Alan Lee Williams, president of the Atlantic Treaty Association: President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, on behalf of the Atlantic Treaty Association, I'd like first of all to welcome you to this seminar, which has been designed to run back-to-back with the summit itself. This is a youth summit, which is working so far extremely well. Now you have had -- if I may say so, looking at your biographical details -- a very interesting career. You have a number of college [degrees], which must be very useful as president of the Republic [of Latvia] -- and especially at this time, on a day with such good news of the formal [invitation] of your membership to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In view of that, I'd like to formally move a toast of champagne to congratulate you and your country and the Atlantic alliance for reaching such a wise decision. To your health, and to your country! I know, Madame President, that you've had a very busy and no doubt exciting but exhausting day. May I invite you to speak in a seated position rather than necessarily coming to the rostrum? May I formally invite you to make your address? Thank you very much.

Vaira Vike-Freiberga: Ladies and gentlemen, young friends, this has been a day that Latvia has waited for for a very long time. We had to wait for our freedom for over half a century, and ever since recovering it we have been striving to catch up for the lost time; we have been striving to reenter the international circuit as an independent and sovereign state. We have thrown off the shackles of tyranny and totalitarianism; we have thrown off the shackles of centralized, planned economies and the communism-in-making, which never did make it. We have privatized our land again and our property, and were striving to compete and to survive in the very competitive, modern free world. But as a small country located where we are on the crossroads between the east and the west of Europe -- and a small country that knows from experience what very large countries can do to one's freedom and independence if they so choose -- security is for us a very serious issue. In the period between the two world wars, when Latvia enjoyed its first period of independence, it had hoped to remain on the sidelines of any conflicts in Europe. It had hoped to remain neutral -- the then-president of Latvia, Karlis Ulmanis [1918-19, 1936-40]-- to the very end how desirous Latvia was of keeping its neutrality. Sweden had the same intent, and what happened to work for them did not work for Latvia -- not because of any different merits between Sweden and Latvia so much as because of the geographical location. Because of the place where we happen to live. It happened to be a very bad neighborhood at that time in European history. Latvia suffered occupations: first from Nazi Germany -- first from Soviet Russia -- then from Nazi Germany, and then annexation into the Soviet Union for a very long time.

During that whole period, the dream of independence remained alive in the hearts of the Latvian people in spite of brutal efforts to suppress it. Efforts were made over the decades to brainwash people, to rewrite history, to terrify them and to terrorize them with waves after waves of deportation and various other repressions. They did not succeed to wipe out the dream of an independent Latvia; they did not succeed to wipe out the desire of our people to take charge of their own destiny and to shape their own future the way they saw it fit -- not somebody else.

We have now had a mere 11 years to get back on course, to clear away the ruins of the Soviet empire, to start building a new country that is free, open, democratic, and that, hopefully, will become more and more prosperous as the years go by. It's been a difficult period of transition, of uncertainty; it has required great sacrifices from our people. I am very happy to tell you that these sacrifices have not been in vain, because we have been moving forward and we are reintegrating the European space to which we belong, by culture, by history -- the Europe that is our spiritual home. We have been in Europe geographically and we have never left it, but we were cut off from it for over a half of century by an Iron Curtain.

Today, here in Prague, the last vestiges of the sequels of World War II were finally wiped away. I refer to the division of Europe into spheres of influence, division of Europe whereby some countries -- because they happen to be larger, stronger -- somehow see it as their God-given right to impose their will on others. [It] goes back to the infamous mark of Ribbentrop, back to 1939 [when] Hitler and Stalin decided to draw a dividing line between their spheres of influence [via the Molotov Ribbentrop Treaty of nonaggression]. Of course, World War II put an end to that particular division, but the conferences of Yalta and Tehran built up new ones. Communism was allowed to spread into Eastern Europe; and in addition to the three Baltic States, which were incorporated into the Soviet Union, there was a whole block, which later became the Warsaw Pact countries -- which also did not enjoy the freedoms of their people but had to obey dictates coming from Moscow as a great military might.

All that is now history, but we would like to make the change irreversible. It happened today with invitation received, and I thanked just a few minutes ago the heads of state and government of NATO member countries; I thanked them for rectifying this historical injustice of the past, for clearing the way for a better future; and I did congratulate them for the wisdom of their decision because I think they made a wise choice. Latvia and the other candidate countries have done a great deal to rejoin the free world. We accomplished an awful lot in a very short time. We are fully committed to continue on our path and to catch up to everything that we need to catch up on. We are ready to move on, ready to make our full contribution to the alliance, ready to make our full contribution to the free world. It's a pleasure to be with you, ladies and gentlemen, this is a very happy day for us. Thank you for being with us, and I appreciate this opportunity to celebrate with you and again to raise my glass to the future of the united Europe.

Alan Lee Williams: It's my pleasure now to ask Anca Dana Pop to make a short contribution from the rostrum, if you don't mind.

Anca Dana Pop, Prague Atlantic Student Summit (PASS), Romanian Delegation member: Madame President, fellow PASS delegates, ladies and gentlemen, this is a time to get back to the future of Europe. The NATO Prague summit promises to remain a milestone in the modern history of our old continent, as young institutions and young generations reinvigorate our common home of Euro-Atlantic values. New institutions that have been major actors or players in Europe for the past half century, like NATO and the EU, were built on traditions and shared principles such as liberty and freedom, democracy and free markets, the rule of law and human rights, peace and security. Those values have made allies out of former enemies, partners out of distant friends, responsible states out of failed societies, and a family that stretches eastward and westward, northward and southward to form a truly united Europe.

