The Latvia of the future can exist as a national country only in Latvian language, said Latvia’s President Egils Levits in his final speech as the country’s president on Friday, the 7th of July.
On his final day as president, Levits visited National Library of Latvia, where his inauguration was held in 2019. There he handed the library’s director Andris Vilks a message for the future On Latvian Language.
“Latvian language embodies our national will, the power of our statehood. The Latvia of the future will exist only as Latvian Latvia. This goal is eternal and unchangeable,” said Levits, adding that the National Library of Latvia is much more than a library.
Levits stressed that the library embodies the core of Latvian nation, because it holds knowledge and values that shape the Latvian nation.
“The National Library of Latvia is not just a building. LNB is a look at what we, Latvians, are and how we see the world. Every nation has its own perspective,” said Levits.
The president started his term in the National Library of Latvia and he picked it as the place where his presidency will end.
Levits stressed that Latvian language is “our mother language, our heart’s and mind’s language”, adding that language determines our self and influences our vision of the world.
“The word in Latvian was nurtured in generations by songs and songs. The printed word brought together the Latvian-speaking space. The emancipation of the Latvian language in the 19th century created a national culture. In Latvian, the political thought representing the interests of Latvians was formulated,” said Levits.
“Latvian spoken and printed word united us nationally and nationally. The borders of the Latvian state were established, covering the Latvian-speaking counties. The Latvian state was founded to be home to the Latvian nation and the Latvian language,” stressed the president.
According to Levits, Latvia’s democracy in the 21st century exists in Latvian language, which is the language unifying society. It is a language of democratic participation. The president also said language is a means of conversation, creativity, and ideas. In Latvian we express and describe reality. Constantly modernizing the Latvian language as a language of culture, education and science, as a full-fledged part of the digital world, he said.
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