RIGA – In the heat of the 2007 municipal reform aimed at redrawing lines of local governments, Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis (left) received a gift – the globe of Latvia. Across the two continents, the word “Latvia” spreads from China to Great Britain.
In a way, it represents the Latvian worldview. One could not find a better illustration of a mentality of the imperial wannabes. For centuries, Latvians have been ruled over – by Germans, Russians, Swedes (and not necessarily in that order). Twenty years after it regained independence, the young nation is still struggling to create citizen-friendly elite that is capable of governing wisely. But often it is based on weak national self-esteem which paradoxically transforms into the visions of grandeur.
The pride stands in the way of, for example, considering an option of devaluation as a way to recover from the crisis. The pride stands in the way, as anecdotal evidence suggests, to ask for help in handling matters of importance, like construction of the national library, or preparing the economic recovery. Someone had suggested that Latvia could hire a consultant from outside to teach Latvians to govern themselves. Egos and pride stand in the way of prosperity in this country.
It is surprising that folks in a mostly-unknown country of 2.3 million people – let’s face it, a speck on the world arena – has large egos that could fill the whole of Canada.
Latvians like to tell a story about the New World conquest, the Courland Colonization. Only if Brits would talk about their world domination with an apology, Latvians would talk about it with pride. Perhaps, it’s an attempt to compensate for national complexes and the seeming lack of lengthy history of self-rule. Our neighbors to the south are celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of the crime record that mentions them by name. Latvian history – as in the history of Latvia – starts much later.
It sounds as if the Latvians were remarkably similar in ethnic character to the Russians. What was, after all, the effect of having been dominated for centuries by the Germans and the Swedes?
Out of curiosity, how do the Latvians compare to the Lithuanians in terms of pride?
Hard to say – Lithuanians tend to be more hot-blooded and emotional than Latvians, generally speaking. And Lithuanians actually were an empire at some point.
Even more than the Latvians? Hm, I didn’t know that. I should read more about Lithuania then. But it seems whenever there is a problem between Russia and a Baltic state, it’s either Estonia or Latvia, not Lithuania.