I am surprised that noone has brought up this subject. Having the NATO conference in Latvia, next door to Russia, is quite an accomplishment considering that less than 20 years ago Latvia was a Soviet occupied country.
You can follow direct live coverage (tiešraide) on the Apollo portal (http://www.apollo.lv). Last night at the VVF press conference I saw and heard a distinguished looking Juris Kaža, quite a contrast to his informal attire at Piesaule. This morning I just watched the arrival of Air Force 1 at the Rīga airport. Today should be a real busy day.

Lauris

Well, Lauri.....there was a post
by O.J.Collins a few days ago.
He’s too busy now passing out
mittens and “Black Balsam”.......

This is from Moscow Times:

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 / Updated Moscow Time

Mittens, Liquor for NATO Summit
The Associated Press

Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
NATO soldiers showing off new M4 technology with magnifying video cameras and thermal imaging Monday in Riga.

RIGA, Latvia—Latvia assumes an unusually high profile on the global stage this week as host of the NATO summit—and the country is seizing the opportunity to showcase its attractions to the world.

Eager to add a Latvian flavor to the biggest event the country has ever hosted, organizers have prepared some 4,500 gift boxes for journalists and dignitaries packed with local delicacies, such as honey-glazed cranberries, lime-tree tea and Black Balsam—the national alcoholic beverage made from 25 ingredients, including berries and herbs.

Guests at the two-day summit, which opens Tuesday, are also being given hand-knit mittens with traditional patterns to brace against any cold spell sweeping in from the Baltic Sea.

Meanwhile, Riga city workers have hustled to pave downtown streets, refurbish building facades and throw down a fresh coat of paint along the routes where presidents and prime ministers will be shuttled.

“From a promotional point of view, this summit is unbelievable publicity,” said Ojars Kalnins, head of The Latvian Institute, a state-financed promotion agency. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

Never before has a NATO summit meant so much for a country as it does Latvia, the first former Soviet republic to host a summit of the Cold War foe.

“I remember coming here as a tourist and not being allowed to even leave Riga—that’s how close you were controlled by the secret police,” said Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, who lived in exile in Canada during the Soviet occupation. “To see us now hosting NATO is extremely gratifying.”

Choosing a Baltic capital as a summit venue seems logical. The alliance has a direct role in protecting the Baltics with NATO jets patrolling their airspace. In addition, U.S. President George W. Bush has a soft spot for the region. He visited Riga last year and will be coming to the NATO summit after a quick stop in neighboring Estonia.

© Copyright 2006. The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.

I like the quip by VVF about not being
able to leave Riga during the soviet
occupation.
This time it’s must an improvement,
you can’t go to Riga, but if you
must you have to carry your passport
and a note from your doctor.........

pete

Real bad news awash......

A guy with a pair of dead donkey
ears in his bag is threatening
to show up, supposedly just to
see his tovarish Jaques.....

Boooooooooooooooooo..........

pete

I just had a peek at the Fotoreportāža on Apollo. What a stunning showcase for the cosmopolitan city of Rīga… ;-)

Pierre

Thanks for the new link!

I just watched the program at the National Opera, with Kremerata Baltica, etc.  But the finale was the best...Maris Sirmais conducting a beautiful choral arrangement of Put Vejini...lovely.
I called my daughter in the UK and she had her flatmates watching it as well.  I love today’s technology that allows this.

I watched Bush give his speech this morning at the University and I was not impressed. The audience was very subdued.  His passionate plea to link Latvia’s independence from the Soviets and Vaira’s personal quest for freedom in the west did not ring with his logic for Afghanistan and Iraq.  But frankly, he is there to recruit more NATO bodies for his war and he has the purse strings to enforce the commitment.  Lets see what happens.

Clem spoke frankly:

>But frankly,
>he is there to recruit more NATO bodies
>for his war and he has the purse strings
>to enforce the commitment.  Lets see
>what happens.

