John O'Sullivan

ex-editor of "The National Interest Magazine"

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Excerpt from speech given at the Baltic Forum Conference  (Latvia, May 2004)

 

 

     Now that Latvia has become a member of the EU and NATO, she should become a catalyst for the improvement of relations on a pan-European scale. I suppose that as Latvia finds herself at the junction of two worlds she has every chance of doing so. 
     Ladies and gentlemen, history did not begin in 1940. Let us remember the Hanseatic League which was founded on the voluntary co-operation of cities and their residents. Both the wealth and the well-being of the Hanseatic cities shows that this alliance worked very well. Then, for many years, all this lay dormant. But if good work and enterprise exist in the culture of any people, they can easily be restored. This must happen in Latvia and the Baltic states. 
     Reforms are never easy; they always demand great sacrifices. The Baltic sea has at all times been a very important factor in international trade, and today that very factor can guarantee Latvia valued participation in the EU. For that reason it is vitally important for Latvia that competition and market relations are not squandered but are utilized to full advantage.