Latvia – 20 years of independence: a trade-off between economic and political sovereignty?

Abstract

This article seeks to examine the standing of Latvia in the new European constellation. The following lines objectively question, partially using the results of a smallscale, but representative, survey of 130 people in Latvia, how the well-being of this east European nation has changed in the twenty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and in the course of the country’s integration into the EU. The author also turns her attention to whether a small country like Latvia can actually preserve both its political and economic sovereignty. The findings suggest that well-being in the Latvian SSR was better than it is today, but the author concludes that Latvia has been compelled to sacrifice economic sovereignty in order to preserve its political independence. Ultimately, and given the cut-throat trends sparked off by international competition and unrestricted monetary flows, is any other choice conceivable for a small and resource-challenged country like Latvia in the era of globalisation, either now or in the future?