During a year “marked by a notable setback for global freedom,” Latvia also has slipped in a rating a political rights and civil liberties, the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Freedom House announced Jan. 16.

Although still listed as a country that is free, political rights in Latvia slipped to a rating of 2, one less than the best score possible, Freedom House said in its report, Freedom in the World 2008. Civil liberties remained at a rating of 1, the same as last year.

“For 2007, Latvia registered a slight decline due to a series of corruption scandals that implicated high-ranking officials,” according to the report, which nonetheless praised continued advances in democracy in the Baltic region.

In the Freedom House survey, 1 represents the most free and 7 the least free rating. The ratings, according to Freedom House, represents events from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year.

Estonia and Lithuania maintained rankings of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties. Russia, listed as a country that is not free, was given a rating of 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties.

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers will make an official visit to Germany from Jan. 21-22, his first trip to the country, according to the president’s press office.

Germany is among Latvia’s most important foreign trade partners, according to the Central Statistical Bureau.

Zatlers is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel; President Horst Köhler; Norbert Lammert, president of the German Bundestag, the national parliament; and Klaus Wowerei, mayor of Berlin. He also is to meet with representatives of the industry group Deutscher Bund der Industrie and with Latvian businesses active in Germany.

The Latvian president also plans to address the Körber Foundation, a private group supporting public interest projects. Zatlers is to speak about Latvian foreign policy issues.

The president also will visit the International Green Week Berlin trade fair for ecologically clean products.