Let’s see. He has already recruited the Iron Lady’s body. She has fallen horizontal for this line:

< Speaking of Iraq, folks keep comparing my current war there with the Vietnam war. And they’ve been asking if I can draw any lessons from the Vietnam war. Well sure, that’s easy: we’ll succeed unless we quit!>

Tarmo the Nordic {sic} a.k.a. Gelge W. Twigg {sic} a.k.a. El Subcommandante {sic}a.k.a. You Heathen Rabble {sic}

Driving home, the news on the half hours repeatedly started with “President Bush is in Riga, Latvia” - and twice I heard what absolutely sounded like Mendelsohn’s Wedding March being played on steel drums in the background as the commentators said they were reporting from Riga.  Now, I can’t link to the Apollo link from home (slow connection) and I don’t feel comfortable doing it from work… can someone please tell me if my ears deceived me?

Sounded like Walkürenritt to me.......

pete

Anita, your question intrigued me so I opened the Riga’s Summit and watched the videos but two would not open for me and I bet that’s where you heard the Wedding March. What I did enjoy was all the other videos of the various speakers including Bush and Vaira. The backdrop of Riga’s skyline across Daugava at the Olympic Stadium was beautiful.
Do we know the artist?
Whether one agrees with what each speaker said is a personal matter. What I loved was the whole “show” that took place in Riga. That’s what will be remembered. It showed the world there is a place called Latvia and we Latvians do exist.

>The backdrop
>of Riga’s skyline across Daugava at the
>Olympic Stadium was beautiful.

Olympic Stadium???

Here’s a little email blurb I received from my daughter this morning who had a press pass for the big event:

“Basically the ENTIRE city shut down with the leaders of 26 countries, including Bush, Blair, Condoleeza Rice who were in Riga for the summit so Latvia was obsessed with security and putting on a good show. My God, you’ve never seen such security paranoia. They had people covering up graffiti, repainting every building and trimming every bush to look perfect for Bush (hah, hah, bush for bush). Then, during the three days of the summit (I didn’t see Bush, but I sat front and center at former NY mayor Giuliani’s speech) they BLOCKADED the center with fences and NOBODY could get in unless they had media credentials (which I had, heh, heh).  I got into “the zone” for work and Riga was a GHOST TOWN. I even saw a tumbleweed blow by. It was reaaaaaaallly creepy, like something from the Twilight Zone. Not one person was walking around. In fact, only the people who lived inside the “zone” could walk around and they were advised against it. So nobody left their flats! Meanwhile, the sky was filled with helicopters chopping away and they had TANKS, yes TANKS, at every “potential danger point.” The bridges were all closed and everything. I totally felt like I was living in WWII. It was kinda cool in a way but mostly just creepy. I even had to stay in Hotel Latvia because I couldn’t get back home.”

Anyway, as Arija said, these events are big time for Latvia and give us good press across the world, but create great inconveniences for the locals.

Well, if you pull up Apollo under Rigasummit.lv
you will see video links as you scroll down. Many
of these videos give the name of the place from where the speakers are delivering their speeches, ie. Univ. of Latvia, Blackheads and YES, THE OLYMPIC STADIUM.
The one that is from the Olympic Stadium shows a
beautiful backdrop of Riga’s skyline with the word in white letters “Riga” stretched across the entire painting.  All the dignitaries even stood in front of it for a big photo session.
Please pull up these videos and tell me why you are surprised that some of the stuff took place at the Olympic Stadium?

OK, Celms, I did do a bloober. It’s not the Olympic Stadium, it’s the Olympic Center. Mea culpa and all that.
BTW, your daughter has a lot more class. She didn’t correct me and she lives there, so obviously she knew what place I meant. 

No, you just surprised me when you said Stadium.  I had no idea where they could have an Olympic Stadium in Riga.  I did a bit of searching and found the attached link to the newly built Olimpiskajā sporta centrā - which in of itself is quite impressive.  Was that the center they built for the World Hockey Tournament?  Anyway, you simply surprised me with that comment as us old jocks are always curious about the sports facilities being built in Latvia and I simply was not aware of any large stadium in Riga.

http://www.vdiena.lv/lat/politics/nato/news/pirms_nato_sanaaksmes_veic_peedeejos_sagatavoshanaas_darbus_olimpiskajaa_sporta_centraa

OK, so we both made a mistake. It is still an impressive backdrop and I bet they will have posters made of it and we can buy them, like those Cristo wrapped bridges, buildings and islands. If anyone sees the offer before it’s on LOL, please post it. I do want that poster.