IN REVIEW December 27, 2011 – January 2, 2012 Issue 1

CONTENTS

Government In New Year’s Speech, Dombrovskis Underscores Completion of Fiscal Consolidation In New Year’s Day Speech, President Bērziņš Calls for Stopping Emigration Latvian Political Parties to be Partly Funded from National Budget as of 2012

Economics Employment Figures for 2011 Suggest Positive Stability Bank of Latvia: Retail Slightly Up in November, Likely Due to Short-Term Factors Foreigners Invest EUR 175 Million in Latvia in Exchange for Residence Permits in 2011 Stores Selling Works by Latvian Artists, Designers Increase Sales in 2011

Foreign Affairs Latvian Prime Minister Made 25 Official Visits Abroad in 2011 Foreign Ministry Set to Launch Secretariat to Prepare for Latvia’s 2015 EU Presidency Several Presidents to Make Official Visits to Latvia Next Year

Society Roman Catholic Archbishop Named European of the Year 2011 in Latvia Piece of Ancient Shipwreck Washed Ashore in Southwestern Latvia Media Name President’s Decision to Dissolve Parliament as Top Event of 2011 in Latvia Works of Latvian Artists to Feature in Chile’s Santiago a Mil Art Festival

Articles of Interest Toronto Sun: “No Shortage of Support for Latvia” YouTube: The Miera iela District in Rīga Appmodo.com: “Mailboxing [by Latvian firm Asketic] for iPhone and iPad Now Available”

Government In New Year’s Speech, Dombrovskis Underscores Completion of Fiscal Consolidation In his speech on New Year’s Eve, Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis underscored that Latvia has overcome the financial crisis and called on people to take part in the upcoming referendum on the official language in Latvia, the Baltic News Service reported. According to the Rīga-based newswire, Dombrovskis said that we have a reason to feel that a good job has been done and the fiscal consolidation has been completed. “Tonight we can say with pride that the Latvian nation has acted wisely and considerately, has overcome the financial crisis and has renewed the national economic growth,” he was quoted as saying, pointing at the successfully completed financial assistance program. In the speech, Dombrovskis said he believes that Latvia's future now is much better than the future of many other European countries. “A tough, but significant stage in Latvia's history has been completed. We have to take these lessons with us in the future. Politicians may not make decisions that are good in a short term, but irresponsible in the long term. We have learned that we can achieve good results if we concentrate resources, act rationally and are ready for changes. The economy has been restructured, the budget has been arranged, the state administration has been downsized. We are

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ready for further growth that will ensure the nation’s welfare. Today the future of our country is much more stable than in many other European countries,” he was quoted as saying. According to BNS, the prime minister also said that there is no reason to become self-conceited and work has to be done to ensure stable and sustainable economic growth in the future, avoiding another economic bubble. Dombrovskis also spoke about problems in the (EU), BNS reported, saying that 2012 will decide the direction of its further development. “We have to work for Latvia to be together with those countries who will make the core of the future Europe. Latvia should support closer cooperation of European countries. Latvia's place is not in the suburbs of Europe, not on its Eastern bridge, but in the core leading Europe forward. Europe is Latvia's geopolitical environment and we have common values,” he was quoted as saying. BNS reported that the prime minister also invited all Latvian citizens to take part in the upcoming referendum, initiated after a signature collection campaign in support of Russian as a second state language, and show loyalty to the national identity of the Latvian state and Constitutional values. “The Latvian language is and will be the foundations of this identity as well as our trust in democracy and independence of the country. The referendum should prove that Latvia's basic values are important not only for Latvians, but also for those representatives of minorities who belong to this country. A united society is a measure of matured democracy. And it is an important pre-condition for Latvia's economic growth,” the prime minister was quoted as saying. The prime minister called on people to set goals for 2012 -- both private goals and goals for the country. “I call on each Latvian patriot to make at least one selfless deed to strengthen our country,” he was quoted as saying. Link to full text of speech: http://www.mk.gov.lv/en/aktuali/zinas/2011/12/311211-pm-01/.

