President Levits praised Mairis Čukurs, a volunteer from Ipiķi, and Tartu Society of Friends of Rein Sepp for restoring the home of famous Estonian mythologist and translator Rein Sepp, Eglītes, where Sepp produced his many works, including the translation of Vadum Edda from Icelandic.
“Rein Sepp was an outstanding translator, mythologist and one of forest brothers who was deported to Siberia. However, his unconventional mind has transcended the time. I have red Uldis Bērziņš’ translation of Edda from Icelandic into Latvian and know how complex it is. This makes Sepp’s translation into Estonian so valuable. I hope that Sepp’s home will become a place where Estonian and Latvian cultures interact closely,” said the President.
After his inauguration President Levits has visited all the border municipalities of Latvia he referred to in his inaugural speech in which Egils Levits stressed the equality between all municipalities of Latvia. President further explained his views on equality in his answers to questions of Ipiķi inhabitants.
Address of the President of Latvia, Egils Levits, to inhabitants of Ipiķi on 30 September 2019
Dear inhabitants of Ipiķi, thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today and visit the Northernmost point of Latvia, its closest point to the North Pole!
To me the song ‘I love this small part of homeland that we share with our brothers Estonians’ is characteristic of Ipiķi district. As Mayor of Rūjiena municipality just mentioned, Ipiķi has an important place in the history of Latvia. Ipiķi is one of the places where Latvian army was formed. There would be no Latvian state without its army. Ipiķi is also the birthplace of several famous Latvians and two mayors of Riga. And His Excellency Ambassador Zariņš, the head of the Latvian diplomatic service throughout the occupation. And other recipients of the Order of Viesturs who have joined us today. Ipiķi is a small local community of great importance and significance to whole Latvia.
Let me underline that the area of Latvia is quite big, we can easily fit Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg all at once. However, we strongly follow the principle of equal opportunities and our regional reform should have the same approach to local governments. No matter where your home is in Latvia, you should have the same opportunities as elsewhere in Latvia, especially compared to Riga. As I have also underlined to members of the government and parliament, principle of equal opportunities must be applied in all areas of life.
As Mayor and Director of District Administration underlined, it is important to have the sense of belonging. Belonging is one of the elements of the Latvian identity. Of course, I have heard that when it comes to regional reform, Rūjiena municipality does not want to be merged into amalgamation that government has proposed. Rūjiena wants to merge with other municipality closer to it not only in the emotional, but also financial sense. I am talking about Valmiera, of course. I believe this is open to debate and government must be made aware of these reservations. If Cabinet of Ministers ignores these objections, there is still an opportunity to debate that in the parliament, Saeima. Saeima is ready for a broader debate on numerous issues linked to regional reform, and this debate should also include Rūjiena.
What is important, I believe, is that this local community continues to exist after the regional reform. In other words, regional reform should not wipe this community off the map of Latvia. Ipiķi have always been and will remain here. It is a question of the amount of functions district and region has to deal with right now. But that is a different question. One of technical nature. However, from the identity point of view, these historic communities, and Ipiķi and Rūjiena region is definitely among such communities, have national significance – both from the perspective of Latvian nation and its national identity.
Therefore, I think, as Director of the District Administration mentioned when talking about what Ipiķi looked like 80 years ago, and although now Ipiķi population is four times smaller, it makes sense to provide the infrastructure, the economic and culture infrastructure, in a way that allows people who really live here to have decent living conditions and opportunities in life. It is not about the number of people living in the area. It is about how those people go about their daily life.
Here is the example that use from time to time. The smallest member state of the European Union, Luxembourg, has the highest standards of living in Europe. We are talking about Luxembourg here, which is four times smaller in terms of population than Latvia. It is really not about the size of population; it is about the way people take care of their needs. And the way people of Ipiķi run their life has made a deep impression on me. Ipiķi is a clean and nice place to live, unlike other places in Latvia, and there are even fewer places of this kind in other parts of Europe. We should appreciate the opportunity and, might I say, a privilege to live in such conditions.
Four people per square kilometre is not a lot. It is sparse. But that means that each person has more nature to enjoy. And nature is becoming more and more important with every day and every new development. Last week I attended the UN Climate Action Summit and I could literally witness the way growing population puts more pressure on the environment. Moreover, environment has become exclusive in some places. Whereas here you have clean environment. Today I also visited an organic farm which exploits this niche for its growth. Besides, this is a great place to live and go about your daily life.
I also believe and would like to echo what Director of the District Administration mentioned. People in Ipiķi know each other by name. Well, it is difficult not to when you only live with 200 other people. It is a diverse community, but one that is a real family, indeed. Each family has different members who sometimes have their differences. And the same can be said about the ‘extended family’ of people living in Ipiķi. I wish you to have as fulfilled and even more active life as you have had up to now. Thank you! I will be happy to answer your questions now.
