{"id":3086,"date":"2021-08-16T11:32:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T11:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/?p=3086"},"modified":"2021-08-21T11:34:19","modified_gmt":"2021-08-21T11:34:19","slug":"greetings-from-reykjavik-to-riga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/?p=3086","title":{"rendered":"GREETINGS FROM REYKJAV\u00cdK TO RIGA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

F<\/strong>rom Reykjav\u00edk to Riga \u2013 Greetings and congratulations on the occasion of Latvia\u00b4s independence celebration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us ask ourselves a simple question: Have the expectations of  the pioneers  of the independence movement been realized? Observed from afar, the answer to these questions seems in the main to be a positive one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have certainly consolidated your democratic institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have integrated your economy with the internal market of the EU- the largest free trade area in the world \u2013 and with the international commercial system.  And, last but not least, you have taken out an insurance policy against potential future agression by joining both NATO and  The European Union. Those are no mean achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

But we are reminded that we live in unprecedented times. Man-made climate change threatens to destroy living conditions on our planet. And an invisible enemy threatens all our lives and the health of our societies. Seldom has political leadership been put to greater tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your neighbourhood you are also facing the threat of a revanchist empire on your border.  Regrettably it is in part a consequence of the failure of Western leadership to seize the opportunity, offered by the fall of the Soviet Union, to massively support the democratic forces inside Russia; to allow them to plant the seeds of democracy and the rule of law in Russian soil. Hence, Russia has reverted back to her imperial past, claiming a \u201esphere of influence\u201c in the \u201enear abroad\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, regrettably, we have to admit that the European Union has not lived up to our expectations \u2013  witness the ineffective response to the international financial crisis; the abyssmal failure of the austerity policies imposed by the center, and the lack of agreement on an effective response to the immigration challenge.  And I would add a fourth one: neglecting to start preparing a common defence and security policy for the European Union as a whole, in the eventuality of America leaving Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This suffices to say that there are many and big challenges ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, you have gone through testing times before. And, probably,  never been in a stronger position to deal with those challenges effectively. You are not alone, as you were during the crucial years 1939-40. You and your neighbours do have a seat in the councils of power, where you can assert your influence on collective policy. And through regional cooperation of the Nordic-Baltic Union, together we have all the human and physical resources needed to prosper in the years ahead. I conclude this message by repeating our greetings from Reykjav\u00edk to Riga on the occasion of your independence celebration. Under the banner of the \u201esolidarity of small nations\u201c we shall prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Mr. Hannibalsson was Iceland\u2018s minister for foreign affairs and external trade 1988-95)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Reykjav\u00edk to Riga \u2013 Greetings and congratulations on the occasion of Latvia\u00b4s independence celebration. Let us ask ourselves a simple question: Have the expectations of  the pioneers  of the independence movement been realized? Observed from afar, the answer to these questions seems in the main to be a positive one. You have certainly consolidated … Continue reading “GREETINGS FROM REYKJAV\u00cdK TO RIGA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allar_greinar","category-articles-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3086"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3088,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3086\/revisions\/3088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}