Iededzies par Latviju

Recently I visited the capital of European sex-tourism - Riga. Not in touristic purposes, but to cheer up my mother who lives there.

I don't read Latvian news frequently so I always take a bunch of newspapers on the plane. This time most of them were talking about the crisis. In the South Tirol you don't hear about the crisis because it is doing good.

In Latvia, however, the situation is tragical. Here and there I heard the evidences for it. The government doesn't have enough money to pay out pensions in March 2009. Every day up to 10 companies go bankrupt. Some facts and figures about Latvian economy can be seen in this article.

The government is viewed as incompetent even by extra-loyal electorate. One guy as a joke wrote a petition asking Sweden to occupy Latvia. I would suggest to follow the approach of ancient Russians and to hire a professional government from Sweden.

The country is deep in debts and will have to pay them back in the following years. My aunt said: "You are a smart boy, whatever you do, don't return here." So, should I still feel patriotic?