In New Year’s Day Speech, President Bērziņš Calls for Stopping Emigration Addressing the nation on the first day of 2012, Latvian President Andris Bērziņš noted the experiments with the Constitution experienced last year, as well as called on politicians to work on stopping emigration, the Baltic News Service reported. According to the Rīga-based newswire, the president said that economic shocks, which entail a drop in living standards and uncertainty about the future, create a fertile soil for internal strife and that in such atmosphere it is much easier to sow discord and create confrontation. “In 2011 we saw experiments with the basic law of our state – the Latvian Constitution. The proposal to dissolve parliament brought about legally and politically dangerous situations, but they did not threaten the foundations of the state and gave an opportunity to the people to make its own decisions. Meanwhile, the proposal to make Russian a second state language in Latvia is targeting the very foundations of the state and the core of the Constitution,” the president was quoted as saying. In his words, cited by BNS, the constitutional foundations of the Latvian state – its territory, language, and democracy can only be seemingly changed. “They have been written by our compatriots’ blood, to change them would mean to abolish this state and leave Latvians without Latvia,” Bērziņš was quoted as saying. According to BNS, the president himself is not going to take part in the forthcoming referendum on the state language in Latvia in February, because he considers this to be an absurd enterprise. In the New Year address to the nation, however, he said that it is up to the each citizen to decide whether to take part and how to vote in the referendum, but that a vote for another state language would amount to a vote against Latvia as a state, BNS reported. “Let’s think why this is happening now and who benefits from such a split in society. The two decades of independence have shown that Latvia is capable of becoming a state with a united 2

nation, but it is not enough to know the language to ensure integration and build a united nation. Shared values, mutual respect, human understanding, and tolerance are the foundation on which we must build Latvia’s future. If we are unable to agree, we will be replaced by others,” the Latvian president was quoted as saying. BNS also reported that Bērziņš identified a number of tasks for Latvia’s politicians, especially stressing the necessity to keep people from leaving Latvia in search of a better life in foreign countries. “Politicians and the state authorities must work to stabilize the country's finances, create a modern education system, facilitate businesses and entrepreneurship, but most importantly, to stop our people from leaving the country, because without people there will be no Latvia,” Bērziņš was quoted as saying. In his New Year speech, the president, who is a former banker, also touched upon issues in the banking sector. According to BNS, President Bērziņš believes that the sector's oversight is in need of improvement. “The shutdown of Latvijas Krājbanka [Latvian Savings Bank] is a striking example of how a bank of one system indirectly affects another, threatening to trigger panic in the whole banking sector. It is also prompting our state security and supervision institutions to reconsider their cooperation,” Bērziņš was quoted as saying, adding that responsibility for Latvijas Krājbanka lies with all institutions involved in ensuring the stability of the banking system. In conclusion, the president wished peace and harmony in every family, fulfillment of dreams and expectations, as well as health and strength to the people in 2012. Link to full text of speech: http://www.president.lv/pk/content/?cat_id=605&art_id=18947.

Latvian Political Parties to be Partly Funded from National Budget as of 2012 As of 2012, political parties in Latvia will be partly funded from the national budget in line with amendments passed to the law on the financing of political organization, the Baltic News Service reported, citing information from the parliamentary press service. According to the Rīga-based newswire, public funding will be granted to those political parties that won more than 2 percent of votes in the last general elections. All six parties meeting the requirement have already applied for public funding, including LPP/LC, BNS reported, which has decided to disband. Andris Vitenburgs, a spokesman for the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), told BNS earlier that in line with the law a party that has become defunct is no longer eligible to public funding. KNAB is planning to release the first payment to the political parties by January 15, Vitenburgs told BNS. The eligible political parties will receive 50 santīms (EUR 0.71) per vote in government funding. According to BNS, the six parties eligible to co-funding from the national budget include the leftist pro-Russia Harmony Center, which won 28.4 percent of votes; the centrist Zatlers Reform Party (20.8%); the center-right Unity (18.8%); the nationalist conservative National Alliance (13.9%); the Greens and Farmers Union (12.2%); and LPP/LC, which failed to win seats in parliament, but with its 2.4 percent of votes is eligible to receive funding from the national budget. The annual allocation of 442,322 lats (EUR 629,371) will be distributed among the above six parties until 2014, BNS reported, and the annual funding will be released in four installments. The Harmony Center will receive 129,965 lats (EUR 184,924); the Zatlers Reform Party, 95,428 lats (EUR 135,782); the Unity party, 86,281 lats (EUR 122,767); the National Alliance, 63,604 lats (EUR 90,500); the Greens and Farmers Union, 55,978 lats (EUR 79,649); and LPP/LC, 11,065 lats (EUR 15,744).

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According to BNS, the parties can use the public funding for rent, communications services, wages, research and educational initiatives, as well as election campaigns. BNS also said that public funding can be denied to a political party if it has been punished for exceeding the legal campaign spending limit by more than 10 percent or it has failed to declare transactions or donations exceeding 100 minimum wages. Public funding for a political party can also be suspended if the party disbands or fails to submit the annual report or election declaration, BNS reported.

