President of Latvia: Baltic states united by discipline of the people
During the spread of the coronavirus, the Baltic states have been united by the discipline of the people, along with their governments' skill in leading in the crisis, which has allowed the creation of a mini-Schengen area, sometimes dubbed the 'Baltic bubble', Latvian President Egils Levits told ERR.
On the workday of the southern neighbors, Levits helped to establish one of the unique border poles on the Latvian-Estonian border, with which Latvians celebrate the entire border in order to create a unique tourist route.
"1836" is a project that Latvians have been working on for many years, to mark their 100th anniversary of independece, which did not occur in 1836 but rather refers to the length of the Latvian state border (both its land border with Estonia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and Belarus, and its maritime border-ed.). The event is being celebrated with the installation of special border markers, so that those walking along the familiar contours of the map, both by the sea and on land, might still find exciting places and stories to uncover. Each post is a work of one artist.
The emergency situation in Latvia lasts longer than Estonia's, which expired on May 17 - until June 9 - and at the Estonian border, Latvians, including President Levits, demonstrated how they managed to make this happen while following all the rules.
The coordinator of 1836, Inese Kruze said that 40 posts have been put into the ground at the initiative of border municipalities. "Now, 100 markers will be added, which will be put in different places on this road," Kruze said.
Levits said that Estonians and Latvians have really shown throughout the crisis how they take care of their respective countries, with Lithuanians included in that estimate as well.
"The result is that Estonia and Latvia have fewer infected people than in the rest of Europe. This is thanks to the discipline of the people and the reasonable politics by the governments. I am referring Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. This gave us a chance to open the borders after two months of isolation, as the first countries in Europe to do so, and to create a mini-Schengen area," the Latvian president said.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino