{"id":19620,"date":"2023-07-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=19620"},"modified":"2023-07-21T07:36:15","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T07:36:15","slug":"during-soviet-occupations-latvia-has-felt-all-the-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=19620","title":{"rendered":"\u2018During Soviet Occupations, Latvia Has Felt All the Consequences\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Military personnel from the Latvian National Armed Forces work side-by-side with U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Battery C, 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery Regiment, Wisconsin Army National Guard, while conducting close air support training during Northern Strike 22-1 (\u201cWinter Strike\u201d) at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center, Grayling, Mich., Jan. 27, 2022. \u201cWinter Strike,\u201d the winter iteration of the Northern Strike exercise program, takes place at Northern Michigan\u2019s National All-Domain Warfighting Center. The NADWC serves as the perfect place for units across the Department of Defense to experience cold-weather, all-domain training, allowing participants to enhance their Arctic warfare capabilities.
\n (Photo Credit: Master Sgt. David Kujawa)<\/span>
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\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
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NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland \u2013 On Nov. 15, 1992 \u2013 the day Air Force Lt. Gen. John Conaway touched down in Riga, Latvia, hoping to establish partnerships between National Guard elements and nations newly freed in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Bloc \u2013 In\u0101ra M\u016brniece was 21-years-old.<\/p>\n

Twice, M\u016brniece\u2019s father had been deported to Siberia. Eventually, her family had returned to Latvia.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring Soviet times, everything was bleak and gray,\u201d M\u016brniece recalled. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t even speak or dream about democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her grandmother had told M\u016brniece stories of a free Latvia, an independent, sovereign nation. And her grandmother had taught her songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe sang Latvian songs, in spite of occupiers being around us,\u201d M\u016brniece said. \u201cChristmas was forbidden in the Soviet Union; she sang Christmas carols. The Latvians regained their spirits by culture, by songs, by traditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine going into politics, because there was no politics: it was just oppressive powers, and KGB, and Communist Party, which controlled all life in the Soviet empire.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, on the day the 22nd Chief of the National Guard Bureau\u2019s plane touched down, M\u016brniece had a kernel of hope, because, on Aug. 21 the previous year, the Republic of Latvia had declared its independence. The Soviet occupiers had not yet left \u2013 a Russian colonel was among those who met Conaway\u2019s arriving aircraft. But there was hope \u2013 and the commitment of the Latvian nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recall the day of regaining independence,\u201d M\u016brniece said. \u201cMany people just cried. I asked my father and my grandmother, \u2018Why are you crying?\u2019 After suffering in Siberia, after hunger, after repressions, after they came back home, to have freedom and to have sovereignty, to have independence, to have our life \u2013 it was a miracle to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how that freedom changed the trajectory of one Latvian\u2019s life:<\/p>\n

M\u016brniece became a journalist at Latvia\u2019s largest newspaper. Then, she ran for the Saeima, Latvia\u2019s parliament \u2013 and was elected. From 2014 to 2022, M\u016brniece was Speaker of the Saeima.<\/p>\n

Today, M\u016brniece is her nation\u2019s minister of defense.<\/p>\n

Latvia and its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Lithuania, were the first three nations to form security cooperation partnerships with National Guard states in the nascent Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program.<\/p>\n

Today, the SPP is celebrating 30 years and has grown to partnerships with 100 countries, more than half the sovereign recognized nations on the planet, and M\u016brniece is in town representing her nation at a two-day conference of the partners.<\/p>\n

Back when she was a journalist whose beat included the military, M\u016brniece observed Latvia\u2019s growing relationship with the Michigan National Guard.<\/p>\n

She watched cooperation, professional development and, she said, friendships grow.<\/p>\n

Michigan joint terminal attack controllers \u2013 troops known as JTACs who guide military aircraft engaged in close air support and other offensive air operations from a forward position \u2013 trained with their Latvian counterparts. The Michigan Air Guard and the Latvian Air Force honed skills together. Latvia added UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to its military capabilities.<\/p>\n

Today, the partnership thrives, and M\u016brniece hopes to see Michigan Guardsmen training with and learning from Latvian counterparts in the country\u2019s Multinational Division North.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Latvia is a proud member of NATO and the European Union,\u201d M\u016brniece said. \u201cWe enjoy a democratic lifestyle and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latvia isn\u2019t just a member of NATO \u2013 it\u2019s a leader in meeting and surpassing the goal of all alliance members spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense. \u201cIt\u2019s not just spending,\u201d M\u016brniece said, \u201cit\u2019s an investment in our defense and deterrence, and our society, with our quite difficult history, knows very well it is an investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For decades, Latvia warned Western nations about Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very happy that the NATO allies have heard our warnings,\u201d M\u016brniece said. \u201cYes, it was late. It was only after Russia started full-scale war in Ukraine. But better late than never, and I\u2019d like to commend NATO military planners for newly adopted defense plans for our region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Minister M\u016brniece led Latvia\u2019s delegation at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Her nation committed about 1.3% of its GDP for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cLatvia, together with other Baltic states and Poland, will always support Ukraine, and we will support Ukraine politically, militarily, with humanitarian aid, economically, in all ways possible \u2026 as long as necessary \u2026 to full victory of Ukraine,\u201d M\u016brniece said.<\/p>\n

Minister M\u016brniece praised the NATO summit\u2019s commitment to a comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine and the formation of the NATO Ukraine Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring Soviet occupations, Latvia has felt all the consequences: We have had our own Buchas, and Irpins,\u201d M\u016brniece said, referring to Ukrainian cities impacted by Russian atrocities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we understand what Ukrainians are going through today.\u201d<\/p>\n

National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

State Partnership Program<\/a><\/p>\n

State Partnership Program’s 30th Anniversary<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Military personnel from the Latvian National Armed Forces work side-by-side with U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Battery C, 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery Regiment, Wisconsin Army National Guard, while conducting close air support training during Northern Strike 22-1 (\u201cWinter Strike\u201d) at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center, Grayling, Mich., Jan. 27, 2022. \u201cWinter Strike,\u201d the winter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19622,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19620"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19623,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions\/19623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}