In Estonia, things did not look good by comparison. The government had already expressed its opposition to a referendum, and many citizens distrusted the idea of direct democracy anyway. The campaign before the referendum on EU accession had left its mark. Here it will be especially important to spread the idea of a fair referendum. On the other hand, we did attract considerable media attention, even if the press wasn’t always sympathetic to us. In any case, our visit served to bolster the activists in Estonia. However, the political conditions under which they work are much more difficult than in our own country.

Latvia: Full speed ahead!

Latvia, on the other hand, presented a completely different picture. Admittedly, we were only able to do one action, in Riga, but it brought a lot of attention to the subject. The inflatable constitution was only in front of the Congress Center for a few short hours, but during that time three TV crews and countless radio and newspaper reporters came by. In the evening, I was on a radio program for 45 minutes. The atmosphere was relaxed, and the moderator cracked a number of jokes that the others laughed at. The deeper meaning of most of their comments was lost on me, since they spoke in Russian. On the other hand, I broke out into a sweat when they started asking me questions in English… If necessary, the Latvian group wants to force a referendum on the EU Constitution by gathering signatures. Politically, Latvia reminded me a little bit of Disneyland: after the governing Liberal Party lost the last election and fell below the 5% threshold, the country now has a premier from the Green Party.

Through the wild Baltic…

Apart from the experiences described above, I learned a lot about the Baltic states (I can finally tell them apart now). Estonian culture is strongly influenced by Finland. The languages of both countries are very similar, so much so that we didn’t hesitate to bring flyers and campaign materials from Finland over the border. The capital city Tallinn almost seems like a suburb of Helsinki.

Riga, the capital of Latvia, gives a completely different impression: that of a proud metropolis. There we learned how close together new money and old poverty can come, and how unbearable it can be. Along the city’s main promenade, I saw an 80-year-old grandmother selling flowers, so as not to have to beg; nearby, at the entrance of the pedestrian zone, was a machine that seemed to serve no other purpose but to take money and give nothing back. There are big, new cars everywhere and the streets vaguely resembled a car dealership. With these impressions, we drove back home through Lithuania and Poland.

I’d like to address my last words to the campaign team. To Hedwig Thomalla, Greti Steinmüller and to our driver Klaus Milewski, thank you for your self-sacrificing dedication, which went above and beyond our hopes and expectations!

Ronald Pabst

translation: Andrew Tompkins

This article appeared in the Zeitschrift für direkte Demokratie 04/2005

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