The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities has made a significant contribution to the maintenance of a favorable climate in the relations of Sweden and Russia. Significant efforts for the organization and the success of the conference “Migration and cultural encounters in the Baltic Sea region” were made by Eric Norberg, secretary of the Academy.

Swedish-Russian relations in the past used to be rather problematic. At present, they can be qualified as benevolent indifference. Still, there are groups of people both in Sweden and Russia whose relations are of a much friendlier and warmer kind. What do you think we have to do to lift up the relations between Russians and Swedes to the level of the relations between Russians and Germans?

In scientific exchange, these initiatives very often come from individuals, so to intensify contacts, we should make it easier for people to meet. However, there are practical difficulties.

One is language: very few Swedes master Russian, and many people think it’s difficult to travel. So to put it simply, it must be easier to meet.

In Northern Europe and in the Baltic Sea area, there are many different forms of international integration. Very often we hear that the Baltic Sea region is actually like a good example of efficient regional integration. Still, the international relations haven’t become truly international yet. Do the existing forms of regional cooperation need an adjustment?

I’m not very formal; I mean it’s easy to think of the Baltic area in terms of political organizations, European Union, NATO and so on, but those people we’re dealing with – the scientists, the researchers – they don’t care about politics. I mean they look upon quite other themes – that is the common history or where to find this or this matter which is important to this and this problem, so I still think it’s important to make it easier for scientists to meet, fund meetings and travels, and arrange travels for ordinary people. Some organizations in Sweden, for instance, the army museums, organize travels to Russia, to the scenes of historic battles, and people are so interested in this. For example, the Battle of Poltava means both the Swedish interest in history and trips to Russia and Ukraine.

This is despite the fact that the military history of Sweden is not very topical anymore, as Sweden is a very peaceful country now?

It has nothing to do with that. People are so interested. You know, people are reading traditional military history.

If I’m not mistaken it was Peter Englund’s book about Poltava; it was also published in Russian, and now it’s very difficult to find.

It was in a way instrumental for this.

Is your Academy engaging in any other activities towards Russia, concerning its history and humanities, apart from this conference?

Tomorrow, we are having in this house a two-day conference on vexillology that has to do with heraldry, emblems and flags, banners and standards. It will mainly involve Swedish and Russian art historians and museum people; Vilinbakhov from St. Petersburg is coming. Most of the things we fund are individual. For instance, those people in the Slavic institutions have lots of projects which we are funding, and together with Russian researchers they had a one-day seminar on Bakhtin last week. On the basis of which institution?

The Slavic Institution in Stockholm; it was led by Professor Per-Arne Bodin, he’s a linguist. We are also funding this Novgorod project; the 17th century archive of Novgorod has been published.

Was it published in Swedish?

It has been published in Sweden, yes, but in English.

One hundred years ago St. Petersburg was for the young generation of the Swedes the same as New York now is for many young Europeans. But the world has changed, and any historical analogy can be viewed in different ways. Still, St. Petersburg remains a great and famous city. Do you think there will be a time when the young Swedes again are drawn to St. Petersburg, maybe not for the opportunities of making money like it was once; do you think the intensity of this human traffic between St. Petersburg and, for example, Stockholm or Sweden will be reinstated again?

I do believe that it has to do something with money. Even in that period, both businessmen and skillful artisans went there. Of course, St. Petersburg attracts people who are interested in culture. But to make it really influential, I do think that businessmen must go first.

The conference was organized by Russian and Swedish academic institutions and non-governmental organizations. The topic was in the fairway of the Russian presidency in the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in 2012- 2013. The forum was initiated by the General History Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Center for the History of Northern Europe and Baltic Countries, Sodertorn University, The Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, and the Baltic Civilization Institute founded three years ago by the Amber Bridge International Association.

Director of the General History Institute Academician Alexander Chubaryan sent a message of greetings to the conference in which he stressed the necessity to continue cooperation in the sphere: “History should promote rapprochement between peoples. Strict scientific analysis of past developments shall help design common denominators in assessing historic past,” Academician Chubaryan wrote.

The conference opened with a reception in the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. Besides hospitable host and Secretary Erik Norberg, present in the mansion of the Academy were President of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs Michael Sohlman, Director General of CBSS Secretariat Jan Lundin, Board Chairman of RusForest Company Sven Hirdman. Mats Hellstrom, who was Swedish ambassador to Germany in 1996– 2001 and Governor of Stockholm County in 2002-2006 also attended. The forum ended with a reception in the Russian embassy to the Kingdom of Sweden offered by Russian Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary Igor Neverov.

Addressing the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities head of the Northern Europe and Baltic Center of the General History Institute Alexsey Komarov offered his assessment of the Russian-Swedish academic contacts in the past decades. It is noteworthy that the first official Russian- Swedish symposium in 1976 opened in the same hall as the 2013 conference which was held in the format launched yet in 2011 when Moscow hosted international scientific conference Baltic Neighborhood: Russia, Sweden, Baltic Countries on the Background of Epochs and Developments, XVII-XX Centuries. In contrast to bilateral symposia the latest conference was attended by scholars from Russia and Sweden, as well as Latvia, Estonia, and Norway. The main part of the conference took place in Sodertorn University. Professor Vadim Roginsky, chief of the Department of Modern History of the General History Institute recalled in his speech that “there has always been resettlement of peoples in history.” World wars exerted specifically strong influence on it. Hundreds of thousands of people either emigrated or were expelled. Migrations changed the ethnic composition of the population specifically in the Baltic Sea region. Germans disappeared from some districts and were replaced by other nationalities. The current population of Kaliningrad region comprises descendants of the migrants who resettled there. Today migration has a different character which can be seen everywhere. The processes have to be anticipated and necessary measures taken to prevent major conflicts. The problem is vital for Baltic countries and Russia as well, he said.

Less than a month passed since the end of the forum when modern barbarians from immigrant youth caused chaos in several districts of the Swedish capital. The co-authors of the monograph is it Possible to Become a Swede? which is popular in Sweden participated in the conference – Professor Natalia Plevako from the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences and Professor Olga Chernysheva from the General History Institute. The book shows that even thoroughly elaborated immigration legislation and exciting tolerance of the Swedes do not guarantee successful harmony of interests and relations between indigenous population and immigrants.

President of the International Amber Bridge Association Yuri Sizov told the conference that in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region mutual understanding is easier than anywhere else on the planet. The history of relations between peoples inhabiting Northern Europe is millennium old. They have much in common as well as differences. “The common and different traits mean nothing good or bad. They offer a chance for mutual understanding which, in its turn, produces trust and leaves no place for mentorship and schooling. Mutual trust is possible only through joint implementation of practical tasks,” Sizov said.

The forum will promote public perception of the fact that intercultural contacts enriched the peoples in the Baltic Sea region in previous epochs. As Jan Lundin was correct to say, “despite problems which sometimes emerged and keep emerging in the Baltic Sea region there is also a feeling of a family and community of peoples. Our mission is to enhance the feeling however so far we even failed to restore the freedom of travel which existed a hundred years ago.”