Economics Employment Figures for 2011 Suggest Positive Stability The employment figures for 2011 suggest positive stability and there have not been any major changes in the total number of registered jobless, remaining around 130,000, and the unemployment rate, remaining at 11.5 percent of the economically active population in recent months, announced Baiba Paševica, the director of the Latvian State Employment Agency (NVA), the Baltic News Service reported. “Comparing the latest figures with 2009 and early 2010 when there were more than 190,000 jobless, the conclusion is that the situation has improved significantly and there is a reason to speak about stability and positive trends during the entire 2011,” she was quoted as saying. The number of the registered jobless in Latvia in 2011 has dropped by 34,256 from 164,551 at the beginning of 2011 to 130,295 at the end of December 2011, according to preliminary figures, Paševica told BNS. The registered unemployment rate in Latvia was 14.5 percent at the beginning of last year and 11.5 percent in December 2011, BNS reported. The unemployment rate in Latvia started falling in April 2010 and stabilized around 14.3 percent in the last quarter of 2010. After a slight increase in January 2011, the jobless rate has been falling since March 2011, the NVA director told BNS. According to the information from the NVA, cited by BNS, in early December 2011 a total of 58 percent of the jobless were women and 42 percent were men, while at the beginning of 2011 this proportion was 54 percent of women and 46 percent of men. According to the Rīga-based newswire, in 2011 most of the registered jobless were aged 45-54 years, totaling 36,252 people or 28 percent of the total number of the registered jobless. Long-term jobless prevailed among the registered jobless in Latvia at the beginning of December 2011, numbering 57,691 people or 44 percent of the total, Paševica told BNS, noting that there has also been a positive trend and 25,146 long-term jobless had found permanent jobs during the first eleven months of 2011. According to BNS, in early December 2011, 46,850 registered jobless or 36 percent had vocational education, and 62,453 or 48 percent had only general secondary or elementary education, and 3,662 or 2.8 percent did not have even elementary education. The jobless with higher education accounted for 16,354 people or 12.5 percent of the total number of the jobless. “Regardless of the decline in the registered unemployment in the recent months, the number of the jobless is still much higher than the number of job vacancies. At the beginning of December 2011, there were 43 jobless per vacancy. In January 2011, there were 2,391 job vacancies registered in the NVA database but in early December 2011 there were 3,025 vacancies,” the NVA director was quoted as saying. “Further stabilization of the situation on the labor market and gradual decrease in the numbers of job seekers is expected in the coming years,” Paševica was quoted as saying, adding that the Latvian Welfare Ministry has estimated the average registered jobless rate in 2012 at 10.1 percent of the economically active population. According to preliminary information from the NVA, cited by BNS, the registered unemployment rate in Latvia was at 11.5 percent of the economically active population on December 31, 2011. 4

Bank of Latvia: Retail Slightly Up in November, Likely Due to Short-Term Factors The retail turnover in November (seasonally adjusted data at constant prices) grew 1.9% month- on-month and the year-on-year retail sales growth was 7.6%, reported Bank of Latvia economist Agnese Bičevska, who also added that a substantial month-on-month growth was posted for the sales volumes of non-food products (2.5%), with the growth fastest for the furniture, household appliances, and construction materials group (4.3%). Writing for the website Macreconomics.lv, Bičevska reported that the drop observed in October was expected to have been a turning point in the hitherto rapid growth, as the global developments and events in the Latvian financial sector seemed to urge caution to households. Yet, Bičevska wrote, growth has apparently resumed. The Bank of Latvia economist also addressed the suspension of AS Latvijas Krājbanka operations and the clamor surrounding AS Swedbank problems, which provoked the population to withdraw cash. “These cash withdrawals may have promoted increased expenditures, especially regarding goods that can be kept for a longer time,” Bičevska wrote. “Moreover, these events may have provoked uncertainty regarding the banking system as such, leading to the customers of other banks possibly reducing and spending their accruals. Albeit this effect could be of more significance in December when substantially larger sums were withdrawn, the impact on November sales data cannot be excluded and a more rapid growth in the demand for furniture, household appliances and construction materials could confirm this.” In her commentary piece for the website, Bičevksa addressed asked what we could expect for retail in December. She concluded: “Business and consumer confidence indexes cannot be used for short-term predictions of retail and consumption at this time. The employees of the European Commission have gone on their holiday, therefore these data will become available not at the end of the month as per usual, i.e., before or along with commentaries on sales data, but only on 6 January.” Link to full text: http://www.macroeconomics.lv/retail-slightly-november-likely-due-short-term- factors.

