President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has received a letter from the Prime Minister of Iceland Harald Asgrimsson. The Prime Minister of Iceland wrote:
Thank you for your letter of 31 January and the timely reminder of the suffering of your people under the Soviet Union. For Latvia May 9,1945 did not mark the end of foreign occupation but the beginning of another, with the iron curtain dividing our world and holding hostage the citizens of your country and that of the whole of Eastern Europe for too long.
Latvia, as the other Baltic states, Lithuania and Estonia, have always held a special place in the hearts of the Icelandic people. We believe that Iceland played a role, albeit modest, in the restoration of independence of the Baltic states. The three Baltic states may have been erased from the map of Europe but not from the minds of the Icelandic people, who refused to recognise the Baltic states inclusion into the Soviet Union.
With the fall of the Berlin wall a new Europe emerged a Europe that with your membership og NATO and the European Union can be described as being whole and free. It is important to remember the past, to learn from it, but we also need to look to the future. It is true that Russia has to come to terms with its past and admit the atrocities of the Soviet regime. I will, having the opportunity, convey this to the Russian leadership. But the Russian people, as people all over Europe, suffered greatly during World War II
Madame President, Latvia has come a long way, and I want to express my admiration for the remarkable success of your country achieved in a relatively short time. The membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance are proof of this.
As we together celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second world War and the defeat of Nazi Germany we will also remember the suffering of your people during the Cold War that followed. By co-operating closely together we can contribute to a world in which such tyranny and oppression will not be accepted in any form. Your decision to participate in the celebration in Moscow is a sign of your strong vision for a peaceful and better Europe, in which Latvia will play an important role."
President's Chancery