The Amber Bridge Association and the Baltic Civilization Institute will make the results of the Stockholm conference of historians encourage preparations of new fundamental works about the unique region of Europe so that the third decade of partnership in the framework of the Council of the Baltic Sea States is marked by a new quality of regional cooperation.

Archbishop emeritus of Riga Cardinal Janis Pujats is one of the most respected people in Latvia. He is a top hierarch who publicly comments on acute problems and actively participates in public life, voting at referenda and addressing rallies. The voice of this wise man calling for good and justice is heard in the whole country.

Janis Pujats is a genuine patriarch of the Church. He was ordained a priest 62 years ago in 1951. During that time seven pontiffs ruled Vatican. The Latvian cardinal participated in the 2005 conclave which elected Benedict XVI to head the Roman-Catholic Church. The event was extremely important for his personal and spiritual lifes which have long been inseparable for him.

Janis Pujats watched the papal election in 2013 from the sidelines as cardinals over the age of 80 do not participate in the conclave and he was 83 at the time. The cardinal does not conceal that he was very agitated as much depends on the #1 man in general and the Church is no exception.

The Latvian cardinal does not personally know the new pontiff, but what he heard from his colleagues gives hope: with God’s help the Roman-Catholic Church will get a second breath under Pope Francis and will strengthen its positions in modern world on the basis of steadfast Christian values.

White smoke of hope

Three years ago on the eve of his 80th birthday Janis Pujats resigned as the archbishop of Riga. He now serves in the Virgin of Anguish Church in the very heart of the Old Town. He lives on the third floor of a small house in the yard of the church to where a steep staircase leads.

… His Eminence opened the door to me himself. He wore the red cap of a cardinal. It was a modest residence with two small rooms and a kitchen which also served as an entrance hall. There was nothing extra, to say the least.

There is a computer on your desk. Did you work?

There are no typewriters any longer. Computer makes it easier to write sermons. I am always short of time. I have to prepare for the other world. Not much time remains. . . And there are still a lot of books to read and no memoirs have been written. I have to put affairs in order so that they cause no trouble to anyone after my death. I have also to see to it that everything valuable is preserved and everything invaluable is disposed of.

You are likely to have attentively followed the election of the new head of the Roman-Catholic Church and recalled how you elected his predecessor. How does it happen?

Cardinals take oath not to divulge what is happening and what is being said behind closed doors of the Sistine Chapel where they gather with the corresponding prayer Pro Elegendo Romano Pontifice. In 2005 115 cardinals spent two days in the chapel and I am well aware what high responsibility it is to make a committed choice and properly understand the highest will. There is so much on the scale. . .

Natives from Baltic countries have headed Vatican of late and it was even called an amber bridge of religions… Did it help attract attention to the region?

The cardinals voted for Francis because they hoped he would preserve traditional values of the Bible and Christian creed.

It was a major honor and blessing for us. Baltic countries are too small to be honored by a papal visit. There are very many people in the world who wait for him to come, and in 1993 Pope John Paul II did visit us. He restored in Latvia the cult of St.Meinhard who was the first Bishop of Livonia. He revived Aglona Basilica which is a lively place for pilgrims today.

How do you assess the choice of your colleagues? Can we say that under the new Pope the bridge between countries and peoples has become longer and wider as it spanned across the ocean?

The cardinals voted for Francis because they hoped he would preserve traditional values of the Bible and Christian creed. His candidacy was in itself a worthy response to the challenges of the time. There are many believers in Latin America and they definitely have long deserved a representatives at the highest level. The hearts of the people were excited when he paid his attention to poor people. The election of Francis was welcomed by the Muslim world which cannot be ignored today.

There has been much talk of late about a conflict of civilizations. The number of Muslims in Europe is on the rise and new mosques are being built…

If Muslims want to build mosques in Europe why shouldn’t we build a Christian church in Saudi Arabia? But we can’t! They do not even allow Christians to pray at home. It is unfair. Do you want us to respect you? Then we have to see reciprocity. There can be only one solution – peaceful coexistence and no aggression. There are all grounds to believe that Francis will succeed in promoting dialogue and mutual understanding not only between all Christian confessions but also with the Islamic world.

There are three Christian religions in the Baltic Sea region. How do you see their dialogue and interaction?

The dialogue between Christian confessions is one of the best in Latvia. We have a good post-war cooperation experience and it successfully develops. We pray together on state holidays and jointly resolve many issues.

For example, had it not been for the resolute position of the Church Latvia would have adopted a law on same-sex marriages in 2007. It passed two readings in the Saeima. However the council for spiritual affairs at the prime minister which united heads of all Christian confessions succeeded to convince then Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis that such a law was inadmissible and the issue was dropped.

Earthly existence is given to mortals to comprehend God and divine laws and try and abide by them already in this life.

Current Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis had not convened the spiritual council for long and says: let experts deal with it. And who are the experts? Non-believers or homosexuals? Only the people can be the expert and they are not inclined to have liberal reforms. The world is already excessively liberal. I am sure the new pontific of the Roman-Catholic Church shares this opinion.

Challenges temper will

Could you, a village herdboy, ever imagine that you would become a car dinal?

I have never thought about it. I grew up in a village. I did not have a free minute as I had to constantly work – tend cattle, make hay and chop firewood. The father had 25 hectares of land. There were no tractors in the ’30s, it was all horse-driven. But we thoroughly ploughed the earth each piece of it. I had to walk three kilometers one way to school every day. The distance to the church w as six kilometers.

How did you come to believe in God?

I grew up in a religious family. Since ancient times my native Latgalia was inhabited by religious people. Communion and confession were major events and people prepared to them for long. Since childhood I have been surrounded by picturesque nature – hills and two lakes which reflected sunrise and sunset like mirrors. It was very beautiful and confirmed the greatness of God.

Not everyone can see it…

No, I believe it is more difficult for those who were born in a misfortunate place, somewhere in marshlands.

In those pre-war years people lived according to the rhythm of nature – sowing, first sprouts, flourishing, harvesting. The countryside differs from cities where you work for eight hours and are free after that. Sometimes you have to toil from dawn to dawn. It was a wonderful world where labor created man. Running your own agricultural business means schools temper.

There is no easy life today as enterprises shut down and people are sacked. Most population earns a minimum wage which is hardly enough to pay housing bills. Do you believe people are too much complaining about hardships and pity themselves? You generation had the hell of a time…

A human perceives the world in a way he merits it. Each has his own cross in the earthly life. Challenges make people know their weaknesses and drawbacks. Difficulties help expose them and cure, they grind and polish character, forge stubbornness, temper morality and thus prepare us for other life so that we are worthy to be in heavens among angels. Otherwise we will be barred from there. . .

Your should perceive challenges as the will of the Providence. Earthly existence is given to mortals to comprehend God and divine laws and try and abide by them already in this life. Everything we do is not senseless. Each deed lives a trace in eternity. The good will be rewarded and evil will be punished. The value of each day is to improve oneself and master love to God. This is the essence of theology, to put it briefly .

Many people are looking for better life abroad in emigration. Do you think it is a drive for change, improvement or escape from difficulties?

It may be good to go and make some money to launch a business back home. However it is unfortunate that people rarely come back.

