Zatlers addresses Harvard audience

  • 2010-10-06
  • From wire reports

RIGA - The crucial factor in the nomination of the next prime minister will be the ability of the candidate to keep the country on the path of economic recovery in cooperation with the IMF, said President Valdis Zatlers in an address at Harvard University in the United States, reports news agency LETA. Zatlers informed the audience that following last weekend’s parliament elections, it will be necessary for him to decide who will lead the country’s next government.
“One of the most important questions for me will regard the readiness and capability of each candidate to continue the economic recovery in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. In general, I am confident that the election results will not lead to any major changes in the state’s current approach to economic development,” said the president.

Zatlers stressed that Latvia’s experience in overcoming the crisis has been highly praised. Strict fiscal consolidation, changes to taxation and the reduction of state spending to bring the 2012 budget deficit down to three percent from the previous double figures - this was not an easy task.

“Latvia has gone through fiscal consolidation over the past two years, and this is now starting to bear fruit. In the economy, we are seeing the first positive macro-economic signs. We have proven that this is possible, but only when the process has the support of the population. I am sure that very soon, similar financial shake-ups will be necessary in other European countries. Latvia’s exit strategy in relation to the recession is linked to accession to the eurozone in 2014. Latvia is looking forward to the day when it will join the stable and sustainable common currency area. This means that the stability of the euro also serves our interests,” said Zatlers.

The president indicated that European solidarity had been essential in helping Latvia overcome the crisis. Europe provided rapid and crucial support to ensure the stability of the Latvian financial system, helping the country through the turbulence and insecurity of the first stage of the crisis.
Zatlers praised the solid foundations of the European Union, indicating that freedom, the rule of law, democracy and a market economy in Europe was the cornerstone of a stable and secure world. The president also expressed his support for the eventual further expansion of the EU with the addition of states in the Balkans and Eastern Europe who shared these common values.

The president stressed that strategic partnership with the United States was vital to Europe’s security and wellbeing, and that the U.S. had made great effort to support European integration at the end of the Cold War.
Zatlers pointed out that Latvia’s contribution to the international mission in Afghanistan was one of the greatest in proportion to the size of the country, adding that Latvia naturally had interest in the campaign reaching a successful conclusion.

“We must decide how the successful conclusion of the mission could be defined, and then we must move in this direction. This is our duty, thinking of our soldiers, our society, as well as the Afghan people, who have the most at stake in the matter. Not one country has ever benefited from an extended war. Those are not my words, but those of the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu. And we should bear them in mind,” said Zatlers.