Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

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

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

6th President of Latvia
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 June 1999
Prime Minister	Aigars Kalvītis
Preceded by	Guntis Ulmanis
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	December 1, 1937 (age 69) Riga, Latvia
Political party	none
Spouse	Imants Freibergs

Latvia
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Latvia

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1 Biography
2 Presidency
3 Family and personal life
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga's parents were World War II refugees. They left Latvia in 1945 and lived in several countries while seeking a permanent home: 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 as the president of several social science professional organizations. She was also active in the Latvian community in Canada. A large part of her research focused on Latvian folk literature. In September 2006 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Ottawa [1].

In 1998, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga returned to Latvia to head the Latvian Institute, an organization devoted to promoting Latvian awareness abroad. A year later, in June 1999, she was elected President of Latvia. She was not a first-round candidate, but when the Latvian Parliament failed to elect a President in the first round, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was drafted, since she was well-known and respected but not affiliated with any political parties.

[edit] Presidency

Throughout her two presidential terms, she has been very popular among Latvians; her approval rating has ranged between 70% and 85%. She has been most active in foreign policy. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is known for her role in Latvia's NATO membership and its accession into the European Union, 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 admit to the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States.

One such occasion 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 Eastern Europe. She went on to emphasize that history was not being re-written by acknowledging that the Soviets had occupied the three Baltic nations.^{[citation needed]}

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga with George W. Bush and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, 2006

Vīķe-Freiberga is sometimes criticised for her relative inactivity in domestic politics. However, given the restricted powers of Latvia's president stipulated in the Constitution (see Politics of Latvia), these accusations are deemed unfounded by her supporters.^{[citation needed]} She has sponsored a number of bills in Parliament and vetoed over twenty bills. She regularly visits towns and villages to meet her constituents in person, and receives many thousands of letters yearly from Latvians.^{[citation needed]} She has initiated a discussion to introduce compulsory voting in general elections to more fully engage Latvian citizens in the political processes of the country. Political commentators, however, have been rather sceptical about this initiative.^{[citation needed]} In April 2005, then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Vīķe-Freiberga as a member of his team of global political leaders helping to promote his comprehensive reform agenda [2].

After months of speculation that Vīķe-Freiberga would run for the post of United Nations Secretary-General, the three Baltic States finally jointly announced her candidacy on September 16, 2006. When she addressed the UN General Assembly, she pledged that she would face "the challenges posed by the UN reform and promoting human rights, freedom and democracy, including gender equality". Her chances of being chosen were thought to be slim because Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has indicated it will not support any Eastern European candidate. Vīķe-Freiberga, however, was believed to enjoy the support of the White House, including President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It is thought that Riga was chosen to host the NATO Summit in 2006 partly thanks to her relationships with the President and with Dr. Rice.

[edit] Family and personal life

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 the Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA). They met at a gathering of expatriate Latvians and were married at a low-key ceremony in Toronto. They have two children, Kārlis and Indra, but no grandchildren.

[edit] External links

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Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

Leaders of Latvia
First Republic of Latvia, Presidents Čakste \| Zemgals \| Kviesis \| K. Ulmanis \| Kalniņš (exile) \| Rancāns (exile) Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, First Secretaries Kalnbērziņš \| Pelše \| Voss \| Pugo \| Vagris \| Rubiks Second Republic of Latvia, Presidents Gorbunovs (acting) \| G. Ulmanis \| Vīķe-Freiberga