Europe is full of emigrants from Baltic countries and Poland. Many of them are like vagabonds. It is bad. Our country is agricultural. Land has to be ploughed by horses if you cannot afford machines. After the First World War people lived in dugouts but did not surrender. They worked hard and in 20 years the country got back to its feet. They have to do everything to make the people work at home, in the native land so that there is enough food for them and for export.

Spoof target

In Soviet times they told us to care first for the native land and people around. However capitalism has a different essence – to elbow your way through and push others aside…

The very aim imposed on modern society is misleading – to ensure wellbeing and freedom. It means to live and treasure egoism and work for your own pocket. It makes people grab everything with both hands and get the biggest and sweetest pieces for themselves.

Wellbeing and personal freedom without God are spoof targets which open the door to the negative. Love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no justice if someone earns 10 thousand a month and another one has no money to buy bread. Are such people happy? No. Their eyes dislike what they see and ears what they hear .

It is impossible to build up an earthly life without God. Violations of commandments is a human tragedy in the whole world. There were seven capital sins and now we can count ten. Five are spiritual – pride, covetousness, anger, envy, and gambling, and five are corporal – lust, gluttony, alcoholism, drug addiction, and boozing.

Fifty years ago homosexuality was not considered a norm, at least officially. It was then legalized in America and spread to the Old World in Europe. It is a very alarming symptom! Society is doomed if it lives against natural laws.

There is a strata of vicious people in the West, I cannot call them differently, who enjoy homosexuality. They want to rise to power and often succeed. Constitutions of Germany, France, Spain, Scandinavian countries allow same-sex marriages which undermine the family. They pressure us! The law makes opponents of the unnatural conduct keep mum. You cannot even tell jokes about homosexuals as they are considered an insult. . .

You will be fined and jailed for that…. It is dictatorship for the sake of freedom!

In 20 post-Soviet years they advocated sex in this country and it undermined morality. Yet in early ’90s believers wrote to me: cinema halls are full of young people and show indecencies. Pornography is everywhere – in Internet and mobile phones. Sex has always been of major interest for the young and now they see that it is promoted at the top official level. Dirt flooded schools. Teachers do not want to speak about it, but they send advocates of same-sex love to teach indecencies to teenagers. Bad is the best. . .

Young people do not want to get married and make children. First they want to make money…

If a baby has been conceived he has the right to live. Only God can decided his fate. You have not only to rely on yourself but also believe in supreme forces. If God gives children he will also give food. Today people divorce two or even three times, according to statistics. It is a deadend for humanity or a path of Satan, to be more exact.

What do you think about apocalypse advertising campaign in the media? Some even interpreted the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI as a sign…

None of the mortals can know when apocalypse will come. Only God knows. But you can croak punishment from God. When humanity became so vicious that it was impossible to save it Deluge happened. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed when less than ten righteous men remained. God will not tolerate current vice for long. The Holy Writ says everyone will be stamped on the right hand or forehead in the times of the Beast so that nobody could either sell or buy without the stamp. It is already happening.

Had it not been for the resolute position of the Church Latvia would have adopted a law on same-sex marriages in 2007.

What do you mean?

There is only one way to govern “free society” – total control. Technology i s developing and allows to control all people. Soon the people in charge of control will actually control slaves like in ancient times. Outside control shall be replaced by inside control – consciousness. A man on the righteous path does not need any control.

Path to temple

How did Catholic Church in Latvia survive the Soviet times? You said in an interview that ungodliness was theoretical in the Soviet Union. Authorities tried to have nothing in common with the Church but did not show immoral movies and the Communists had their own code of morality. Now it is the time of practical atheism without any theory. Its task is to ruin humans…

Yes, it is. Vicious people easily get dependant – on drugs, alcohol – and do not understand the commandments of God. Media and Internet are full of negative things and people are tempted by the negative.

In Soviet times officials in charge of religious affairs controlled that prayers say nothing against the Soviet power. If the condition was observed they did not interfere with us. They were engaged in their own propaganda and we were engaged in ours, so to say. However they tightened the screws every year. First children were banned to take communion. Then young people under 18 years were prohibited from singing in church choir or serving. Teachers and officials were ousted, but non-party members were left in peace. There were more discipline and morality at the time. People drank less alcohol and refrained from smoking in schools. We knew nothing about drugs.

Do many people go to church today?

If we count residents and churches in the city, there should be no free place there on Sundays. But that does not happen.

There are churches in the countryside, but people left villages for cities or abroad. In my native Pujati village only two out of 22 houses are inhabited. Fields are overgrown with grass. Earlier you could see three churches from the top of a hill. Now only one.

Sounds like a philosophical parable…

The number of people increased in cities but there is no church in Kengarags or Imanta which are major districts of the capital city. Urban residents differ from rural people and do not like to walk. So it is necessary to build churches close to them. Today they pray in four languages in Riga – Latvian, Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish. Had they prayed in one language the church would be full. However everyone wants to speak to God in his own language and we want to help people in that. You cannot be an urban priest if you do not speak three-four languages.

You speak them. However last year Cardinal Pujats voted in a referendum against making the Russian language the second official one in Latvia…

All languages are equal before God. However there should be one state language in Latvia – Latvian. All have to know it but each is free to speak his native language. In pre-war Latvia they taught in Russian in schools.

You have been for many years advocating the introduction of the Bible chairs in schools. However there is no progress so far…

That is because of politicians! They do not want to understand that it is easier to teach the Bible chairs in school than later fight crime, build prisons to keep criminals at government expense. Those who comply with the commandments of God do not need either police or prisons.

The education minister has to officially declare that science should not struggle against religion. The existence of God cannot be experimentally verified. He is in another world which a human being cannot penetrate. Even if the rulers do not believe they should not impede their people to believe and many problems would be resolved. Discipline will strengthen and people will live better .

If there is belief and high goal, there will be God and heaven. If people understand what is in store they will not only adhere to the natural laws of God but will also enjoy them. Believers achieve several goals at a time – they keep their earthly affairs in order and thus come closer to heavenly life.

Can I ask you to preach for our readers?

The main thing is to understand that we do not have too much time on Earth – 80 or maybe 90 years. Our life is a path to eternity and therefore earthly and spiritual values should go hand in hand. It is simply unreasonable to lose such God’s grace as heaven and prefer hell because of sins!

To make us comprehend the truth God came down to Earth and allowed to be crucified to make us understand how important it is. But words are insufficient to us, we demand evidence!

Only the Christian religion has a commandment calling to Love Your Enemies. When you love them they are no longer enemies. There is only one enemy – the evil spirit who is to be hated.

There is a parable: both in heaven and in hell the tables are laid alike. But in heaven everyone is fed and happy, but in hell all are angry and exhausted. Why? Because heaven is ruled by the law of God and everybody loves everyone and offers the best piece to the other. In hell anger rages and everybody groaks. Is the morality clear? You have to live by the laws of love.

Thanks you for the interview, Your Eminence!

