians to mean that they should try to love Latvia, learn Latvian language, get to know the Latvian culture and respect it even if they are gonna stay in Canada and never even visit Latvia in their lives. Zatlers didn’t mean more than to encourage Latvians of Canada to respect and preserve their Latvianness as part of what they were.

  13. Ernesto
    Mar 17, 2010 @ 21:30:43

    Let’s think in one guy who was born in 1989, his parents were born 1969 and his grandfather and granmother in 1949. All of them were born in Latvia but they’re ethnic Russian, that’s why this guy doesn’t have the citizenship. All his family lost all they political rights with the independence and He doesn’t speak latvian or he doesn’t want to apply for naturalization (he can think that it is a humilliation ’cause his family has worked and lived in Latvia since 1947 -for instance-).

    This guy has not citizenship, in french way of political theory would be that he doesn’t have nationality. And of course, he can’t vote in elections (but any other European Union citizenship can do it in European elections and even for the city council elections -the most of them don’t speak latvian and they don’t care about it). Is this fair?

    Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

    Article 15
    1.Everyone has the right to a nationality*.
    2.No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

    *Nationality it’s understood as citizenship in Latvia

  14. Aleks
    Mar 18, 2010 @ 09:38:46

    I’m curious. If this hypothetical person had lived in Latvia for three generations, why wouldn’t he speak Latvian? Does that even make sense in the European context? I mean, if he had attended a Latvian school, he wouldn’t have had to pass the language test and the naturalization requirements would be much easier for him.

    The point is though that his family never had the Latvian citizenship. I.e. they never had a Latvian nationality in this context. His family members were citizens of the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union collapsing, the citizenship had also disappeared. Now, Russia as a country that claims to inherit the Soviet Union, can offer citizenship to the former Soviet citizens without naturalization. Latvia does not. And as any Russian citizen, this person would not be able to participate in any elections. And you just had to add another hypothetical – if his great-grandfather was born in 1929 in Latvia, then he’d qualify for citizenship.

    For the record, in today’s Latvia the citizenship issue in the context of citizens or non-citizens is not hot any more. As the number of non-citizens is now about 10 percent and shrinking.

  15. Ernesto
    Mar 19, 2010 @ 10:10:27

    - Can not be so naive. Latvia wasn’t an independent country (was occupied), and therefore, is sadly normal that many people didn’t know the national language during the Soviet Union’s years. This phenomenon has occurred in all countries that achieved independence, including some such as Ireland, who have failed to save their language. Moreover, in Latvia and in Riga in particular, has always been people who did not speak Latvian, in fact Riga has never been a majoritarian latvian speaking place (with the exception of the interwar period which was preceded by a movement of population of hundreds of thousands of people – mostly ethnic russians).

    - If these people take Russian citizenship they should leave the territory or manage their residence permit like any other foreigner (but of course most of them they are not rich so… I’m pretty sure that most of them would be “illegal inmigrants” -curios in the land where they born).

    - This issue was considered at length and the European Union. We are not a few fools who came through here to expose it. From a liberal view is incocebible. In fact, if the problem of non-citizens is getting smaller (the latest figure is 15% of the population, or what is the same, more than 300,000 people. Source: http://www.csb.gov.lv/, relatively could be more, anyone knows how many Latvian citizens are currently living in Latvia?) is partly because the EU has imposed several conditions, such as admitting that all the children of aliens born after 1991 will got the citizenship…

    ps: I’m agree that in the hypothetical case this person, who doesn’t speak latvian, is not fair with the latvian society, but human rights is not about subjectivities, that’s why every year you have a report from International Amnesty telling that Latvia is breaking the human rights.

  16. Aleks
    Mar 19, 2010 @ 10:27:37

    You keep saying they were born in Latvia. If Latvia was occupied, there was no Latvia for them to be born in. They were born in the Soviet Union, regardless of in which republic the actual birth took place.

    The point is not achieving independence, but restoring it. The comparison to Ireland doesn’t stand for that reason.