Foreigners Invest EUR 175 Million in Latvia in Exchange for Residence Permits in 2011 Foreigners this year invested 123 million lats (EUR 175 million) in Latvia in exchange of residence permits, said Citizenship and Migration Affairs Board (PMLP) spokesman Andrejs Rjabcevs, the Baltic News Service reported. According to the Rīga-based newswire, Rjabcevs said that, according to the data of PMLP, 1,956 foreigners have used the possibility to apply for a term residence permit in Latvia in exchange for investments in the Latvian national economy, and the investments have amounted to 123 million lats (EUR 175 million). “Similar to last year, most foreigners were interested in a possibility to receive a residence permit for buying a property in Latvia -- as many as 1,549 foreigners applied for a residence permit because their or their family members have bought a property in Latvia worth at least 100,000 lats [EUR 142,287] or 50,000 lats [EUR 71,143],” Rjabcevs was quoted as saying, adding that foreigners most often have been interested in apartments in Rīga and Jūrmala, making 325 and 225 purchases respectively in these locations. Foreigners have invested 95.8 million lats (EUR 136.3 million) in real estate in Latvia, he said. BNS reported that as many as 24.4 million lats (EUR 34.71 million) have been invested in subordinated capital of banks, also allowing foreigners to apply for a permit of residence. According to Rjabcevs, this opportunity was taken by 293 investors and their family members. As many as 2.7 million lats (EUR 3.84 million) have been invested in share capital of 53 companies, allowing grant residence permits to be granted to 114 people, BNS reported. According to BNS, under the amendments to the Immigration Law effective from July 1, 2010, citizens of third countries can apply for a permanent residence permit in Latvia, provided that 5

they have invested 100,000 lats (EUR 142,000) in real estate in the Latvian capital or the surrounding region or 50,000 lats (EUR 76,000) in real estate in other locations in Latvia, in subordinated capital of banks or share capital of a Latvian company. In a year and a half a total of 2,257 investors and their family members have applied for residence permits in Latvia after they have invested a total of 142.5 million lats (EUR 202.76), BNS reported.

Stores Selling Works by Latvian Artists, Designers Increase Sales in 2011 Stores selling works by Latvian artists and designers increased their sales in 2011 and expect their 2012 sales to remain on the same level or grow further, representatives the Baltic News Service reported, citing information from representatives of the stores. Sarmīte Stabulniece, the head of the RIJA design concept store, told BNS that their turnover in 2011 had increased nearly eight times, mostly due to expanding the product assortment. In the future RIJA also intends to add more products to its assortment, in particular seasonal goods, BNS reported. Paviljons, which sells products by Latvian designers, increased its 2011 turnover by some 25 percent from 61,500 lats (EUR 87,500) in 2010, spokeswoman Elīza Cekse-Feldmane told BNS, adding that the store had expanded its business by moving to new premises and increasing the product range. According to BNS, Cekse-Feldmane expects that Paviljons sales this year would remain on the 2010 level. “The crisis has not affected us because Paviljons is a store that was opened during the crisis. Our sales cannot drop,” Cekse-Feldmane was quoted as saying. Līga Bizune, the director of the store Creative Latvia, which sells works by Latvian artists, told BNS that the store’s turnover in 2011 had been nearly eight times higher than in 2011 with particularly fast growth observed at the year-end. “The profit in December grew 120 percent from October which evidences increased interest and number of orders,” she was quoted as saying. Bizuna was also quoted as saying, “In 2012 Creative Latvia will focus on foreign sales and exports which would ensure growth of turnover regardless of the economists’ estimates about the overall situation in the country.

Foreign Affairs Latvian Prime Minister Made 25 Official Visits Abroad in 2011 Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis made 25 foreign visits this year, mostly to Belgium, Lithuania, and , announced governmental spokesperson Ilze Eida, the Baltic News Service reported. According to BNs, Ilze Eida, deputy head of the communications department of the State Chancellery, said that the prime minister made eight trips to Belgium and four to Lithuania and Estonia this year. His other foreign visits were to the US, Great Britain, , Sweden, , Denmark, and South Korea. BNS reported that Dombrovskis visited the Belgian capital Brussels so frequently because of the need to attend European Council meetings at which EU leaders decide on issues important to the bloc, including Latvia as its member. According to BNS, the working visits to Estonia were made to attend the annual Lennart Meri conference, which focuses on global politics and security issues. Dombrovskis also attended a meeting of Baltic premiers to discuss joint transport and infrastructure projects, energy issues, and other regional developments. In Lithuania, BNS reported, Dombrovskis talked energy cooperation, as well as the situation with Lithuania’s Snoras bank, which collapsed along with its Latvian subsidiary Latvijas Krājbanka (Latvian Savings Bank) earlier this year. 6