When I bid good-bye to His Eminence and went into the church yard the Sun came out from gray clouds and illuminated the dull Baltic day…

Ksenia Zagorovskaya,

for Amber Bridge

Georgy Grechko was born in Leningrad on May 25, 1931. After graduating from the Mechanical Institute he was assigned to the Design Bureau of Sergei Korolev. Grechko was involved in the project to launch the first artificial Earth satellite. He logged three space flights – in 1975, 1977 and 1985. Recently, Georgy Grechko visited Riga as a co-chair of the Vladimir Vysotsky Charity Fund to present a bas relief of the great poet and singer. During the visit, Grechko was interviewed by the Amber Bridge in a hotel in downtown Riga.

I am no coward , but I am afraid!”

Grechko made three space flights. He flew to orbit for the first time in 1975 at the age of 44. “I broke my leg and moved to the end of the space queue,” he recalled. The flight lasted 29 days. The second one was 96 days long – from December 10, 1977 to March 16, 1978. Grechko traveled to space together with Yuri Romanenko and took a recording of Vysotsky’s songs with him. It was a daring act at the time as Vysotsky’s songs were considered dissident by official authorities and the cosmonaut could have lost his successful career taking the “singer with a guitar” to space.

“Do you remember Lenin’s article about compromises?” Grechko smiled. “It says one should always compromise until a certain limit of your principles when you realize you can no longer backtrack. I could not let Vysotsky down. As for the career, I did not become a cosmonaut at once. I was a diver, a pilot, an Alpine skier, and a motorbike and car racer. I numerously tested myself to understand whether I am a coward or not. I always tried to abide by my principles. Honestly speaking, I was afraid but acted like I deemed it necessary .

Do you mean you are a cowardly cosmonaut?

Do you remember the words of a character in the Tiger Cruise movie – I am no coward but I am afraid? Everybody can be afraid, even cosmonauts. You know how many people have died. I also had hard landings and said goodbye to life. Only a coward is not afraid. I do not believe fear to be a disgrace. You are a fool if you are not afraid of anything. It means you do not understand what is happening. I am sure: one can be very afraid but remain courageous. Such a person acts quickly and better sees the acceptable way out of the situation which looks desperate.

I have been drowning five times! When I finally realized I am no coward I applied for a cosmonaut. Besides, I am from Leningrad which is my moral pillar. In a difficult situation I always told myself: “You cannot disgrace your native city. You are from Leningrad!” I said it although the situation was not simple scaring, but scaring to death. Moreover I told myself: “You are a Communist!” I was a convinced Communist Party member. When Stalin died we all thought it was the end of the Soviet Union and the country would fall apart. It survived at the time due to powerful ideology which united the whole Soviet people.

I was proud of my great country and always proudly spoke about our achievements. My knowledge of English helped me in that. I learned it thanks to Graham Green and other writers. I did not study in any foreign language institute but lectured in English across the world. At present Russia badly lacks a common ideology and people are up to anything. I am not speaking about Communist ideology. Let it be Ten Commandments. But all the people have to abide by them. By the way, the Moral Code of a Communist clearly resembled the Ten Commandments.

Have you been in Riga before?

Several times. I met composer Raimondas Pauls who I respect and admire. Our generation was a generation of enthusiasts and it concerned all spheres of activities, including pop music. Why did we like Vysotsky? He differed from the official line and his songs were very different. He had comic, merry and sad songs. We chose them in orbit depending on the flight progress. He helped us in the most difficult moments. I was together with Romanenko in space but it seemed there were three of us when we switched on Vysotsky. “You were the third crewmember,” we wrote on his photo which we took back to Earth.

When I was appointed the first chief of the space post, the communications ministry issued an official seal to me. I stamped the cassette with the photo and presented it to Vysotsky after a concert. It is currently displayed in the Vysotsky museum.

I always admired singer poets. Klyachkin nwas the first one I listened to. Others followed, Dulov, for example. But when Vysotsky appeared I realized he was the best of all. He conquered me once and for all. I have a full collection of his songs. I actively contributed to the effort to erect a monument on his grave.

Sculptor Rukavishnikov produced a big monument but cemetery authorities did not allow to install it and said it was higher than the allowed three-meter limit. We found several monuments higher than three meters in the cemetery and the administration then said Vysotsky is depicted tied-up in a raincoat like in a camisole de force. The sculptor lowered the raincoat and they finally approved the design. As official authorities disliked Vysotsky many people preferred to miss the unveiling ceremony. There were only three public figures: poet Andrei Voznesensky, Taganka Theater Director Nikolai Dupak, and me. Vysotsky’s son Nikita later invited me to co-chair the fund.

We annually award Vysotsky’s Your Track Prize. Three golden medals go to those who walk their on track rather than someone else’s and who have their own principles and ideas. This year I awarded a ship captain who stopped his vessel during the tragedy with Bulgaria passenger ferry and saved many people although he could pass by. I also remember one incredible event when a Tu-154 aircraft flew over Siberia and became completely uncontrollable after electric power supply failed. There were no big airports around and small airfields have been all closed down. In old good time local people often traveled by plane, but now the aircraft are standing idle covered with snow. So there is no need to clear the runway from snow. Moreover the runways are used to store timber which is better preserved on concrete rather than on the ground. However our hero, the chief of a helicopter field, continued to clear up his abandoned tarmac. He rejected money from timber producers who said he was crazy. Now imagine! The aircraft in distress was exactly in the area and landed safely on the field. All passengers were safe. It turned out the man has been for many years preparing the runway for the emergency. The pilots were awarded the top Hero Orders, but the airfield manager was forgotten. We awarded our prize to him.

I have a tiny plane which was discovered during excavations in Mexico in several thousand year-old layers. It resembles a Space Shuttle.  

The Sun is not forever!

How do you feel about the versions of the end of the world?

There are different scenarios. Some claim it would be a meteorite, others say tsunami, while the third predict a splash on the Sun or a neutron star explosion. The father of classical physics better known by the discovery of the law of universal gravitation, Isaac Newton (who was also an astrologist), calculated the Apocalypse will take place in 2060. However the great English scientist took a strange date for his calculations. He wrote that mankind will live exactly 1260 years since the creation of the Holy Roman Empire by Charles the Great in 800. The Doomsday will be preceded by devastating wars and global epidemics. Therefore, Messiah will come down to Eart to govern the planet for a thousand years.

I hope Newton has made a mistake. The most incredible option claims we shall all be killed by the Large Hadron Collider built on the border of Switzerland and France. They say the highest energy-particle accelerator will suck in the whole mankind into a black hole. Naturally, the Apocalypse will come, not this year but in several million years when the Sun burns out and turns from a yellow into a red star. We are 150 million kilometers away from it. When the nuclear fuel is exhausted the Sun, as they claim, will begin to swell and the Earth’s orbit will move inside the giant. As for the Doomsday, the Bible says nobody knows when it comes. Like nobody knows whether there is life on Mars.

Researchers seem to have proved there is not life on Mar s, didn’t they?

Science has not proved it. They often ask me whether I believe in extraterrestrials. At home I have several shelves of books about UFO and extraterrestrial visits to the Earth. I know a lot of writers who raise the issues. In all the years I got the following opinion: they did come long ago. There are a lot of artifacts that indirectly confirm it although there is no direct evidence. Some people say: there are billions of stars in the sky and planets rotate around them. Life should definitely exist somewhere. Well, I don’t know.

