Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (born December 1, 1937 in Riga, Latvia) is the current and first female President of Latvia. She was elected President in 1999 and reelected in 2003.

Biography

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga's parents were World War II refugees. They left Latvia in 1945 and lived in several countries: Germany, Morocco and Canada. Vaira studied at the University of Toronto and McGill University, receiving a Ph.D in psychology in 1965. She then worked as a professor of psychology at Université de Montréal from 1965 to 1998. During this period, she served as the Vice-Chair of the Science Council of Canada and the President of several professional organizations in social sciences. She was also active in the Latvian community in Canada. A large part of her research focused on Latvian folk literature.

In 1998, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga returned to Latvia to lead the Institute of Latvia, an organization devoted to promoting Latvia abroad. A year later, in June 1999, she was elected President of Latvia. She was originally not a candidate but the Latvian Parliament, Saeima, failed to elect a President in the first round. Then, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was chosen as a compromise candidate, as a highly respected person not affiliated with any of the political parties in the parliament. Unfortunately for her credibility, she has lived in Latvia for less than 10 years.

Presidency

Throughout her two presidential terms, she has been very popular among Latvians, with her approval rating ranging between 70% and 85%. She has been most active in foreign policy. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is known for her active pursuit of Latvia's membership in NATO and EU (which Latvia joined in 2004). She is also a strong supporter of the U.S. policy in Iraq. On various occasions she has asked that Russia acknowledges the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States.

One such occassion was her address to a joint session of the US Congress, in which she thanked the United States for supporting the new democracies of the Baltics and East Europe. She went on to emphasize that history is not being re-written by acknowledging the fact of Soviet occupation of the three Baltic nations.

Vike-Freiberga is sometimes criticised for her relative inactivity in domestic politics. However, given the restriced powers of Latvia's president stipulated in the Constitution, these accusations are unfounded and speculative.

She is mentioned as a possible future United Nations Secretary-General. Her chances of being chosen are slim because Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has indicated it will not support any East European candidate. Vike-Freiberga, however, is believed to enjoy the support of the White House, including President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Family

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is married to Imants Freibergs, a professor of computer sciences at Université du Québec à Montréal, who is currently the President of Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA). They met at an exile Latvians' get-together and married in a low-key ceremony in Toronto. They have two children, Kārlis and Indra; but no grandchildren.

External links

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Biography

Presidency

Family

External links