Completing a historical task of rebuilding a Europe whole and free as well within reach, seven new states were invited to join the North Atlantic Alliance today. Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate the delegations of those states that are all present here today. All of us belong to a historic cycle that has transformed the political map of Europe once divided by the Iron Curtain. All of us have possessed the strength to introduce massive change and pursue the basic values that are the very essence of what NATO as well as the EU stand for. The next natural step for those countries, as well as for others, is the accession to the EU. Both NATO and the EU have adopted the open-door policy -- affirming that they are ready to welcome new members -- which is a great opportunity for other states to prove in the near future that they are ready to join [in] completing the family.

Receiving the invitation today is a recognition of our efforts so far, but we must realize that this is just the beginning of a process filled with many efforts -- a process which proves that all the candidates have met the conditions. Each citizen can bring their contribution by cooperating and supporting the reform process. The two Western institutions, NATO and the EU, beyond the shared values and common traditions, represent mutually reinforcing partners -- each contributing to and benefiting the other. There are certain aspects in the joint functioning of NATO and the European Union that can be improved by more efficient coordination and increased dialogue. But in the future, Europe will grow and strengthen unity, becoming a real family. The torch is being passed on to the younger generations, which have to be prepared to face all the problems that come along with such a great responsibility -- but we are ready. One of the purposes of the NATO model simulations that take place tomorrow is for us to set an example of how certain issues that the alliance is facing must be dealt with. Let's prove that we are prepared to take things into our own hands. Thank you very much.

PART II

Alan Lee Williams:Madame President, in my further thanks, I'd like, if I may, to refer to a personal story which I'd like to tell you about. In 1957, [former Soviet Premier Nikolai] Bulganin and [Nikita] Khrushchev made their famous world tour, if you recall. They went, first of all, to Paris, then they made their way to London. For a day, they were entertained by Her Majesty's Government, which was then a conservative government. Then [they were] entertained for another day by Her Majesty's loyal opposition, a concept Mr. Khrushchev had difficulties understanding. During the course of a dinner of the parliamentary Labour Party -- I was a very young man then -- a conversation started between the leader of the Labour Party -- at that time it was a man called Hugh Gaitskell, [and] he said to Khrushchev and Bulganin: "We find it very difficult to have discussions with you at a time that we know that there are colleagues of ours who call themselves social democrats who are political prisoners in either the Warsaw Pact countries or the Baltic states. Can you give us a guarantee that, when you return home, that these people will be released, and this whole list of names given be considerably researched?" When it was interpreted for Khrushchev, he lost his temper. He said: "Why is it that you social democrats uniquely fear us? We are peace-loving people. You look at our constitution. It has freedoms in it. We have no concept of political prisoners, unlike the British constitution, which is not even written." Wagging his finger, he said: "Mr. Gaitskell, I want you to know that we believe that history is on our side." He held out his hand, he had quite a massive hand, and he said: "All we have to do is to wait for the fruit to grow on the trees." Then he squeezed his hand. You can imagine that at that moment, that was a very frightening moment when you saw what he really meant. At that, Hugh Gaitskell -- he was a very good parliamentary debater -- jumped up and said: "Well, Mr. Khrushchev, since you believe that history is on your side, and our philosophy teaches us that history is on our side, there's no need for us to go to war. But I have one request: Don't shake the tree!"

Of course he did in 1962, that's beside the point. That world has now thankfully gone, and I just wanted you to know that story because it was a moving experience for me as a young politician at that time. Therefore, it is a great honor for me to be able to chair on this occasion; and it's a very pleasurable one because there are seven members, and every time we are going to have a bottle of champagne I am going to be very jolly. Thank you, once again, Madame President, we've immensely enjoyed your contribution. Congratulations, and all the best for the future. [Applause] Sorry, I was misinformed, I was told that the president didn't have time to take questions; I have been corrected on that, and so may I have the first question first from the students please?

Questioner:Thank you. Many congratulations again. I am delighted, I think we are all delighted, to share this day with you. I am Fenella McVey from the U.K. delegation. I am interested in hearing some of your comments on the help that you had from NATO members and from NATO, and whether you could give any advice to existing members on what was most useful, what one should do to help other aspirant countries.

Vaira Vike-Freiberga:I would say that the most significant has been the help in recognizing the principle on which NATO operates and is ready for enlargement. For us, the most crucial decision was the one that emphasized the open-door policy and, in addition, reiterated the plain fact which needed to be restated: that no nation outside of the alliance would have a say as to who would be invited and when. For us particularly, this was the most significant moment in terms of political openness and readiness to receive us and to remove impediments that had no logic in that context. For the rest, we have received practical help on building our armed forces -- in the case of Latvia, absolutely from scratch. We have received help both in training -- Great Britain has offered us training facilities of various sorts for our personnel. We have visits from experts who have come to Latvia and helped us to evaluate the situation, set up the diagnoses, and helped us develop action plans as to how to proceed. We had help in a variety of programs also extending beyond pure military matters. I might add that we also have received even from countries outside of NATO donations of equipment or arms, which is the case of Finland and Sweden, who very much support our strivings even as they remain non-allied countries. They are, after all, living in the same neighborhood and are interested in having secure Baltic states as their neighbors. But we've also received, for instance from Britain, help in our language-training programs for the Russian-speaking part of the populations, since we re-instituted Latvian as the official language, since we recovered our independence. We have been shouldered in many ways by member nations of NATO as well as the European Union in the enormous task of setting forth the reforms that we needed to do. We reinstituted the constitution that we had from the first founding of our republic. But after all, half a century had elapsed since that time, so that we have had to make accommodations to our legal system -- a few -- to our constitution, and of course we have been busily acquiring the acquis communautaire. As we were doing this, it really made us politically ready for NATO as well.