The Earth is a unique phenomenon. Had the temperature been lower or higher we would not live here. Or take water. We do not even think how astonishing it is! It is usual for us, but water has an incredible characteristic which makes life exist here. When it freezes its unit weight grows and then falls. Ice floats as a result although it should sink. We are not surprised by that but had it sunk water reservoirs would have frozen down to the bed and there would have been no life. Gases, oceans, volcanoes… If you deeply think about it all you will conclude that someone has constructed the Earth.

And how did people originate?

It is the same story. Someone “constructed” us. When scientists model the origin of life on our planet they see that plankton can produce Amphibia and monkeys will then appear. We are a type of primates. However the secret is not that we have developed from a monkey, we appeared TOGETHER with it. The question is how it happened. Why do I say “together’? The problem is that the period of existence of the Earth is insufficient for such evolutionary development and for nature to produce the human being by a simple selection of variants. It means there was an outside interference. Therefore I say extraterrestrials have likely visited the Earth. There are many facts pointing at it.

I have been in Baalbek. It is a very ancient city in Lebanon located 80 kilometers northwest of Beirut at a height of 1130 meters. It has the Jupiter Temple, one of the biggest in the Roman Empire. Scientists carried out large-scale excavations and discovered the ruins of a grandiose religious complex. It is bigger than the famous Cheops Pyramid! It turned out the temple stands on cut megaliths weighing thousands of tons. Even a knife blade cannot pass between them and it is not a figurative saying. I tried to put a knife between them myself, but failed. Today humanity is incapable of cutting such monoliths and installing them so precisely. Many people believe special mechanisms are necessary for that. The civilization that preceded us was likely to have them.

I can list other examples of gigantic megalith constructions built thousands of years ago when we were barbarians and could not grow food or breed cattle. We could only dig out or tear down something readymade. In the meantime the Avebury cromlech megalith on the territory of modern England has been built for nearly 500 years! What do small people need such gigantic constructions for? It seems when modern civilization was completely underdeveloped there was another, highly-developed civilization on the Earth which has likely taught us some good sense.

Naturally, the Apocalypse will come, not this year but in several million years when the Sun burns out and turns from a yellow into a red star.  

Who they were?

Extraterrestrials, Lemurians, Atlanteans, Hyperborians – I don’t know. But there was someone. UFO reports continue to regularly appear today. They are said to abduct people, women are said to give birth to children from them. I can hardly believe in that. I think the deceived husbands do not believe in it either. But I believe in extraterrestrial visits to the Earth.

I have a tiny plane which was discovered during excavations in Mexico in several thousand year-old layers. It resembles a Space Shuttle.

I was in a temple in Spain which is 500 years old. A cosmonaut is painted on its wall. He has a space helmet, gloves and even controls on the chest. Everything is like it is today. How could it be half a thousand years ago? Renaissance manuscripts several times mention meetings of Salamanca monks with strange creatures who had their “skin hidden under an outside skin.” In the National Art Gallery in London there is a XV century painting by Crivelli depicting Annunciation (when Archangel Michael told Virgin Mary she will have a son). There is a flying saucer on the canvas from which the Mother of Jesus Christ receives the information. It is definitely not a fire-ball, but rather an aircraft, a helicopter, or a rocket. Anyway, someone has interfered in our development and helped progress to its intelligent stage.

Dmitry Mart,

Vesty segodnya –Amber bridge

Today they differ in assessing the events of the ’90s and the future of Latvia. Some see Latvia as equal among equals while others describe it as rightless colony of predatory West.

Dreams: test of time

In the ’90s of the past century the people desired freedom and united in the drive to new life. Dreams about future independent country were exciting. Did they come true?

Ivars Godmanis: They did come true to a major extent. The main thing is that Latvia became independent. We built up a democratic system in the country during the years which ensures human rights and freedoms in all spheres.

Talavs Jundzis: Today Latvia realizes what freedom and independence mean. We feel it every day and every minute. I will cite only two examples although there are much more than that: firstly, it is difficult to overestimate the meaning of the word of freedom when you can freely express your opinion about any leader of the country, including the president. It was impossible to do it before. Secondly, it is the freedom of travel. I enjoy travelling and it is important for me.

Janis Kucinskis: Some opportunities increased. You can freely buy books in the English language, clothes, household appliances, and a second-hand car if you have the money. But is it the main achievement? We surrendered to the West and exchanged Russia for glass beads like Indians did time ago in America.

The country was included into a new alliance and has not been independent for one day. Latvia was conquered without a single shot and became a colony of the West. Banks, supermarkets, petrol stations, and television – everything belongs to western investors.

Latvia advocates the myth that 20 years ago barehanded Latvian people defeated on the barricades a major empire with all its secret services and troops. In reality our Atmoda is a reflection of geopolitical processes and the struggle of two systems. The West decided to back President Yeltsin as he suited it most of all. The developments then went along a single scheme designed by the United States. Perestroika policy came to us from Moscow. Latvia became a laboratory of “color revolution” which was staged by the Popular Front and the government of Godmanis which in January 1991 deregulated prices and launched a shock therapy in the country .

Still to be done…

Which are the most painful problems of Latvia?

Ivars Godmanis: — Much has to be done to resolve social issues and raise the living standards in Latvia to the average European level. Most countries of the European Union are ahead in these two qualities – democracy and social protection. Honestly speaking, I did not think that banking and other crises could hit Latvia every seven-ten years. They seriously influenced the domestic situation.

Talavs Jundzis: — The Latvian Republic was first proclaimed in 1918 and reached a high level of prosperity by 1940. I thought that by restoring state independence we shall live in a well-off country in ten – maximum 15 years. Unfortunately, it did not happen. It is saddening! Yes, there are very rich people in Latvia but the average monthly wage comprises 417 lats (close to 800 US dollars). We occupy one of the lowest places in Europe by the indicator. Naturally, it is possible to consider the issue from another angle: Latvia is not the richest country of the European Union but it occupies the 47th place by the level of wellbeing in the list of 200 countries. Everything is relative. . .

We have to admit that our political system is inefficient and based on proportional election scheme. It exists in many European nations however it does not fit for such young democracies as Latvia because it allows many parties to have seats in parliament. That results in another major minus – constant partisan disputes on all vital issues and instability of the coalition government as a result. I would call it even political irresponsibility which does not allow to quickly and efficiently engage in reforms. It is not accidental that the idea of switching to a presidential republic takes hold in Latvia.

Janis Kucinskis: The current developments in our political life can be compared with the return of the country to the Middle Age when Latvians were completely rightless. I would recall that the First Republic emerged in 1918 right after the First World War and the revolution. The country was in ruins, but people worked hard and life gradually improved without IMF loans. In 1990 there was no ruin in the country. Latvia had no debts as Russia took them over. There was industry that could be upgraded. But it was intentionally ruined and Latvia became a backward country. To make a thousand domestic millionaires flourish hundreds of thousands of Latvians had to lose jobs and savings.

