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| Europe |
| Riga under siege during NATO summit [Russians Dissed] |
| 2006-11-29 |
| The bustling Baltic city of Riga is under siege: thousands of soldiers are on the streets, there are checkpoints at every corner and helicopters crowd the skies. For older Latvians, this might have eerie echoes of 1944, when the Soviets began their occupation (but without the mass arrests, mass executions, and the mass deportations.) . Except that in this case, the city is being taken over by an army of NATO delegates and government leaders. The Baltic capital has never before staged such a massive, high security event. It's a logistical nightmare for this tiny country That's a cue for a grumbling man-on-the street quote. "I can't get to work, there is virtually no public transport and I have had to shut my business for three days. How on earth am I going to make up those lost wages?,"one old man grumbles. See? Symbolism But the prestige and the political symbolism for this former Soviet state in hosting the NATO summit is enormous: "It's great to be back in Riga!,'' the US president beamed as he arrived. "It's a proud day for the people of Latvia and all the Baltic states. Here in the Baltics many can recall the early days of the Cold War. In 1944, the Soviet Red Army marched in. But six decades later the Soviet Union is no more and the Alliance is meeting in the capital of a free Latvia." Now that's a Reaganesque moment. Large minority Moscow is reportedly furious at the summit being hosted right on its doorstep. President Putin, as a non-NATO member, was not invited to attend but threatened to gate-crash the VIP gathering. But now that Latvia's a NATO member, that 1944 thing becomes problematic... It has also ruffled feathers among Riga's large Russian minority. Russians makes up 30 per cent of the population and the Russian-language media here are enraged by this former opponent of the Soviet Union setting up camp here. Image Now read this :) But most Latvians see it as a boost to the new EU state's image. "It will put the country on the world map at last,"says one elderly man. "But I do think the security's completely over the top. It'll show the Russians that now it's NATO that's calling the shots," says one woman crossing the city park. "And if Russia's imperial streak should ever rise up again, then they know they can't just march in again." Emphasis added. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #6 My apologies, IanFichten. Montreal is a lovely part of the world. Jules, I envy you -- I never got to see Latvia, although it's high on the list of places I'd like to see one day. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-11-29 22:33 |
| #5 Wow-if Riga is only 30% Russian now, that suggest that there has been an exodus of Russians out of Latvia. I know citizenship has been an issue, I lived in Riga in 1993-1994. A lot has changed since then, but traditional dishes are still available. I suggest piradzini (Latvian bacon and onion crescents) and Solyanka (Russian meat soup), as two such examples. The cheeses and desserts there are also excellent. Balsams is much touted, but it's tarry and intense. If you're looking for alcohol, a good home-made schapps is unbeatable-tart and super-potent. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-11-29 17:35 |
| #4 Former Canadian professor, actually. Called my neck of the woods, Montreal, home for about 30 years. |
| Posted by: IanFichten 2006-11-29 15:31 |
| #3 The book Commodore Hornblower did more to put Riga on the map than this conference will. In my humble opinion. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-11-29 15:19 |
| #2 It will put the country on the Map? Hardly. Once the conference is over Latvia will be forgotten again. I'm not really sure why any country bothers to host any of these conferences. At least the anarchists and anti-globalist idiots don't seem to have arrived. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-11-29 15:18 |
| #1 And the president is a former US university professor, as I recall -- a lovely and erudite lady. My father will never forgive the native antisemitism that chased him and his mother out of the country in 1934, but I think the country is progressing beautifully. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-11-29 14:28 |