Atlantic Council

Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski introduced Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the former president of Latvia.  He spoke of Vike-Freiberga's strong leadership for the vision that the concern for the “interests of a single country is in the interests of all,” whether one is talking about security, economics, or values.  Vike-Freiberga picked up that theme in her remarks, drawing from the lessons of her life and her country’s.  Brzezinski described Vike-Freiberga's “personal odyssey” and its parallels with her country’s history.  Like Latvia, her life has spanned the twin totalitarian tyrannies of Nazi and Soviet occupation and the stunning freedom of a reunified Europe.

Her parents escaped Latvia when she was but seven years old, on the last ship to make it out before the Soviet clampdown.  She lived for a time in a refugee camp in Germany, moved on to Morocco, and finally settled in Toronto, Canada.  She would go on to get her PhD in experimental psychology from McGill University and become a world-renowned scholar in her field, winning the prestigious Marcel-Vincent Prize, the Pierre Chauveau Medal, and being elected President of Academy I of the Royal Society of Canada.

All the while, she maintained close ties with the Latvian community and was a noted lecturer and writer on Latvian politics and culture.  She would move back to the nation of her birth in 1998 and be elected to its presidency the next year.  She led her homeland into full reconciliation with its Western heritage, winning admission to NATO and the European Union in 2004.  She left office this past July after two terms.

While noting that she and her parents traveled a “perilous road,” she acknowledged that it was “equally perilous at home.”  The Baltic States had been a part of the West since the Middle Ages and life under Soviet totalitarianism was militantly against her parents’ values.  The felt they had no choice but to give up the security of home for the chance for freedom.

Since regaining its independence, Latvia and the other transforming states have faced more hardship.  Change is incredibly stressful, especially for the elderly, who find security in familiarity.  It is the charge of leaders to ensure that “this suffering has a purpose.”

These countries had been isolated from the modern world for nearly four decades, “denied the peace, prosperity, and harmony” that had been achieved within the NATO community.  They now needed to “leapfrog Western Europe’s path since World War II” to catch up.  Western Europe had “turned the page on past enmities,” with even France and Germany, who had fought three long and bitter wars over the previous centuries, now working together.

The question was whether the European Union and NATO would “fully embrace” the states newly freed from tyranny and “accept them as equals” into institutions that they had “worked so hard to build over so many years.”  Would they open the door or close it and leave others “forever outside to fall under the influence of a Russian Federation not shorn of its ambitions?”

When she took office in 1999, she began lobbying NATO for inclusion and continually heard the argument that its collective defense mission was over and that expanding too fast was not wise.  This was especially true with respect to the Baltic States, because of Russia’s vehement opposition to their inclusion in what they considered an obsolete and hostile alliance.   Ultimately, she was able to persuade opponents of the folly of this notion.  “Were millions put on earth to make Russia happy? Do 135 million Russians need 1.3 million Latvians to be happy?”  Once put this way, the objections faded.

This was not an easy sell and many strings were attached for inclusion.  NATO and, especially, the EU had very exacting rules for admission and required numerous hurdles to be overcome before Latvian membership would be considered.  While this made some indignant, Vike-Freiberga saw little choice.  Further, she believed “modeling” after these institutions was an essential step to forcing her country to quickly “leapfrog” into modernity; they needed “guidance on how to make decades of progress in years.”   Five short years later, she and Latvia were successful.

While the transition was painful, it was necessary and the reward obvious:  Latvia’s children and grandchildren would never again have to fear living under repression.   Latvia and other former Communist bloc states will be forever grateful to the United States for years of speaking up longer and louder than Europe for their freedom.

Despite the West’s enormous achievements, its institutions nonetheless need to continue transformation to deal with new challenges.  The NATO that helped so many must change again and consider how far to extend its security umbrella, how to collaborate with neutral countries, and how to work with those not formally part of the alliance such as Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

Hafström’s introduction pointed with pride to Sweden’s long commitment to transatlantic values and to Baltic independence, noting that Riga, Latvia is actually the closest international city to Stockholm.  Vike-Freiberga later reciprocated, noting that Riga was once the largest city in Sweden.