Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 2
Status: Free
Population: 2,300,000
GNI/Capita: $3,230
Life Expectancy: 71
Religious Groups: : Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox
Ethnic Groups: Latvian (57 percent), Russian (30 percent), Byelorussian (4 percent), Ukrainian (3 percent), other (3 percent)
Capital: Riga


Overview

Latvia became the last of several candidate countries to vote in favor of accession to the European Union (EU) in a September 20 referendum. Despite severe bouts of disunity and dissension, Prime Minister Einars Repse's ruling coalition became more stable during the year. On June 20, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, running unopposed, was reelected to her post by the Latvian parliament.

After having been ruled for centuries by Germany, Poland, Sweden, and Russia, Latvia gained its independence in 1918, only to be annexed by the U.S.S.R. during World War II. More than 50 years of Soviet occupation saw a massive influx of Russians and the deportation, execution, and emigration of tens of thousands of ethnic Latvians. In 1991, Latvia regained its independence in the wake of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

In the October 1998 parliamentary elections, the newly created People's Party received the most votes. However, the parliament approved a minority coalition government, excluding the People's Party and its leader, Andris Skele. The coalition was led by Vilis Kristopans and his center-right Latvia's Way, and included the right-wing nationalist For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (FF/LNNK) and the center-left New Party. In June 1999, Latvian-Canadian academic Vaira Vike-Freiberga was elected the country's first female president.

After only nine months in office, Prime Minister Kristopans, whose brief term had been plagued by various policy defeats and political crises, stepped down, precipitating the collapse of his government. Latvia's Way, the People's Party, and FF/ LNNK agreed to form a new 62-seat majority coalition led by Kristopans's political rival, Andris Skele.

Following months of growing strains within the ruling coalition over privatization issues and personality conflicts, the government collapsed, and Prime Minister Skele resigned in April 2000. On May 5, Riga mayor Andris Berzins of Latvia's Way was chosen prime minister to lead the new government, which included the previous coalition's three parties.

In parliamentary elections held on October 5, 2002, the newly formed center-right New Era Party, led by Einars Repse, gained the most votes. Repse was named the new prime minister to lead a majority coalition government composed of the New Era Party, Union of Greens and Farmers (UGF), Latvia First Party (LFP), and FF/LNNK. Latvia's Way, the longest-serving party in parliament, failed to win enough votes to enter the legislature. Voter turnout was estimated at more than 70 percent.

On June 20, 2003, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, running unopposed, was re-elected to a second 4-year term by the Latvian parliament in a convincing 88-6 vote. Almost 73 percent of Latvian voters participated in a September referendum on EU accession, with 67 percent voting to join the body in May 2004. Prime Minister Repse hailed the vote as one of the three most important events in the country's history, along with the brief spate of independence between the two world wars and the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991.

Shortly after referendum polling stations closed, however, deep fissures were exposed in Repse's coalition. Subsequently, the UGF and FF/LNNK joined the LFP in issuing a statement declaring that they had lost faith in Repse and that the government was failing. Nevertheless, by mid-November, the parties seemed to have reconciled their differences, signing a memorandum of understanding that outlined the coalition's "principles of cooperation."

The impending privatization of the majority share of the Ventsplis Nafta oil terminal has resulted in rising tensions with Russia. Transneft, the Russian state-owned oil transport company, has avoided using the Ventsplis Nafta terminal as part of a conspicuous takeover strategy to both discourage Western buyers and drive down the value of the terminal. As a result, oil traffic at the terminal has been reduced by more than 23 percent.

In August, Latvian customs officials intercepted 28 tons of Russian-made military equipment reportedly bound for Iran; the government has opened an investigation into the smuggling of "goods of strategic importance." Also in August, 105 peacekeeping soldiers were deployed to Iraq to serve in a Polish-led multinational stabilization force.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Latvians can change their government democratically. The constitution provides for a unicameral, 100-seat parliament (Saeima), whose members are elected for four-year terms by proportional representation, and who in turn select the country's president. According to international observers, the most recent national legislative elections in 2002 were free and fair. Latvia's citizenship laws have been criticized for disenfranchising those who immigrated to Latvia during the Soviet period and who must now apply for citizenship. While EU accession is likely to produce less rigorous citizenship requirements, those residents who remain noncitizens will become stateless people within the EU.

The government has adopted various anticorruption measures, including the establishment of a Corruption Prevention Bureau and laws to prevent conflict of interest among state officials. In 2003, almost 20 high-ranking officials in ministries, tax offices, and the police force either have resigned or have been dismissed due to charges of corruption, and Repse has called for an investigation into the Latvian Privatization Agency. However, a January 7 cabinet decision to triple ministers' salaries has been regarded with suspicion by the parliamentary opposition and the public.

The government respects freedom of speech and the press. Private television and radio stations broadcast programs in both Latvian and Russian, and newspapers publish a wide range of political viewpoints. However, many media outlets routinely report rumors and accusations as fact without benefit of hard evidence. Freedom of worship is generally respected. However, an education law stipulating that secondary-school classes be conducted in Latvian will go into effect in 2004. The law has been met by substantial resistance by the ethnic Russian community. Most notably, on May 23, more than 10,000 people protested the policy before the Eurovision concert in Riga. Currently, some 120,000 students attend Russian-language schools throughout Latvia.

Freedom of assembly and association is protected by law, and gatherings occur without governmental interference. Workers have the right to establish trade unions, strike, and engage in collective bargaining.

While the government generally respects constitutional provisions for an independent judiciary, reform of the courts has been slow and judges continue to be inadequately trained and prone to corruption. Severe backlogs in the court system have led to lengthy delays in reviewing cases and to pretrial detention for large numbers of persons. The U.S. State Department reports that detainees awaiting trial spend an average of two years in prison. Incarceration facilities remain severely overcrowded, and cases of excessive force by security officials have been reported.

Nearly one-fifth of Latvia's residents are noncitizens, who are barred from participating in state and local elections and from holding some civil service jobs. They are also barred from some private sector jobs such as lawyers, notaries, and commercial pilots. Moscow continues to accuse Riga of discriminating against the country's 700,000 Russian-language speakers, mostly ethnic Russians.

Women possess the same legal rights as men, although they frequently face hiring and pay discrimination.

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