Latvija in brief - 2011-11-17

Various large-scale events will take place in Riga this week to mark the 93rd anniversary of Latvia’s independence. On Nov. 18, Independence Day, around 1,000 people will gather for a torch-lit procession, says Riga City Council, reports LETA. This now-traditional procession, organized by ‘All for Latvia!’ will take place from 6:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. The participants of the procession will gather at Bastejkalns Park and then walk through Riga’s Old Town to the Freedom Monument. The youth center Laimite will also celebrate the country’s independence. The festivities get under way early in the morning - at 7:30 a.m. - when the Latvian Student Fraternities/Sororities Presidium will organize its annual procession, from the main building of the University of Latvia to the city’s Brethren Cemetery.

If the current coalition of Unity, the Zatlers Reform Party (ZRP) and All for Latvia!-For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (VL-TB/LNNK) is not capable of working together for the next three years, then the only alternative would be cooperation with the Union of Greens and Farmers, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) said in an interview in the daily Diena. He said, though, that it is too early to make any conclusions regarding the current coalition. “We have two relatively untested coalition partners in the new coalition. There is ZRP, which is a very new party. We also know well one of the parties that makes up VL-TB/LNNK. We see that government ministers from this party are very constructive at the moment. It will take several more months for the new coalition to get a feel for one another, and then we will see how successfully we are moving forward.”

This fall, residents’ overall opinion of national development, the current economic situation, their own material situation and even of the government’s performance has improved, according to the latest DNB Latvijas barometrs survey, reports Nozare.lv. Optimism was the greatest it has been in the last three years. Regardless of these improvements, the majority of people still believe that the country’s development is not on the right path. The other part of the study deals with residents’ opinions of Independence Day celebrations and patriotism. It strongly indicates the need for continued society integration, because the replies given by Latvian and non-Latvian respondents differ greatly.