SPEAKER Latvian President Pledges Partnership By Amanda McGrath Hoya Staff Writer

Addressing both domestic and international issues in ICC Auditorium Tuesday afternoon, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga pledged her commitment to a continued transatlantic partnership between Europe and the U.S.

“In this new age of globalization, no country is an island,” Vike-Freiberga said. “It is no longer possible for any country to be self sufficient.” She said an alliance between the U.S. and European nations would be mutually beneficial in terms of economic growth, the spread of democracy and improving international security. Economically, she said, Latvia’s industry faltered following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. She said the country has recovered in recent years and noted Latvia’s eight percent growth in gross national product as a positive sign of the country’s future. Investment by the U.S. and other foreign countries is essential to maintaining her country’s growth, Vike-Freiberga said, and added that such international cooperation would be a sign of the continuing interdependence of nations around the world.

Vike-Freiberga called the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks “shattering. They have pressed us to accept that any country’s security can be threatened.” She said the war on terrorism was a global challenge and pledged Latvia’s continued support in the efforts to stop terrorists she described as “armed with low tech weapons and perverse imaginations.”

Terrorism, Vike-Freiberga said, has inhibited, international communication and travel and the flow of information between countries. These hindrances are the successes of terrorist operations. “They provide terrorists with effective tools for extremely effective operations,” she said.

Vike-Freiberga said Latvia expects to be invited to join alliances such as NATO and the European Union in the near future. She said her country was ommitted to the principles of democracy that are, “essential to the future of Europe.”

Democracy in Latvia is dependent on the continued growth and commitment to citizenship, she said. “All inhabitants of Latvia enjoy all the basic civil rights that go essentially in democratic countries,” Vike-Freiberga said, but also noted, “some rights of citizenship are unattractive.” She cited specifically the deficit in the number of young men applying for citizenship, which she attributed to the eligibility of the age group for the military draft.

During a question-and-answer period following her lecture, Vike-Freiberga addressed the process of attaining citizenship, which involves the memorization of the national anthem. Several audience members questioned the president on the ability of the large Russian minority to achieve citizenship, since many do not speak Latvian though they have lived in Latvia since the days of the Soviet Union. Vike-Freiberga said maintaining Latvian as the national language is important and that it is necessary for all citizens to learn the language “to be an integral part of society.” She said naturalization services have already been established to help the Russian-speaking minority achieve citizenship.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Dean of the School of Foreign Service Robert L. Gallucci presented Vike-Freiberga with the Dean’s Medal in commemoration of what he called her “distinguished achievement as a scholar.”

Vike-Freiberga has close ties to the academic world. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she earned her doctorate degree from Canada’s McGill University. She has also been granted honorary degrees from Victoria University and the University of Latvia. Vike-Freiberga was a professor of psychology at Universite de Montreal until 1998, when she was appointed Director of the Latvian Institute. A year later she was elected President of the Republic of Latvia and is serving a four-year term.

Vike-Freiberga said she enjoyed speaking to the Georgetown community. “It’s always a pleasure for me to speak to a university audience. It makes me feel right at home,” she said, adding that “[Georgetown has] a reputation that goes well beyond the frontier of the United States and is known for integrity and high academic excellence.”

During her career, Vike-Freiberga has published seven books and 160 other written works in seven languages. As president, she has utilized her academic history in the fields of linguistics, poetry and folk music to develop a comprehensive database cataloguing thousands of traditional Latvian folk songs. The database was described by Gallucci as “a tribute to the past of her people and a gift to the posterity of her nation.”

The lecture, titled “Euro-Atlantic Partnership: Global Challenges and Prospects,” was sponsored by the School of Foreign Service and the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies.