Latvia’s president and one of the country’s leading daily newspapers are among those to be honored during the U.S.-Baltic Foundation’s (USBF) gala weekend May 15-16 in Washington, D.C., the organization’s chair has announced.

President Valdis Zatlers, described as “a tremendous advocate of stronger transatlantic relations,” will receive the Baltic Statesmanship Award, said USBF Chair Maria Kivisild Ogrydziak.

The newspaper Diena, founded in 1990, will be honored with the Corporate Social Responsibility Award. The newspaper “is politically independent, and its operations are based on high standards of journalism and business ethics,” according to an USBF press release.

The foundation’s event, “U.S.-Baltic Confluence: Forum, Exchange and Gala,” is scheduled in the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave. W., Washington, D.C. The event begins May 13 with the 2009 U.S.-Baltic Supply Chain Venture Forum. The eighth annual awards dinner and silent auction is set May 16.

Other honorees are retired NBA basketball player Sarūnas Marčiulionis, recipient of the Baltic Outstanding Achievement in Sports and Business Award; television reporter and actress Tiiu Leek, recipient of the Baltic Image Enhancement Award; the California-based clinical research organization Egeen, recipient of the Baltic Corporate Citizen Award; and American entrepreneur Jerry Wirth, recipient of the Special Achievement in Business Award.

The USBF, founded in 1990, is based in Washington, D.C. The foundation “develops and implements programs to strengthen democracy and free markets in the Baltics” and “introduces the Baltics to new American audiences with a series of public affairs programs,” according to the press release. Further information about the foundation is available by visiting usbaltic.org.

An estimated 300 World War II veterans and their supporters have defied officials and marched to the Freedom Monument in downtown Rīga, Latvian media report.

The March 16 action, banned by Rīga city officials, saw the veterans and supporters parade—under heavy police protection—through the Old Town district from the Dome Square to the Freedom Monument. There they placed flowers at the base of the monument and sang patriotic songs.

The annual event commemorates veterans of the two Latvian Legion divisions that fought on the side of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union. An estimated 100,000 Latvian men, most of them drafted, served in the German army. Opponents of the commemoration, including the Russian Foreign Ministry, say allowing it is glorification of Nazism.

City officials last week banned the gathering at the Freedom Monument, saying they feared unrest. Two counter-demonstrations also were banned. The Daugavas Vanagi veterans group, as well organizers of a counter-demonstration, appealed the city’s ruling, but the Administrative Court in a March 13 closed-door session upheld the ban.

Rīga Mayor Jānis Birks urged the marchers to be smart and not give in to provocation, according to a March 16 press release from his office. He warned that leftist extremism has grown in strength and that the city council and police are hard-pressed to deal with unrest like that seen after a large-scale anti-government demonstration on Jan. 13.

Latvian media reported that a few counter-demonstrators were arrested.

The March 30 deadline is fast approaching for persons who want to join the American Latvian Association’s (ALA) educational trips this summer to the homeland.

The ALA is organizing a total of four tours through the youth-oriented “Heritage Latvia” and the family-oriented “Hello, Latvia,” said Program Coordinator Anita Juberts.

“Heritage Latvia” is an English-language educational tour that “has been popular with young people of Latvian descent who do not speak Latvian, but are interested in seeing the homeland of their Latvian grandparents,” Juberts said in an e-mail. This year’s tour is set July 6-19 and includes visits to the International Folk Festival Baltica, which will be held in Rīga, Jelgava and other locations in the Zemgale region.

Young persons must be 13-15 years old at the time of the trip. Cost is USD 3,000 and includes air fare from Chicago or Newark to Rīga. Also included in the cost are all meals, transfers, accommodations, tickets to museums, concerts and other attractions.

“The tour includes day-long visits with students at two Latvian schools, as well as the opportunity to spend a day with the students in Rīga,” Juberts said. “For many, this is one of the highlights of the trip to Latvia.”

“Hello Latvia” is a bi-lingual tour for adults and families. It also runs July 6-19 and will include visits to the Baltica festival.

The trip includes a full-time English-speaking guide, transfers and transportation in Latvia, accommodations in high quality and comfortable hotels and guest houses, all breakfasts and most other meals (with the exception of those during free afternoons and evenings) as well as attendance at a number of concerts, Juberts said.

The tour will visit the Rundāle Palace, an operetta performance in Tukums, the seashore of the Gulf of Rīga, the Baltic Sea port cities of Ventspils and Liepāja, Latgale region and Daugavpils, and the scenic banks of the Daugava River.

“We have planned a stay in a new four-star hotel recently opened in the Vecgulbenes manor,” Juberts said. “The trip back to Rīga features cultural and scenic highlights of Vidzeme, including Vecpiebalga, Cēsis, Rujiena, Valmiera and Sigulda.”

The “Hello Latvia” trip costs USD 3,300 per person and includes round-trip airfare from Chicago or Newark to Rīga.

Each tour has a maximum of 20 participants and participation is on a first-come, first-served basis. For further information, contact Juberts at the ALA, +1 (301) 340-8719 or projekti@alausa.org. Information also is available on the ALA’s Web site, www.alausa.org.

The ALA also organizes the Latvian-language “Sveika, Latvija!” summer tour aimed at children finishing the eighth grade in Latvian schools in the United States.