Foreign Ministry Set to Launch Secretariat to Prepare for Latvia’s 2015 EU Presidency The Latvian Foreign Ministry hopes that the secretariat for the preparations for Latvia’s EU presidency in 2015 will start functioning in February next year, the Baltic News Service reported. The ministry’s state secretary, Andris Teikmanis, told BNS that the government was likely to approve the bylaws of the new organization at the very beginning of next year and then a tender could be announced to find the director of the secretariat. “Hopefully, the secretariat will actually commence its work in February. Of course, one of the questions is that additional allocations from the budget will be needed because no financing had been earmarked for this in the 2012 budget,” he was quoted as saying. According to BNS, the secretariat plans to hire seven people in 2012, but Teikmanis was unable to say exactly how much money will be needed for the functioning of the secretariat. He explained that the original concept had been altered and the secretariat, which previously was to be organized as a structural unit of the Foreign Ministry, would be an independent institution placed under the supervision of the foreign minister. The Foreign Ministry intends to seek financing for the secretariat through amendments to the 2012 budget, BNS reported. “There are definitely going to be some budget amendments at one time or other,” Teikmanis was quoted as saying. BNS also reported that a public debate will be organized next year to start identifying the priorities for Latvia’s term as the EU presiding country.

Several Presidents to Make Official Visits to Latvia Next Year The presidents of Estonia, Macedonia, , and Georgia plan to make state and official visit to Latvia, announced Latvian President Andris Bērziņš’s spokeswoman Līga Krapāne, the Baltic News Service reported. “Next year the president will have many activities in foreign relations. The presidents of Estonia, Macedonia, Croatia and Georgia are expected to make state and official visit to Latvia,” she was quoted as saying. According to BNS, Bērziņš also plans to take part in several international forums: the meeting of eight presidents of the so-called Arraiolos group debate in , the NATO Summit in Chicago, the EU-Latin America Summit in Chile, and the UN General Assembly in New York. BNS reported that Bērziņš has also planned to meet Latvia’s main cooperation partners within the Baltic Sea region, and Poland. A decision still has to be made on the president's participation in opening of closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in London. According to BNS, Krapāne said that some activities are still being coordinated with partners, therefore more detailed information about the president's agenda will be released early next year.

Society Roman Catholic Archbishop Named European of the Year 2011 in Latvia Archbishop Zbigņevs Stankevičs, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of , was named European of the Year 2011 in Latvia in a ceremony on December 30, reported the Baltic News Service. Stankevičs was selected for the title in an annual poll conducted by the European Movement in Latvia, a NGO that works to improve the representation of Latvia’s interests in the EU, foster European awareness in Latvia, and support civil society and its participation in decision-making both in Latvia and in Europe. According to the Riga-based newswire, Skaidrīte Lasmane, a senior researcher at the Advanced Social and Political Research Institute (ASPRI) at the University of Latvia, said that Stankevičs earned the title with his comprehensive education, scope of thought, openness, and

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responsibility. He also has the ability to encourage people to improve themselves and change society in line with Europe’s intellectual and ethical values, Lasmane was quoted as saying. The voters who named Stankevičs for the title of Latvia's European of the Year 2011 said that, with his European stance and attitude, the head of Latvia's Roman Catholic Church has provided a refreshingly modern and a deep boost to the church, believers, and society at large, BNS reported. According to the newswire, Stankevičs has also been noted for his qualities of a modern religious leader whose activities promote positive development, friendship among denominations, and social consolidation. BNS also reported that more than 35 candidates had been nominated this year for the title of the European of the Year in Latvia for promoting European ideas and values. “Interestingly, towards the end of the crisis an especially high number of votes were cast for people that are not connected with politics but have still provided a major contribution to Latvia’s integration in Europe and Europe’s integration in Latvia,” Andris Gobiņš, president of the European Movement in Latvia, was quoted as saying. According to BNS, animated-film director Jānis Cimmermanis and pop singer-songwriter Lauris Reiniks had also been shortlisted for the title this year.

