Lecture by former President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was very well attended both in person and online

As this year marks 20 years since Latvia became a full member of NATO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) organised a lecture titled “Latvia’s path to NATO: diplomacy, courage and overcoming external threats” by Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Honorary Doctor of RSU and former President of Latvia (1999-2007) in the Great Hall on 5 March.

In her lecture, Vīķe-Freiberga reminded the audience of the effort and work Latvia had to put in to become a member of the world’s strongest military alliance. She also shared her views on current world events.

The lecture was followed by a discussion where anyone could ask questions both in person and online.

At the NATO summit in Prague in the spring of 2002, Latvia’s accession to the world’s most powerful military alliance was formally announced. Vīķe-Freiberga, who was the president of Latvia at the time, was also the head of the official delegation. Her speech remains one of the highlights of the 2002 NATO Summit in Prague. However, this historic event was preceded by many visits to different NATO member states and countless meetings with senior NATO officials and military personnel. The road to this goal required a lot of effort and willpower.