The sky is the limit for Latvia, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Feb. 22 after a meeting with Latvian Foreign Minister Ģirts Valdis Kristovksis.

The foreign minister met with Clinton as part of a four-day visit to Washington, D.C. During the meeting the two discussed matters of economic development and global security. Among issues addressed were Latvia’s membership in the NATO defense alliance and its continuing mission in Afghanistan, diversifying Latvia’s energy sources and the country’s support for democracy in neighboring Belarus.

Clinton, speaking during a press conference that was overshadowed by events in Libya and Bahrain, said Latvia is “a democracy that is demonstrating by its actions how it can build a better future for its own people.”

“The United States has maintained an unbroken friendship with Latvia throughout its modern history, when it was at war and under occupation and since it acquired its independence from the Soviet Union, and we have long admired the Latvian people’s resilience throughout very difficult times,” Clinton said, according to a transcript of the press conference distributed by the State Department.

She applauded Latvia’s involvement in NATO and said the U.S. remains committed to the security of Europe. Clinton also noted Latvia’s efforts to deal with its economic crisis.

“As we work together for global security, we especially commend the Latvian people for their achievements over the past 20 years as they continue their work toward their own better future,” Clinton said. “Gaining membership in NATO and the European Union took patience and persistence, and when those memberships came they were richly deserved. And after suffering devastating job losses during this last global recession, they have been undertaking stringent cost-cutting measures necessary to begin a sustainable recovery.”

While the meeting with Clinton may not have come with any firm commitments regarding the Latvian economy, Kristovskis told a reporter that he is convinced the U.S. will maintain interest in investing in the country. Latvia wants to learn about America’s experience with producing natural gas from shale deposits, the foreign minister said.

Kristovskis also said he expects that in the future more Latvian entrepreneurs will participate in the Northern Distribution Network, a U.S.-backed project to transport supplies to Afghanistan. One of the main ports involved in the plan is Rīga.

Clinton also noted that the U.S. looks forward to Latvia broadening its commitment to the rule of law by renewing a claims process to return communal property to the Jewish community. According to the Israel-based World Jewish Restitution Organization, in Latvia “well over 200 pre-war communal properties, other than cemeteries, have been identified as belonging to the Jewish community prior to World War II.”

“I believe that the sky is the limit for Latvia,” Clinton added. “We have a shared commitment to values, a view of what is in the best interest of our people.”

Latvia’s parliament now has three proposals on dual citizenship to consider after the Unity (Vienotība) bloc submitted a bill on Feb. 17.

Similar to amendments proposed by nationalists in the Saeima and by President Valdis Zatlers, the latest bill would allow dual citizenship for several groups, including wartime exiles and their descendants who live in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia.

The bill (Nr: 238/Lp10) was introduced by MPs Dzintars Zaķis, Edvards Smiltēns, Ilma Čepāne, Ilze Viņķele and Dzintra Hirša.

Under current Latvian law, dual citizenship is not allowed. From 1991 to the summer of 1995, under transitional rules enacted by the Saeima, exiles and their descendants were able to register as dual citizens. Since that time, large-scale emigration to countries like Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as renewed pressure from the exile community, has reactivated the issue of dual citizenship.

Among Unity’s proposed amendments, dual citizenship would be allowed for:

• Latvian citizens who have become citizens of members states of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association or the NATO defense alliance, as well as of countries with which Latvia has international agreements recognizing dual citizenship.
• Exiles who left Latvia between the start of the first Soviet occupation on June 17, 1940, and Latvia’s renewed declaration of independence on May 4, 1990. The provision would lift the restrictions of the Citizenship Law and would also apply to descendants of exiles.
• Persons, and their descendants, who were Latvian citizens before June 17, 1940, even if they became citizens of another country after May 4, 1990.
• Children who are born outside of Latvia and at least one of whose parents is a Latvian citizen, if under the law they automatically become citizens of their country of birth.
• Latvian citizens who through marriage become citizens of another country.

“The amendments are an opportunity to guarantee closer ties to one’s country of origin, motivating Latvian emigrants and their children to return to their or their parents’ homeland,” according to a Unity press release announcing the bill.

The first proposal this year for changing the Citizenship Law came Jan. 24, when the National Association (Nacionālā apvienība “Visu Latvijai!” – “Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK”) introduced a bill in the Saeima. While the legislation has been referred to the Law Commission, it has yet to have a hearing.

Zatlers in a Feb. 1 letter to the Saeima outlined his proposals for changing the citizenship law. Those proposals are under discussion by the Executive Commission on the Citizenship Law. Both the World Federation of Free Latvians (Pasaules brīvo latviešu apvienība) and the European Latvian Association (Eiropas Latviešu apvienība) have announced their support for the president’s proposals.

On Feb. 15, the government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis approved an action plan for reaching hundreds of goals, including changing the law to allow dual citizenship by the end of this year.

A recent poll by the Rīga-based survey firm TNS Latvia and Latvian Independent Television found that 71 percent of economically active residents of the country support the president’s plan to allow dual citizenship for a broad range of people, according to the newspaper Diena.