A NATO heads of state summit will in fact take place in Rīga next year, Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga announced Dec. 7, confirming long-running hopes of political leaders.
Leaders of the defense alliance meeting in Brussels have given the go-ahead for the summit, the president said during a press conference. A firm date has not been determined, but it will be in November.
“It will give us another opportunity together with our partners—Estonia, Lithuania and the other NATO member states—to use Rīga as a venue of debates about the very essence of NATO, about the improvement of its work and about the future prospects of NATO as an alliance,” the president said.
Latvia formally became a member of NATO in March 2004.
The U.S. ambassador to Latvia, Catherine Todd Bailey, congratulated Latvia on news of the selection.
“From President Vīķe-Freiberga on down, I know that many, many Latvians have worked very hard for many months to ensure that today’s announcement was a positive one,” she said in a prepared statement. “I’m also certain that their excellent work will continue and will make the November 2006 NATO summit an extremely successful one for all the NATO allies.”
(UPDATED 07 DEC 2005)
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The fact that the NATO Foreign Ministers, in their deliberations, chose Latvia as the next destination for its Summit in November 2006 is predicated in a large part on the excellence, credibility and diplomatic nuances that Latvia’s President Vaira Vike-Freiberga presents to not only NATO, but to the world in general. Her inclusion by U.N. Secretary -General Kofi Annan is further evidence of the high regard in which the President is held. The fact that her name exists on a short list for a further posting as U.N. Secretary-General is without a doubt the highest honour and testament to her incredible many foreign language skillls, her diplomatic efforts around the world and her fearless determination to lead her country Latvia to a better day for its citizens and to conquer a rightful place for Latvia among the nations of the world.
There also is no doubt that NATO’s decision to choose Latvia is a very clear indicator that Latvia and hence the other two Baltic Republics are closely enveloped in the arms of the NATO Alliance and Russia should clearly heed this particular fact.
#### nato , #### usa,
vai jus vispar saprotat cik daudz naudu mums latvija naksies maksat nodoklos prieks sada suda pasakuma,