    Those who take Russian citizenship do get residence permits, just like any other foreigner. And it is not so expensive. Most people however fail to inform the Latvian authorities that they accept another citizenship and live here in a legal loophole. Not as illegal immigrants though

    We’re talking about the citizenship of Latvia, not of Riga. So I don’t see how the cosmopolitan Riga is relevant to the issue of citizenship. Riga is not Latvia, you know.

    I’m not sure what immigration has to do with the percentage of non-citizens. If people go to work in the UK they don’t automatically give up their citizenship.

  17. Aleks
    Mar 19, 2010 @ 10:32:54

    P.S., a residence permit for those who have been Latvian noncitizens cost Ls 20 (about 30 euros).

  18. Ernesto
    Mar 20, 2010 @ 12:11:50

    OK Aleks, tnx 4 the info. One more question, 20 lats it’s the price for the permit, but I guess they should have a work and maybe with the same minimun conditions for anyother nationality outside the UE, which is a salary of 400 lats, isn’t it?

  19. Aleks
    Mar 20, 2010 @ 22:37:08

    As far as I know there’s no requirement for work. Non-citizens who decide to become Russian citizens appear to have a category of their own when it comes to residency requirements. The problem is some people who become Russian citizens do not always inform Latvian authorities of their choice.

  20. Ernesto
    Mar 21, 2010 @ 11:55:16

    Thank you very much for the information and argument, :) nice blog

  21. Branislaw
    Mar 24, 2010 @ 23:13:07

    You are delusional if you believe that Latvia will gain entry into the Eurozone in “a few years”. Mr. Almunia recently projected 2015-2018. And he said even then he was doubtful of those time-lines because of what he referred to as; “structural neglect, and abandonment”.

    I am an economist and believe Latvia may never see the Euro, they will be pegged for eternity. As Mr. Almunia states, Latvia just simply will never have the quality policy makers it needs. He blames its economic situation and poor education system, I believe it may also have to do with a (perceived) masochistic view of an entire nation.

    Bronislaw Jedrzejewicz
    Toronto, Canada

  22. bomzis
    Mar 25, 2010 @ 11:17:46

    bronishlav, please dont waste our time with invented quotes, its a joke, almunia never said that anywhere.

    bomzis
    Toronto, Canada

  23. gaetan lizotte
    Mar 27, 2010 @ 00:40:01

    pierre , you dont seem to understand, she wan not only living in riga, she was B.O.R.N., my friend was BORN and live in latvia for 50 year but she is an ALIEN (WHAT A RETARDED NAME IS THAT). IF she was born in canada she will be CANADIAN citizen and dont need pass a language test or history test and will have all the benefit and access to a passport. PERIOD

    ERNESTO you are right in many think, may be you are more smart that’s all
    Article 15 from Human right.
    everyone has the right to nationality.

    anyway, latvia will never be the same.

  24. Bronislaw
    Mar 27, 2010 @ 01:05:13

    “bomzis” anti-Polonism is serious. Perhaps you should reconsider your childishness.

    Everything I had stated was direct translations (i am quoting the translator) of a summit meeting I saw in Geneva, in which Mr. Almunia made it clear there had been “a decade of structural neglect, and abandonment of the Latvian economic regulatory system.” He later went on to outline the lack of good government and “quality policy makers” that we see in other eastern-EU nations such as the good government of Poland.

    If you are refuting any of these basic incontestable claims then you are simply too uneducated to be worth my entertainment.

    Bronislaw Jedrzejewicz
    Toronto, Canada

  25. bomzis
    Mar 27, 2010 @ 20:16:08

    bonsislav

    i’m half polish, so I’m not `anti-polonism’ but i know you’re an idiot so I’m not concerned about whatever stupid thing you post, because you ‘know’ what someone says somewhere says. if you dont have a link to prove almunia says something than who gives a shit what you have to say, its just your opinion. prove it or shut up. its that simple.

    bomzis

  26. Pierre
    Apr 09, 2010 @ 15:49:40

    Gaetan,

    My point was that Latvian policy towards citizenship is not the same as Canadian policy when it comes to where one is born. Latvia’s policy, however, is the same as in most (if not all) EU countries. Had your friend been born in Germany for example, she would get German citizenship ONLY if at least one of her parents is a German citizen.

Switch to our mobile site