In my book New World Order and We I predicted in 2000 that we shall go in the European Union through the same thing which happened in the XIII century when Vatican blessed Baltic tribes that adopted Christianity to create their own states. The result was the cancellation of the rights of local peoples who found themselves in debt to Germans. It is not by chance that the house of Chernogolovykh has been restored in Riga which is a palace of German traders, that they began to praise Duke Jacob and excellent Swedish times. All signs in city streets are in English. U.S. economist Michael Hudson was right to say the European Union behaves itself in east European nations as in occupied territories with conquered enemies. The so-called Latvian political elite comprises compradors who act in the interests of foreign capital. It is only fantastic that a majority of Latvians continue to consider them “legitimate” government. Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis sincerely poses the collapse of national economy for a success history!

One country, two communities

Latvia failed to resolve the national issue in twenty years of independence. Society remains split into two communities. The country still has up to 300 thousand non-citizens. Who is to blame and what is to be done?

Ivars Godmanis: Non-citizens in Latvia have all possibilities to obtain citizenship. However if they do not want to then a democratic state cannot compel them to become citizens. There are interesting statistics: when a non-citizen passport did not allow to freely travel in Europe 15-16 thousand people annually naturalized. When the obstacle was lifted the number quickly dropped to 1-2 thousand a year. It is also to be taken into consideration that non-citizens enjoy simplified travel rules to Russia than Latvian citizens.

To obtain citizenship you have to speak Latvian language. It is natural as there is no European country where you can obtain citizenship without knowledge of the official language. For a state to be stable it should not hand out citizenship to everyone. However it should not freeze the problem either .

I believed for some time that a change of one generation will put an end to one-nationality parties in Latvia. I no longer think so. Most likely the ratio between Latvians and Russian-speakers 58/42 is the source for reproduction of the parties. However the growing integration of Latvia into the European Union will gradually decrease the national-political standoff.

Talavs Jundzis: — Political parties that have ruled all this time shall bear responsibility for the failed integration of society. The main thing which I am thinking about is the teaching of the Latvian language. Its knowledge is the main integration factor. To finally open Latvian language courses in Riga an ethnic Russian, Nil Ushakov, had to be elected its ma your four years ago.

Janis Kucinskis: We went broke in the ’90s. In order to stop us resisting the process authorities began to play off one community against the other, provoke language wars, and advocate a myth about the Russian threat in public conscience. It is a paradox, but Russians in Latvia are a stabilizing factor while the Latvian people are not united. Just imagine what can happen if they all disappear. Given the current attitude to people, the state and national interests we could begin to devour each other with major appetite and thus increase dependence on the West.

We are incapable of solidarity – either social or national. Therefore, it is possible to stage such experiments in Latvia. It is naturally unpleasant for Latvians that is some areas of the country they do not feel themselves full masters of the house because of ethnic composition of the population. If we trust what newspapers and online publications write there can be an impression that Latvians and Russians hate each other. However in real life ordinary people of different nationalities amicably co-exist. It is more frustrating that many people are emigrating from Latvia.

Emigrati on: peril or salvation?

In recent years over 200 thousand people emigrated from Latvia. Isn’t it a catastrophe for a nation with a population just over two million people?

Ivars Godmanis: Latvia exists within the European Union system which is characterized by a full freedom of choice – each person can decide where to live, work, and do business.

Naturally, there are countries in the European Union with living standards higher than in Latvia. People want to live better not in future, but now and therefore leave the country. I do not think we have the right to blame them. Such is the situation: many people took mortgage credits to buy an apartment or a house and then the crisis erupted and they had no money to repay the loans. Equaling living standards in various countries is a major policy of the European Union and Latvia is gradually progressing towards average European level. I believe emigration from Latvia will not increase. Do not forget that countries where Latvians go suffer from the crisis like we do.

Talavs Jundzis: It should not be perceived too dramatically. We have just begun to recover from the crisis. What would happen if the 200 thousand people who emigrated would remain in Latvia? What would happen then? Unemployment would be much higher and more budget appropriations would be necessary to pay the dole. Today Latvians abroad send money back to Latvia. Nobody knows how big the financial inflow is, but it is definitely substantial. This is the practical side of the issue.

But there is also the strategic side. Similar situation emerged in many countries of the world. President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told me that many Chinese who emigrated from the country are now coming back with education they received in the United States and other countries and accumulated knowledge and experience. I will cite only one figure: 40% of professors in the United States are Chinese. I hope that people who left Latvia will soon come back with education diplomas and experience. And Latvia will enjoy the experience and education for free. . .

Janis Kucinskis: It is a fact that the country paid a very high price for complying with

Maastricht requirements: Latvians are dying out. People have to leave their native country as there is no food or work here. Social welfare programs exist in cities, while the countryside where most Latvians live is being destroyed. Over 500 residential settlements disappeared from the map of Latvia. There are abandoned houses, foreigners bought out land, schools and hospitals close down. Brussels supports the genocide policy because old European nations face a catastrophic demographic situation. Europeans need “slaves”, white-skin cheap labor which quickly assimilates. Our children educated at Latvian expense are most suitable for that. Our politicians did not conceal it in the ’90s saying Latvia will join global turnover due to cheap labor.

Union of equals or unified state ?

Do you think that modern Latvia – EU and NATO member — does not correspond to the independence model which many Latvians perceived in the ’90s? Latvia of the ’30s was a sample model for them — a national isolated state. Does the federation to which the EU has been striving of late kill national states?

Ivars Godmanis: — It is impossible to compare the developments 80 years ago with nowadays. The situation radically differed from the current one. In the ’30s national isolation could serve as the background for self-conscience growth. Latvia consumed what it produced. Today we live in a global world and can buy goods and services from anyone we want and sell goods and services to anyone. In such conditions isolation is inappropriate.

The dream of a national state develops into a different thing today. It is permanent

competition in conditions of open borders. Understanding of it is key for comprehending the situation. By cutting off from the world we can lose, firstly, the living standards and, secondly, own cultural and national traits. It is clear the European Union is working to make every member preserve its cultural and national traits. National identity of France, Germany, Spain, Italy and other countries has not disappeared and will not vanish. The same is true for our national priorities. EU federalism is the answer to the grave crisis that hit it. A number of European countries, including Latvia, were in a very bad plight. EU assistance saved Latvia, Greece, Portugal, and Ireland. The slogan of federalism is used like a banner today which tries to prove that it is better to live in a single state. But it is wrong as people who work better and earn more will not pay those who work worse.

I believe the European Union is moving towards efficient interaction among countries, but not to a federative state. I do not think the talk about federalism will have serious consequences specifically now when the European Union is recovering from the crisis.

Talavs Jundzis: I see the future of the European Union in a federative state, but on condition that national identity and variety are the values of the federative state. In modern world small economies cannot survive. We should not be afraid that Latvia – economically and politically – will be within a single democratic union. Variety of peoples is the wealth of the EU and there are no grounds for concern for our national identity. We succeeded to preserve our language and culture in the Soviet Union. Why should we lose them in the European Union?

I am skeptical about the future of the European Union in its current state. Modern Europe is not competitive. But I am an optimist about federative Europe. There is no escaping federative Europe. Life will compel us to make the choice.

