Freedom can be regained in single day, but building free country takes time - Mierina

RIGA - "Freedom can be regained in a single day, but building a free country takes time," said Saeima Speaker Daiga Mieriņa (Greens/Farmers), as she opened the conference "Voices and Echoes of Independence", dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia’s adoption of the constitutional law "On the State Status of the Republic of Latvia."

As the Saeima Press Service informed LETA, Mierina emphasized at the conference on Friday that society is living in a time when freedom and security in Europe can no longer be taken for granted, which is why it is particularly important that the experience of 1991 be not only a memory but also a guide for the future.

"Freedom can be regained in a single day, but building a free country takes time. This is a shared responsibility that we must strengthen together with the younger generations," Mierina emphasized.

At the conference, contemporaries of the Awakening, members of the Supreme Council, internationally recognized experts, and opinion leaders assess the historical significance of restoration of Latvia’s independence, its international and legal aspects, and discuss lessons that the events of 1991 offer to modern democracies at a time when issues of freedom and security have once again come to the forefront in Europe.

As Mierina emphasized, in historic moments, decisions must be made here and now, at a time when the future is still unknown. She also thanked the participants in the vote on August 21, 1991 - the lawmakers of the Supreme Council. "You took responsibility for a decision that changed the course of Latvian history," Mierina said.

For her part, Velta Cebotarenoka, president of the May 4 Declaration Club, emphasized that she proudly remembers the courage of all her colleagues in the Supreme Council who voted, despite the fact that armored vehicles of the occupying army were rolling along the cobblestones of Jekaba Street. She noted that this decision marked the culmination of the path toward the restoration of Latvia’s independence, which began on May 4, 1990. At that time, international recognition was by no means a given. Latvia is safer than ever, and even today the country’s strength lies in its allies and in a shared conviction regarding a free and independent Latvia, Cebotarenoka added.

The conference is organized by the Saeima in cooperation with the May 4 Declaration Club and the People’s Front Museum, a division of the National History Museum of Latvia.