With the Kremlin advancing a more aggressive, revanchist policy, the importance of U.S. relations with the Baltic states, and from my perspective Latvia in particular, are more and more critical.
My travels to Latvia began when I worked for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when Latvia was being considered for NATO membership. In 2008, as deputy assistant secretary of state, I consulted with the government of Latvia on missile defense following Russia’s invasion of Georgia. More recently, my time in Riga has focused on European energy security.
Among the Baltic nations at the time of their independence, Latvia had the largest percentage of ethnic Russians or those who spoke Russian at home as their first language, a result of their legacy as a captive nation of the Soviet Union. This was a challenge to the newly independent country and the government’s treatment of this large minority was an issue of concern in Washington when considering Latvia’s inclusion in NATO.
Twenty-five years after independence, the majority of Latvian citizens want their government to address issues of importance to them such as the economy, healthcare, and access and quality of social programs. But rather than work toward solutions for Latvia, the governing elite instead try to use language issues to divide the country. Such an attempt was made recently with an article posted on BuzzFeed by a politically connected stringer based in Riga. It suggests that Nils Usakovs, who has been mayor of Riga for nine years and is leader of the largest political party in Latvia, is compromised because of the language his parents first taught him.
They suggest that he is a Trojan horse for Moscow. And they insinuate that his relationships with Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, National Security Council officials, State Department officials, and others are just his attempt at fooling so-called useful idiots.
But those in Washington and Brussels who have worked with Usakovs have seen this journalist-turned-mayor welcome NATO troops as part of the Enhanced Forward Presence program, speak out against the annexation of Crimea by Russian President Vladimir Putin, sever any relationship with the United Russia Party, and lead his party in becoming a full member of the PES, the organization of European Social Democratic Parties. He places his, his party’s, and his country’s future in the center of the European Union with NATO protection and responsibilities.
Opinion polls suggest that the citizens of Latvia see their country moving in the wrong direction, and are looking for new ideas and new coalition partners to see their government lead their country back on the right track. Looking at the success that his leadership has brought to Riga, Latvians, whether they speak Latvian or Russian at home, should judge Usakovs and his party on their record, not based on discrimination against Russian-speakers spurious rumors of crypto-Putinism.
None of the U.S. officials that have worked with Usakovs would agree with what BuzzFeed was attempting to suggest, and it should be noted that these Americans in question are not at all enamored with Putin, and are in fact among the most Russoskeptic members of Congress.
Regrettably, there are fewer citizens in Latvia than when I first traveled there. Too many of Latvia’s youth are seeking their futures elsewhere in the European Union. The focus for all Latvian political parties should be on how to build a country where Latvia’s youth sees its future in Latvia, as I am sure it will be the overwhelming concern of voters in their October elections.
David A. Merkel is a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council. He served as deputy assistant secretary of state and director of the National Security Council in the administration of George W. Bush.