Janis Kucinskis: The European Union is no union of sovereign states but rather a business project for the rich created to expand the sales market. Countries compete in it and the strong strangle the weak. No major decisions are adopted in Riga any longer. The Saeima and the government only adjust to local conditions the documents adopted in Brussels which determine the economic and social policy of the country. Even wages, pensions and allowances are agreed with international institutions. Up to 2004 the president of the Latvian bank and the prime minister first signed a memorandum with the International Monetary Fund and then had the commitments approved in Saeima. Now it is different! Fulfilling instructions from Brussels is our homework. Polls show that 70.9 percent of Latvians believe western nations are using the country in their own interests while 78.3 percent are convinced that Latvia is a secondtier country in the EU. Actions of current local authorities do not differ from what Pelshe and Voss did in Soviet times – to apple-polish bosses and career at the expense of misfortunes of their own people. In the same way the new authorities forge transition to “green” energy and make people pa y for inefficient production.

It is common knowledge that in 1940 Latvia switched to Soviet rubles. Today, 73 years later, the occupational lat is to be replaced by occupational euro. Nobody wondered then and wonders now what the people think about it. We are told the government does not interfere in market relations. But everything is done to strip Latvia of economic relations with Russia. Here is only one example: medicines from the east are taxed higher than from the west.

Our history shows that when Latvia was within the empire our countries traded intensively which resulted in economic growth. When economic ties were disrupted it triggered collapse. 54.4 percent of Latvian residents believe today that Latvia lived well in the USSR. 64.6 percent are convinced the future of the country is in close cooperation with Russia and other CIS nations. However the West is not interested in the data.

Olga Larina, Ina Oshkaya,

for Amber Bridge

Exciting optimism of the Danes is confirmed also by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Gallup Institute and other more or less known public opinion services. The OECD used a 1-100 point scale in its poll held in 140 countries. The average figure was 62.4 percent while in Denmark – 90.1.

The Danes have been constantly leading such polls since 1973 and the scholars of the world have been unsuccessfully trying for over three decades to comprehend the secret of Danish happiness by advancing different hypothesis and arriving at contradicting conclusions. Mild climate, healthy way of life, strong economy, or generous social budget?

It is true the country boasts one of the highest GDP in the world and one of the lowest unemployment rate. On the other hand, Denmark has relatively low longevity and high taxes. Hard drinking and crime are spreading, the number of divorces and suicides is on the rise. It looks as if there should be no specific happiness.

Epidemiologist Kaare Kristensen said the Danes are satisfied with their life due to high consumption of alcohol. Former Editor-in-Chief of the Politiken newspaper Theger Zeidenfaden suggested the Danes eat more sugar than other people in Europe. A group of researchers offered an explanation saying the victory over the German team in the European Football Championship in 1992 triggered nationwide euphoria in Denmark which continues to manifest itself.

Maybe the Danes have not lost a taste to simple pleasures? They mostly treasure time spent together with the family and close kin. “Happiness means to cook a tasty dinner, apply a match to candles, and dine with friends. Or drink hot coffee at a fireplace in cold winter,” said Camilla Bek Heg who returned to Denmark after five years in Paris.

You can rarely see expensive clothes or luxurious cars in Copenhagen streets. But there are no hungry poor as well. Experts agree that Denmark is one of the most egalitarian societies in the world. Research shows that inequality and resulting atmosphere of mistrust are a major reason for dissatisfaction. Therefore, many researchers explain general Danish happiness by a high level of trust which they often call the main national value.

The Danish tradition of equality and trust is unprecedented in the world. Only here the head of a company and a security guard communicate as equals. “In Denmark people consume relatively equal shares of the wealth they create and believe each other”, Reuters reported adding that in other countries people are more cynical to authorities, business and each other.

“It is hard to say how the trust emerged”, said economist Christian Bjornskov from Aarhus University. “Most likely it formed during numerous generations beginning from Vikings”. But even today Danish peasants leave berries they collected on the roadside and nobody would ever eat them without leaving some money in exchange. The scholar said the descendants of the Scandinavians who emigrated to the United States in the XIX century are the most trustful and at the same time most trustworthy Americans. During the current economic crisis Denmark was one of the first countries to announce unlimited guarantees for bank deposits, Bjornskov recalled.

“The Danes do not view the state as an enemy,” said political scientist and sociologist Peter Gundelak. He believes it may be due to the small size of the country and homogenous population. Anyway, the Danes regularly pay the highest taxes in Europe and are convinced they do it for the better .

There is also an historic explanation: Denmark used to be a northern empire and w as at war with Prussia and Austria in 1964 and suffered a crushing defeat. The Danes were undermined economically and morally but due to incredible effort succeeded to rebuild the country although national conscience was deeply hurt. Since then they had to adjust to a new situation. They do not set excessive aims and pin no major hopes. They learned to enjoy trifles. Thus, according to research, Danish happiness is a kind of self-hypnosis. “If the Danes are the happiest that is because they have less expectations than others which means less disappointments as well”, said Peter Gundelak.

John Helliwell is convinced that choir singing and common laughter at frequent parties are a major source of happy feelings among the Danes. Incessant toasts and songs at Danish weddings offer a collective therapy and a w ay to happiness, he believes.

The Danes are rather reserved and never complain. It means they are ready for misfortunes, do not expect gifts from the future and are surprised if everything goes well. It is evident from newspaper headlines – “We are the happiest, so far”. The Danes thus confirm the Taoist wisdom voiced by ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi – happiness is when you do not go to attain happiness.

Scholars made numerous interesting discoveries when they began to examine Danish happiness in detail. It turned out, for example, that it is subject to seasonal changes: in winter the Danes seem to stop being the happiest people in the world. The gloom and boring days of the season result in the so-called “winter depression” or the Seasonal Affected Disorder / SAD/ syndrome.

According to the Danish Psychiatry Fund, close to 200 thousand Danes suffer from chronic depressions while 15 percent of the population or every seventh resident experienced depression at least once in his life.

In Denmark SAD is described as “episodes of depression taking place in a certain season, mostly in winter”. The risk is considered to be the highest in northern countries with long winter nights, such as Denmark. The symptoms include bad mood, tiredness, stress, and the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness.

Psychologist Martin Morsing believes that if “winter depression” is ignored, it can develop into a real depression which demands psychiatric treatment. “The syndrome is specifically dangerous for elderly people. They rarely go out while loneliness promotes depression,” said psychiatrist Sarika Staflund.

In a critical state depression can result in suicide. The Odense Center for suicide research said the number of suicides in Denmark grows 2 percent in October-November and in April-May. “Changes in the duration of daylight hours are the most likely explanation to seasonal fluctuations in suicidal behavior”, the research center said.

Naturally, early winter affects depressive people, but why does the number of suicides increase on the eve of the coming summer? “In autumn they lack initiative due to general exhaustion. In spring dark thoughts have not yet abandoned them while there is already enough energy for the lethal step,” said research fellow Berge Jensen.

Weather conditions can also promote suicide. “In cold time there are more suicides during fog or rain and less during cold and snowy winter,” Berge Jensen stressed.

