Latvia: Second Time's a Charm

Since emerging from behind the Iron Curtain in 1990, Latvia has lobbied hard for EU membership.

Reforming its economy took priority in the mid-1990s, and Latvia began boasting sizeable growth rates each year. The rates hovered around 4 percent and have recently been booming. A growth rate of more than 7 percent, tops in the Baltic states, is expected this year.

But amid the good news, unemployment remains a major problem. Some eastern regions of the country have rates reaching close to 20 percent, though the country's average is 7.8 percent, according to Latvian Economics Ministry statistics.

The problematic economy was one of the main reasons the European Union passed over Latvia for its “first wave” of membership in 1998, a major disappointment for many in the government.

Since then, Latvia has dismantled much of its Soviet-era planned economic policies and moved its ideology closer to the West. The country earned high praise for its efforts when it managed to report positive growth rates during the Russian economic crisis in the late 1990s. Nevertheless, Brussels has continued urging more reform, particularly in liberalizing former state-owned companies, and streamlining a large bureaucracy.

Not all of the EU’s suggestions are economic. Latvia’s social system is also in need of tweaking.

Linguistic limbo

Only a little more than half of the population is actually true-blue Latvian. Most of the minority are made up of Russian-speakers, caught in linguistic and diplomatic limbo ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The government in Riga has recently taken steps to ensure more rights for Russian-speakers and better integrate them into society through language programs. In 1998, the pro-EU government removed language requirements in the election law, guaranteeing the minority new voting rights.

Brussels has also praised Latvia’s commitment to further human rights, such as Riga’s move to abolish the death penalty in 1999.

Last October’s elections put a new government in place, spelling the end of prime minister Andris Berzins term as prime minister. But as all parties were in favor of both EU and NATO accession, the country remained on track.

The populace is a little less sure. Concern that NATO and EU will be too expensive for the country of 2.4 million is one of the major reasons public opinion of accession in both alliances has rated low. As much as 21 percent of the population thinks EU entry is a bad thing, compared to 35 percent who are in absolute favor.