Honourable Speaker of the Saeima,
Honourable Chair of the 4 May Declaration Club,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear audience,
I
The biography of a state is often based on quite a simple truth – it all begins with culture.
A state is born of a community of people united by culture – language, traditions, symbols, a code of behaviour, various artefacts, architecture etc.
With its diverse layers, culture shaped the framework within which modern European nations came into being as of the 18th century. That is why the perceptions of a state for these nations always reflect the values, ideas and practices enshrined in culture. They are also reflected in the legal system, principles of state governance and ideals of civic society.
It is a culture that makes each national state different and unique.
II
Ladies and gentlemen,
The foundation of Latvia is Latvian culture.
The Latvian nation was born from centuries of consolidation of the cultural space in a territory that greatly coincides with the borders of modern day Latvia.
If we look back into history over the past thousand years, there are relatively few nations that have seen little change in their territories. And Latvians are, indeed, one such nation. The five parent peoples of the Latvian nation have always lived in this territory.
With the development of the printed word, the Latvian cultural memory was strengthened. Of course, this process did not take place in a vacuum. Quite the opposite – the promoters of Christianity and the global ideas of enlightenment, to a certain extent, brought Latvian culture closer to other European cultures, which were taking shape at the same time, during the same centuries. Today we, all of these nations, share a common moral core – the value of individuality, rule of law, faith in the common good and democracy.
The idea of freedom has been historically encoded within Latvian culture. This was already noticed in the 18th century by German philosopher Gottfried Herder, who lived and worked in Riga for five years. Herder was a pioneer of the modern understanding of the relationship between culture and nation. While studying the monument of Latvian spoken culture – folk songs, he formulated his critical opinion on the existence of feudalism.
Through cultural emancipation, in the second half of the 19th century Latvians arrived at certain political demands – first and foremost, for social justice, then autonomy and eventually – their own state.
Pointedly, the de facto liquidation of the state of Latvia in 1940 began with the Soviet occupation regime prohibiting and censuring Latvian culture and exterminating the cultural elite.
After World War II Latvian culture held together and strengthened Latvians in exile, who continued to uphold pre-war Latvian cultural traditions and developed them further, adapting them to the modern age. But in Latvia, at the end of the 1980’s the voice of the creative intellectuals became stronger as they protested against the destruction of Latvia’s nature and discrimination against the Latvian language, which would become the harbinger of the Awakening, eventually transforming into the popular movement for the restoration of independence.
III
Ladies and gentlemen,
The state of Latvia was born out of and continues to exist because of the Latvian culture and the Latvian nation which is rooted within it. This causal relationship which underpins the road from culture to nation, from nation to state, has been recognised in our constitutional law.
Since 2014, the link between culture and the state has been cemented in the preamble of our constitution, which begins as follows: “The State of Latvia, proclaimed on 18 November 1918, has been established to [..] guarantee the existence and development of the Latvian nation, its language and culture throughout the centuries.”
Thus, the state of Latvia has been given a duty, which is simultaneously also the reason for its existence – to guarantee the continuation of the Latvian nation, language and culture throughout centuries, i.e., forever.
IV
Any national state sees as its obligation the task of ensuring that its permanent residents acquire at least the minimum of the national culture. This means teaching people awareness of their belonging and the essence of statehood.
Modern education needs to help people comprehend what are the political ties of our culture space to other cultures, other nations, as well as what the lines are that differentiate us from other culture spaces. Such comparisons and awareness of our own national culture boosts our civic consciousness.
The link between culture and civic society within a national state is demonstrated by the naturalisation policy of many states, including Latvia. It provides that any citizen-to-be must be familiar with the minimum of the national culture. This includes knowledge of the language, a certain familiarity with the history and culture of the nation. This minimum knowledge is the entrance ticket that allows a new citizen to integrate into society. And I believe that in order to best achieve this goal, this level of requirements stipulated in law ought to be raised. To my mind, it is currently too low.
V
Thus, culture is the foundation of not only a national, but also a democratic state. Strong democracy exists, original and socially important ideas are born in places where freedom of creativity and expression prevails. This requires professional media that is free from covert influence and able to ensure pluralism within the framework of the common values of society.
VI
Democracy requires a culture space that provides a forum for the competition of ideas. This inevitably brings culture closer to politics. In effect, democracy reaches maturity only if people are able to hold and do not avoid quality discussions about political issues and the state. The power of democracy actually lies within the free, spontaneous and even chaotic circulation of ideas.
In the 21st century, when national states compete in the global arena, culture has become an important and strategic area.
We are witnessing autocratic systems challenging the democratic cultures of the West in an increasingly aggressive manner. Russia invaded Ukraine to destroy its national and democratic culture.
Our culture space is part of this “clash of civilisations”. And this places a great responsibility on the shapers of Latvian culture to protect Latvia’s democracy, inter alia from political naivete.
VII
Dear audience,
The circulation of ideas within the culture space functions as a self-regulating system, it impacts the common values and actions of the nation. It ensures the possibility of change even within a single generation.
The Soviet occupation regime attempted to recast the first post-war generation of intellectuals into loyal “engineers of the soul”. But it was stopped in its tracks by free and brave personalities. Already in the 1960’s and 1970’s, this generation, especially in poetry, created a turning point towards the restoration of Latvian culture and society. This allowed the idea of a Latvian nation to gain force. Poet Knuts Skujenieks and his generation were a vivid example of this. This force did not wither, but only grew stronger. It sprouted the seeds of the Awakening. Allow me to reiterate – this is the special responsibility and obligation towards the state of Latvia carried by those working in culture.
Ladies and gentlemen,
May this Statehood Award serve as our nation’s gratitude for contributions in the name of Latvia!
