On 11 October, President Edgars Rinkēvičs presented a Certificate of Merit to the writer, screenwriter and Commander of the Order of the Three Stars Alberts Bels, honouring the writer on his 85th birthday.
President Rinkēvičs presented the Certificate of Merit to the Jubilarian during a visit to the writer's home in Āgenskalns. "You are an outstanding figure in Latvian culture and social and political life. Your personality and creative activity have always been based on the attitude, free-mindedness, and originality of a courageous intellectual. Your mastery of language and style, your intelligent vision, and the metaphors you create speak and make one think. I sincerely commend your selfless service to Latvia, your outstanding contribution to the restoration of Latvia's independence, and to contemporary Latvian literature," reads the inscription in the Certificate of Merit.
Alberts Bels is one of the greatest Latvian writers of the second half of the 20th century, whose works have helped Latvian society preserve the notion of ethical values and the necessity of spiritual freedom.
