Heads up – Embassy 20 – November 2009

Experimental diplomacy

Two decades ago Eduards Stiprais was a Soviet conscript. Today he is Ambassador of an independent Latvia, which is a member of the EU and Nato.

Speaking to Embassy on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Ambassador casts his mind back to those momentous events in 1989.

“When the Wall came down, I remember thinking: ‘This changes everything.’ It was something I couldn’t dream would happen just a few years before that.”

But even as a conscript from 1988-89, he witnessed the first tremors of the Soviet collapse – the initial skirmishes of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the brutal crushing by the Soviet Army of the 9 April pro-independence uprisings in Tbilisi.

“We all knew the Soviet Union had to change. The only question was which direction was it going to move – would it lessen its grip or would it tighten its grip?”

Eventually the pro-soviet forces did attempt a reactionary coup in 1991 but it turned out to be the death throes of the Soviet Union and Latvia declared full independence soon after.

Stiprais, then a young graduate, entered Latvia’s brand new foreign ministry in 1993, helping to build the institution from scratch. Concentrating on Latvia’s integration into Europe and Nato, he was posted to Brussels where he rose rapidly through the ranks, leading the task force preparing for accession negotiations in 1998-99 and later becoming Latvia’s deputy chief negotiator in the accession talks (1999-2003). After accession, he was appointed deputy head of mission in Brussels and later Latvia’s Permanent Representative.

The whole accession exercise proved extremely useful, both for the EU and for Latvia, he says: “It was like being in a grand European laboratory where the countries of the former soviet bloc, which were dominated by completely different ideology, were transformed into a modern society.”

And the learning experience continues for Latvia, which has been hit hard by the financial crisis. “Our knowledge of how markets worked was not enough for Latvian consumers to act rationally and the government intervened too little too late to curb rising consumer debt.”

The country is rebuilding its economy and the UK’s economic recovery is an important part of the process, he says. “Much of our timber goes into the construction of British houses and buildings, so we are very eager for Britain to come out of recession!”

So while Latvia won’t be contributing to EU coffers anytime soon, the Ambassador says his country can play a useful bridge in the EU’s Eastern Partnership and its strategy for Central Asia, not least because of their shared history and the common use of Russian.

Latvia’s relationship with Russia is more complicated, however. This is mainly due to Latvia’s treatment of its large ethnically Russian population who are required by law to undertake a citizenship test, something which has attracted criticism from Latvia’s big eastern neighbour.

Nevertheless, cooperation between the two countries on practical issues such as border management has improved, says the Ambassador, who dealt extensively with Russian issues as head of the foreign ministry’s bilateral directorate. 

Latvia has something else to offer the EU in the form of their former president, Vaira Vike Freiberga, as a future EU president. “I think she would make a good candidate. The sort of president Latvia wants for the EU is someone who is both a strong leader and a good chair,” he says. “There are two pressing needs: internal coherence within the EU which requires a technocrat, yet at the same time we need someone to raise the EU profile on a global scale. But it’s a delicate balancing act between left and right and all the institutions. I suspect we will only learn by trying!”

Although Mrs Vike Freiberga didn’t get the top job, the Ambassador hopes the Lisbon Treaty will improve the running of the EU. “We need to bring the EU closer to the citizens of Europe and I think the Lisbon Treaty will do that by increasing the role of national parliaments and by bringing in more subsidiarity. I hope the days of centralised dirigisme are behind us.”

This dislike for dirigisme makes Latvia a close ally of Britain in the EU, says Stiprais. “We are part of a North European belt, pursuing liberal economic policies and preferring less regulation from Brussels.”

Latvia and Britain also share historic ties and Latvians remain deeply grateful to Britain for coming to its aid in the war of independence in 1918-20 and for refusing to recognise the Soviet occupation following World War II. But economic ties date even further back, he reveals. “Much of the timber supporting British mine shafts came from the forests of Latvia.”