Latvian President warns on visit to Helsinki of labour shortages through brain-drain

Vaira Vike-Freiberga

print this

Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the President of Latvia, is on a two-day visit to Finland. After an official welcoming ceremony on Tuesday, Vike-Freiberga had talks with her Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen, with an agenda that was thought to cover the EU draft constitution, the future of the EU, bilateral issues, and relations with Russia and the other Baltic Sea countries.
      "Finland provides Latvia with a copybook example of a small country that has achieved economic success and is able to take on a greater role in international politics than its size might merit", was the favourable comment made by the Latvian President, speaking at a press conference arranged to mark the start of the visit and held jointly with her host Tarja Halonen.
     
Latvia joined the European Union in the last intake, in May 2004. The country's economy has grown throughout the first years of the new century at a brisk eight percent annual rate.
      Latvia is nevertheless beset by massive emigration - an estimated 50,000 Latvians of working age have left the country to seek employment abroad.
      Vike-Freiberga noted that the drain away from the country was already leading to labour shortages in certain sectors.
      "But people are free to move. And this is an important thing after the many years when they have lived under restrictions", she nonetheless stressed. Latvia, like the other Baltic Republics, was under the control of the Soviet Union from the 1940s to 1991.
     
According to Vike-Freiberga, the country should be investing more in retraining its citizens, in order that the needs of job-seekers and potential employers could be matched more closely. Municipalities also have a role to play in keeping people in the country.
      "The local communities can do much to increase their attractiveness and to improve the quality of life of the residents. Even though one might be able to earn more money in the great metropolises abroad, life as such can be better in smaller communities", she noted.
     
At the Tuesday press conference, a question concerning the name of the next United Nations Secretary-General prompted much good-natured laughter from the Latvian leader and her host Tarja Halonen. Both have been cited in the speculations surrounding the appointment.
      A French journalist asked whether the two presidents had arranged between themselves who would be their common candidate.
      "No, we haven't got around to that question yet", replied Vike-Freiberga. However, both presidents did point out that the time was ripe for a female Secretary-General. It would be a first for the 60-year-old world body, even though the UN Charter specifies gender equality among its aims.
      President Vike-Freiberga's programme in Finland also includes placing a wreath at the Hietaniemi Cemetery, a lecture at the University of Helsinki, and visits to Parliament and the city of Porvoo. She is accompanied by a business delegation, and will take part today with Halonen in a Finnish-Latvian Business Forum seminar.


Links:
  Finnish Presidential website
  Chancery of the President of Latvia

Helsingin Sanomat