History of Latvia: a Brief Survey

A twenty lat bill. The Latvian nationalcurrency was renewed in late 1992.The removal of the Russian Armed Forces (former USSR occupation forces) from the Latvianterritory was completed on 31 August 1994. The last remaining Russian military objectin Latvia and the Baltic countries, the Skrunda radar station (in western Latvia), ceasedoperations on 31 August 1998. On 21 October 1999, this final Russian military base in theBaltic States was handed over to the jurisdiction of Latvian authorities. A total of 850 formerSoviet military installations were destroyed in Latvia.With the renewal of independence, Latvia moved consistently towards two of its mostimportant foreign policy goals — membership in the European Union and NATO. Duringthe 1990s, many social, economic and judicial changes were implemented in Latvia in orderto prepare for admittance to these organisations. In close cooperation with the EuropeanUnion, a special programme for the integration of immigrants who came to Latvia duringthe Soviet period has been developed and is operating successfully. At the end of 1999 inHelsinki, the heads of the European Union countries invited Latvia to begin negotiationsregarding accession to the European Union.Latvia also worked towards the privatisation of businesses and real estate. A specialPrivatisation Agency was established in order to transfer the large state-owned enterprisesto private ownership.Destruction of the Russian radar facilityin Skrunda, 4 May 1995.46The end of the 20th century in Latvia was unique in the sense that Latvia became the firstcountry in Central and Eastern Europe to elect a woman as president. In the summer of 1999,professor of psychology Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (born 1937) was elected President of Latvia(1999-2007) by the parliament.