Piece of Ancient Shipwreck Washed Ashore in Southwestern Latvia On December 28, a piece of an ancient shipwreck was washed ashore on the beach of Nīca, in southwestern Latvia near Liepaja, during a storm, the Baltic News Service reported. According to the Rīga-based newswire, experts at the Liepaja Museum said the ship might have been built in the 14th-17th century. More precise information will be obtained after an examination is carried out and the municipality is ready to finance it, said Nīca municipality spokeswoman Gunita Šime. The piece of the shipwreck was found on the beach by a local fisherman, BNS reported. Nīca history expert Gita Vanaga said that there is a shelf in the sea, which has been fatal for several ships. According to BNS, after conservation the piece of the ancient shipwreck will be displayed in the municipality’s collection of antiquities.

Media Name President’s Decision to Dissolve Parliament as Top Event of 2011 in Latvia The decision of Valdis Zatlers, who was then Latvian president, to dissolve parliament and the subsequent snap elections have been named by media representatives the event of the outgoing year in Latvia, shows a survey of editors in chief conducted by the Baltic News Service, the Rīga- based newswire reported. According to BNS, Zatlers’s decree initiating the dissolution of parliament and the subsequent elections topped the list of events named by the editors in chief of Latvia's media. “The dissolution of parliament changed Latvian politics, providing an opportunity to put an end to the capturing of the state that had been going on for decades,” Nellija Ločmele, editor in chief of the weekly news magazine Ir, was quoted as saying. Ingus Bērziņš, editor in chief of the online news website Delfi.lv, also indicated that the dissolution of parliament marked a paradigm shift, crushing the clan system in Latvia, which made this year very special and remarkable, BNS reported. “If not for this paradigm shift, the decisions on airBaltic and Latvijas Krājbanka might have been different,” Bērziņš was quoted as saying. According to BNS, other events of the year named in the survey was the collapse of Latvijas Krājbanka, the campaign aimed at making Russian a second state language in Latvia, as well as the reappointment of Valdis Dombrovskis as prime minister, who is now heading his third consecutive cabinet.

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“This bankruptcy [of Latvijas Krājbanka] is obviously not going to have such a devastating impact as the failure of Parex Bank [in 2008]. However, at least emotionally, it was no less impressive because it came so unexpectedly,” Jānis Siksnis, the acting head of the news service of Latvian public radio, was quoted as saying. At the same time, the collapse of Latvijas Krājbanka demonstrated that Latvia’s financial system is now in a much better shape than in 2008. Linda Rasa, editor in chief of the Latvijas Avīze daily, told BNS that the upcoming referendum on Russian as a state language in Latvia showed that the social integration issue were far from resolved, but not only that. “It showed the true face of the [leftist pro-Russia] Harmony Center, considering this party's position in the process of setting up the government,” Rasa was quoted as saying.

Works of Latvian Artists to Feature in Chile’s Santiago a Mil Art Festival Latvian stage designer Monika Pormale and fashion designers Mārīte Mastiņa and Rolands Pēterkops, the creators of the brand mareunrol’s, are to take part in Chile’s largest contemporary art festival Santiago a Mil, taking place in the Chilean capital Santiago from January 6-22, the Baltic News Service reported. Gundega Laiviņa, director of the New Theater Institute, told the Rīga-based newswire that the Latvian artists are taking their installations Exhibit 1, Exhibit II, and Tenant/Untitled Movement to the festival in Chile. The producer of the artworks is the New Theater Institute in association with the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. Santiago a Mil is the largest contemporary art festival in Chile and one of the most celebrated in South America, BNS reported, offering a rich variety of local and foreign art exhibitions, as well as a special section called Intersecciones. BNS also reported that Monika Pormale will be displaying her Exhibit 1 and Exhibit II installations delving into the motif of embrace and paying homage to the art of stage design, and mareunrol’s will be showcasing their sequence of miniature dolls, dresses, lights, and sound Tenant/Untitled Movement. More info on Latvian fashion brand mareunrol’s: http://mareunrols.com/.

Articles of Interest Toronto Sun: “No Shortage of Support for Latvia” http://www.torontosun.com/2011/12/26/no-shortage-of-support-for-latvia. YouTube: the Miera iela district in Rīga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re11gFWhg54&feature=bf_prev&list=PL94FFEFE431973 727&lf=plpp_video. Appmodo.com: “Mailboxing [by Latvian firm Asketic] for iPhone and iPad Now Available” http://appmodo.com/60293/mailboxing-for-iphone-ipad-now- available/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+appmodo +%28Appmodo%29.

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