Geopolitics of Latvia

Context :

Latvia, in Latvian "Latvija", is a northern European country and a member of the European Union. Located on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, it is one of the three Baltic countries. Capital Riga, is the largest city in the Baltic countries.

Throughout its history Latvia has been a colonized country many times (Poland, Sweden, Germany, Russia), Latvia regained its independence in 1991 with the break-up of the USSR.

Government and political context

Latvia is a parliamentary republic, the Latvian Parliament, "the Saeima", has 100 members elected by direct universal suffrage every four years.

The President of the Republic is then elected by the deputies of the Saeima for four years by an absolute majority (so fifty-one votes out of one hundred). His mandate is renewable once.

Then the President designates the Prime Minister, who forms the executive power of the government. The president has little power because the country is headed by the prime minister and his government.

Currently, the present government is a big coalition of five parties, all on the right, from the most conservative to the most liberal.

This coalition is led by the Latvian Prime Minister: Krisjanis Karins, he will act as a moderator for the good functioning of the government.

Conflicts

Since their independence in 1990, Latvia has had a strong commitment to Western integration, joining the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 2004.

But the population is divided, in fact when three parties in the governing coalition fully support European policies, two others are conservative, want to keep the Latvian identity and do not support European politics.

The second omnipresent conflict in Latvia is the conflict with the Russian minority, in fact the Russian minority in Latvia represents almost 30% of the population.

Latvians remember the annexation of their country and the other Baltic countries by the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1990. At the time, any celebration of the country's independence was prohibited. Even today, a large part of the population is still suspicious of the neighbouring country, Russia.

NATO entered this conflict in 2017 by sending 1000 soldiers to Latvia, including 450 Canadian soldiers as a defence and deterrence force. The aim is also to comfort this country, which is worried about the annexation of Crimea by Russia.

For example, Latvia's second largest city, Daugavpils, is 120 kilometres from the Russian border, and it is like being in Russia. At the market, everything is written in Russian. 80% of the inhabitants are Russian-speaking, and the restaurants where the menu is in Latvian are boycotted by the inhabitants.

But the arrival of the military is not welcomed by all Latvians. Indeed, this Russian minority sees this as an attack. The Kremlin has even issued a message that the Russians in Latvia are being victimized. This is the same reason used in 2014 to justify the annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

In addition, the law who obliges applicants for citizenship to speak fluent Latvian, to know the text of the national anthem and to give up their former citizenship. Is seen with an unhappy eye by this minority.

29/04/2019