| Historical speech of the President of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga at the NATO Summit in Prague during the meeting of NAC and the seven invited states "Mr. Secretary General, Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, On behalf of the Republic of Latvia and its people I thank all the Heads of State and Government of the NATO member countries for the courage to take the decision that they announced today. For us in Latvia it comes as a sign of international justice. It will put an end once and for all to the last vestiges of the Second World War, to the last sequels of what started with the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in 1939, to the consequences of the decisions taken in Teheran and Yalta. Latvia lost its independence for a very long time, and it knows the meaning both of liberty and the loss of it. Latvia knows the meaning of security and the loss of it. And this is why being invited in an Alliance that will ensure our security is a momentous moment that will be writ large in the history of our nation. We would like to congratulate you on the wisdom of your decision. You have taken the plunge, you have put your faith in us, you have been guiding us and helping us along the path of reform that we have undertaken. All of you sitting around this table in one way or another have pushed us, prodded us, encouraged us, and you have stood by our side as we have tried to recover from half a century of totalitarian rule, from half a century of oppression. We come from a very long way ... |
