All About Latvia

A reader writes:

Regarding your tag line “Not Your Usual Eastern European Country”.

Why refer to Latvia as an Eastern European country? It is not. It is more likely Northern or Central European. Eastern was arbitrarily assigned to countries subjugated by the Soviet Union, and nothing to do with actual geographical, cultural or even linguistic parameters. Take a ruler and draw a straight line from east to west, and again from north to south, just including Europe, and see where Latvia is situated. I’m tired of being lumped in with, and referred to, as Eastern European.

I suppose one can make a case that Latvia is a northern European country, but because of the recent history, countries that were once subjugated by the Soviet Union are often refer ed to as Eastern European countries. Poland, for example, may be considered a Central European country, especially considering that the European continent ends some place near the Ural mountains in Russia, yet I’ve seen it refer ed to as Eastern European, especially now that it, much like Latvia, is located on the eastern side of the European Union.

Also, I think because of the shared history with other countries that suffered under the Soviets, it is fair to compare them to each other. So, if I were to say “Not your usual northern European country,” I’d be comparing Latvia to Scandinavian countries, which is not a fair comparison. In my tag line, I’m comparing Latvia to other former Soviet sat elites by saying it’s different than the rest. So you will be lump with those countries not because of the geographic location per se, but because of the shared history.

So this is why I used the phrase Eastern European, rather than Northern European.

Share on Facebook

Interesting interview Latvia’s president Vaira Vike Freiberga gave to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty last October.

Share on Facebook

Originally posted on Jan. 10, 2005

Last night, Latvia suffered through a strong storm. Strong winds going up to 30 meters per second knocked down power lines, increased the water level in the Daugava river which flooded several of the streets. According to the reports, the wind is still strong. The storm knocked down trees, disrupted work of public transportation, left one third of the residents without electricity and knocked roofs off several buildings in Riga, Ventspils, Liepaja and other cities near the shoreline of the Gulf of Riga and the Baltic Sea.

-No deaths have been reported.- LETA reports at least 10 people were hurt after the storm as they flooded the affected areas. One capital city radiostation reported people with videocameras, photocameras flooding the areas most affected by the storm. No one died from the storm itself because it, thankfully roamed across Latvia at night.

This storm may be the strongest one of the last 40 years. In 1969, the river water level rose 214 cm, a historical record.

Here is where we stand now: -40- 60 percent of the country’s population -in the affected areas- are left without electricity, the government is debating whether to declare a state of emergency. Evacuation started in several places in the capital city, according to Latvian news agency LETA. The water level was rising especially high in Bolderaja located on the left shore in the Daugavas’s mouth.

A listener of the Russian-language radio station Mix FM reported water covers most of the houses, leaving visible only the roof, in Dubulti, Jurmala.

According to the weather report, the conditions will remain the same but the wind strength is going to diminish tomorrow. The river Daugava is continuing to rise and so far it has risen 200 cm (about 6 feet 5 inches).

Latvia’s Prime Minister Aigas Kalvitis and his government declared the state of electricity crisis in the country.

The storm also affected Great Britain, Germany, Estonia. The Associated Press “reports”:http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking-News/Storms-kill-15-across-northern-Europe/2005/01/10/1105206000452.html?oneclick=true that 15 people were killed as the storms moved across the Northern Europe. In Parnu, it has been reported that a quarter of the city has been flooded.

The Cabinet of Ministers canceled classes in public schools
Bolderaja area is marked by a clumsily drawn circle Monday and Tuesday due to the storm.

The education minister also cancelled classes in trade schools and other education facilities, mostly due to the electricity crisis. Due to the flood, electricity in the northern area of Riga, Bolderaja, and the resort Vecaki was completely disconnected. And it looks like my alma mater suffered as well. LETA reports that windows in one of the Mezapark schools are now non-existant.

On the same meeting the cabinet declared a crisis of energy, LETA reported. According to the law, the crisis of energy may be issued if one third of population does not have eletricity. Note to the readers from the United States, it is very unusual to have breaks in the electricity system for Latvia.

Prime Minister Kalvitis called on the Defense Minister Einars Repse (remember him?) to call on the armed forces to assist residents, LETA reported.

UPDATE (2230 EET):
“Baltic Blog”:http://balticblog.blogspot.com/2005/01/citizen-journalists-step-into-estonian.html reports on the situation from the storm in Estonia. Much like in Estonia, the information about the storm in Latvia is scarce. Baltic Blog mentioned an Estonian radio station Rainbow Radio that recieved phone calls from listeners about the dmage from the storm. In Latvia, as far as it can be determined, only Mix FM serves the center of information where callers could report what they see. Latvijas Radio, the state-funded radiostation only provided hourly news bulletins (as of 1800 EET).

I called my family in Riga who had said they heard a lot of noise in the might but saw nothing on the television. “We’ll have to wait until Monday to watch the news,” one of my relatives told me.

Update (2300 EET): Viewlatvia.com has a “webcam”:http://www.viewlatvia.com/cam2.html on the Daugava river. Now of course, it is too dark to see anything.

According to LETA, strong winds caused damage to 70 percent of farms throughout the country.

Share on Facebook

From The Associated Press:

RIGA, Latvia: A rescue operation to salvage a Cyprus-registered cargo ship that ran aground 800-900 meters (yards) off Latvia’s coast in the Baltic Sea will have to be postponed because of inclement weather, Latvian officials said Tuesday.

The Greek-owned ship, Golden Sky, was carrying 25,000 tons of mineral fertilizer when it ran aground during the night between Sunday and Monday off the coast of Ventspils, a port town, due to a big storm and gale force winds.

Latvian helicopters evacuated 16 crew members, though eight others stayed onboard to prevent the damage from worsening, the coast guard service said.

The service said the ship’s engine room incurred serious damage and the ship is leaking fuel. Two of the ship’s five compartments are filled with water.

Share on Facebook