Dinner Speech to Latvia's Prime Minister Andris Skele

Prime Minister Skele,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

A book published in Norway shortly after the break-up of the Soviet Union, was entitled "A Dream of Freedom - Baltic Voices".

It contains interviews with people in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania about their lives, - past and present, - and about their dreams for the future.

Their voices bear witness to five decades of oppression and deprivation under foreign rule, to lives compromised, uprooted and destroyed.

Aldona Tepfere, the grandaughter of Latvia's first president, tells us how her family avoided deportation to Siberia by fleeing to Sweden in 1944. While Aldona later returned to Latvia, her sister Jana married a Norwegian and settled near Oslo.

We meet Guna Jaschina of the Latvian Women's League. Her son Alexander deserted the Red Army to avoid harassment and discrimination, and has sought refuge in a safe-house somewhere in Riga. Guna and the League are helping other young Latvian males dodge the Soviet draft.

Arnis Blodons, host of a popular program on Latvian radio, tells of the younger generation's fascination with everything Western. But Arnis himself has no desire to leave Latvia, he says, because it is important to be close to one's roots.

Finally, we hear Janis Jurkans talk about Latvia's struggle to regain independence, and the need to build a stable and democratic political order. If we prove unable to create an independent, fully democratic state, with equal rights for all our national minorities, he says, then all our work {in the Popular Front} will have been in vain.

Such voices come to mind in connection with this visit. The hopes and aspirations of many Latvians have at least partly come true. The Popular Front clearly did not labour in vain. Latvia has come a long way in a short period of time. Latvia has assumed its rightful place among European democracies.

Latvian mothers no longer have to worry about their sons being drafted into and mistreated by the armed forces of the Soviet Union.

Latvian youth can easily travel abroad and have ample opportunities to enjoy the once forbidden fruits of the West.

Your determination to recapture decades of lost opportunities and catch up within a short time span is nothing but impressive. You can and must succeed.

Norway and other Western countries are ready, as it is our duty, to work with you, offering advice, assistance, opportunities, and an international environment conducive to prosperity and security. But at the end of the day, we all live and thrive by the work we do ourselves. And the greatest resources you possess, now as in the past, are those of the Latvian people.

Together, we are consolidating democracy and the rule of law. We do it in the Council of Europe. To become a member of the Council of Europe is a distinction which Latvia has already earned. Both our countries are now scrutinized by the Council and held to the highest possible standards of humanity and civilization.

The Council of Europe is now seized with questions of minorities and immigrants, as well as the fight against racism and xenophobia. We must all learn to deal with these issues and counter such tendencies in order to keep Europe as a refuge of enlightened diversity and tolerance.

Latvia aims at even closer political and economic integration with the West. Membership of the European Union is an important goal.

As a non-member of the EU, Norway is supporting you politically to the best of our ability. We note with satisfaction that Latvia will be on the starting line alongside other candidate countries when negotiations for membership begin after the intergovernmental conference.

Today, Norway and Latvia are also working together within the framework of NATO and the Western European Union. We are partners in peace. NATOs PfP-program is making the line thinner between NATO members and non-member countries. PfP symbolizes the changed nature of the Alliance following the end of the Cold War.

NATO will continue to change with the circumstances. The Alliance remains open to democratic countries. No doors are closing. No outside power will have a veto over NATO's own decisions, which are taken by consensus among its current members.

NATO is also doing its utmost to cooperate more closely with Russia. Norway has been doing this bilaterally to mutual benefit, as evidenced by the successful visit of President Yeltsin to Oslo in late March.

Prime Minister, the best known Latvian in Norway is probably Mariss Janssons. This world class conductor has managed to develop the Oslo Philharmonic into a world class orchestra.

Known to sports enthusiasts is the speedskater Alfons Berzins who had the audacity to beat all the seemingly invincible Norwegians in the European championship here in Riga in 1939.

Known are the Vikings and how they plowed these shores 1000 years ago. Known are also our trade and shipping contacts over the centuries, and the special Hanseatic link between Riga and Bergen.

Less known is a somewhat far-fetched musical connection. Wagner wrote the Flying Dutchman under the terrifying impressions of a stormy voyage from Riga which left him stranded in South Norway.

But these are old connections, and we are here to build new connections. Today, Norway and Latvia are European partners. Commercial links have been revived and are developing. Cultural exchange is back. Let us welcome all this, let us draw inspiration from it, and let us continue to work for our common prosperity and security.

In closing, I propose a toast to you, Prime Minister Skele, and to the people of Latvia.

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