Latvia needs to be more self-assured

Following German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visits to Lithuania and Latvia, the daily Latvijas avīze calls for Latvian foreign policy to exercise more sovereignty, especially regarding Russia: "Merkel encouraged Latvia as a 'sovereign state' to entertain good neighbourly relations with Russia. Clearly that needed to be cleared up. In Vilnius the Chancellor explained that Lithuania's President Daila Grybauskaitė had no need of advice concerning relations with Russia. Vilnius also behaves a bit differently to Riga regarding the world's power centres - it is stricter and more critical. Here however Foreign Minister Ronis stated only recently that 'if relations between the US and Russia influence our security and Polish-Russian relations determine how history is appraised, then relations between Germany and Russia have a decisive influence on how we can successfully exploit our region's potential.' True enough. But it remains to be clarified what role Latvia will play in this network of relations, and how it can make its influence felt."

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