Winter depression is an old enemy of the Danes and they know how to fight it. The best way is to party with friends and candles. Professionals confirm the efficiency of the “popular therapy”. Statistics show the Danes buy more candles per capita than any other people in the world.

Martin Morsing recommends light therapy with special sunlight emitting bulbs to patients who suffer from SAD and depression. 20-30 minutes a day under such light would ease depression symptoms, he believes. “However nothing can replace the true Sun. Therefore be active and go in for sports in the short hours while the Sun is shining”, he advised.

U.S. researcher Barry Whitehead studied 30 SAD cases in 17 countries and exposed that only northern US regions and Russia are ahead of Denmark in the syndrome. The average global SAD rate is 5.77 while in Denmark it is 12.4. As a result, happiness indicators among the Danes in winter are much lower than in summer .

Canadian researcher John Helliwell studied the problem from another angle. He noticed that Denmark is always the leader in assessing life in general on the basis of such criteria, as incomes, absence of corruption and the feeling of freedom. However when the Danes are asked: “Did you smile or laugh yesterday?” the rating is much more modest.

Thus, scholars concluded there can be two potential definitions of happiness. One is related to the general sense of wellbeing while the other – to specific moments of joy. The first definition depends on personal incomes and the wealth of the country while the second one – on satisfaction of personal psychological and social needs.

The commission created by France in 2008 and headed by Nobel Prize winner and economist Joseph Stiglitz determined “a major difference between such social and economic indicators as growth, inflation, and unemployment and the psychological and emotional perception of the realities.” The research resulted in two different social and economic indicators: level of life and quality of life.

Although the United States has the highest per capita GDP ratio it occupied only the 16th place in the general wellbeing classification and the 26th place in the rating based on joyful moments in life. Christian Science Monitor newspaper sadly said that the United States is the richest country in the world but the Americans are not the happiest people. Jeffrey Sachs insists popular happiness does not depend on economic development of the country. “The United States has been constantly developing economically since 1960s however happiness indicators have not changed during the time,” he said. The scholar believes social relationship and health are much more important for happiness than economic growth.

“Naturally, wealth provides a feeling of satisfaction however it does not strongly influence your life assessment as many believe,” said Ed Diner from Illinois University who participated in the Gallup poll. He pointed at the important role of social relationship and cited Costa Rica as an example as people are quite happy there despite low incomes. “Positive feelings usually emerge when you are respected, independent and engaged in labor of love. In the final end there is no single happiness recipe,” he said. You cannot buy happiness – such is the general conclusion of the Gallup Institute published by the US Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. A fat purse enhances the feeling of satisfaction however high income does not guarantee joy and positive feelings. Therefore, the Gallup Institute provides two different ratings at present. The Danes were the happiest in the first category while New Zealanders lead in the secondary (Denmark is the 31st by per capita GDP while New Zealand is the 51st).

In the meantime the serene picture of the northern kingdom makes distrustful journalists ask: are the Danes truly as happy as they claim? Many insist the Danish government is inclined to advertise the country and spends much money to promote the image of Denmark abroad.

For many Danes the declarations about incessant happiness are a “patriotic duty”, said writer Karsten Jensen and recalled the “idyllic image of a caring country which has to protect itself from the outside world at any price”. Sociologist Peter Gundelak agreed: “Many people would be traitors had they claimedotherwise”.

The long-term leadership in happiness seems to have bore to death the Danes themselves. Many of them react to happiness claims skeptically or with an irritated smile.

“Although residents of the country are a little bored in winter they are generally satisfied with life. However they are not big optimists as they would like to pose themselves to the world”, said Helen Dyrbye, one of the authors of Those Strange Danes book. “What do they say behind closed doors?”

“Like all Scandinavians the Danes widely take Prozac which treats depressive disorders and the suicide level is high among them,” said writer Lars Andreas Pedersen. “It does not look like happiness. The Danes are not happy, but satisfied,” he concluded.

Others say the problem is rooted in linguistic misunderstanding as the Danes use the word “happy” when they want to say “satisfied” or “pleased”. It is difficult to translate the Danish word “hygge” into any foreign

language. It means a feeling of comfort, coziness, and satisfaction which usually emerges at a party with close kin.

The latest conclusion seems to be true as the Danes do not complicate their life, are skeptical about high-flown words and notions, prefer concrete things and laugh at curious foreigners who want to comprehend their simple and austere w ay of life.

Foreigners who live in Denmark for a long time and are keen in mysterious Danish soul pay back in their own coin. Englishman Frank Tixton who spent over three decades in Copenhagen bluntly called Danish happiness “complacency”. “Open yourself to the world, admit that you are not perfect and you will see how much genuine happiness it will bring to you,” he wrote in Copenhagen Post.

It is only natural that each person has his or her own happiness which cannot be exchanged. The Danes do not have more or less happiness than others. Everyone has his own successes and failures, everyone has what to enjoy and strive for. Everyone does it his own way.

Nikolai Morozov,

ITAR-TASS bureau chief in Denmark,

for Amber Bridge

Your Eminence, secular people often view your position in the Patriarchate as a foreign minister. Is there a certain misunderstanding? What are the powers of the DECR chairman?

The powers of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate traditionally include the whole sphere of external church activity. First and foremost, it is the sphere of interorthodox Church relations and brotherly contacts with autocephalous (independent) local Orthodox Churches which number 14 today, besides the Russian Orthodox Church. I am pleased to say that contacts between local Orthodox Churches have intensified of late, and the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Council, which raises numerous questions, is currently on the agenda. Our task is to ensure strict compliance with the consensus principle at the Council so that the interests of all churches are taken into account and that the Council should safeguard against new divisions.

The second guideline of the Department’s work is inter-Christian relations, i.e. dialogue with other Christian confessions – the ancient Eastern Churches (such as the Armenian, Coptic and Ethiopian Churches), Catholics, Anglicans, and Protestants. unfortunately, the centuries of living in division have brought about major differences between these confessions and the Orthodox Church in theological issues and regarding the challenges of the modern secular world. Our Church has never worked and does not work toward certain unification with heterodox confessions at the expense of compromises in religious issues. On the contrary, we use inter-Christian dialogue as a means to evidence the truth of the Orthodoxy. At the same time, together with our heterodox brothers we look for points of contact in such issues as morality and the common expression of Christians’ faith in the face of growing secularism. It turns out that in these issues we have more in common with representatives of the communities that have kept ties with the ancient church tradition than with liberal confessions.

Another sphere of responsibility of the Department has expanded of late – outreach to compatriots abroad. It envisages holding various congresses and symposiums and interaction at various levels with our compatriots who are dispersed throughout the world.

The Department also pays much attention to the problem of persecution of Christians in various countries of the world and to interreligious dialogue, which becomes specifically important in such a situation.

You took monastic vows and began your ministry in Lithuania. How did the country and its people influence the young priest?

I have very warm recollections of the years I spent in Lithuania. They were both my first experience of monastic life, my first experience in service before the altar of God, and the first ministerial experience. I served there for nearly five years. I was a monk at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius for 18 months. Then I was appointed a parish priest in a village where ten people gathered for the Sunday liturgy and thirty people for Easter.

At Epiphany I toured the neighboring villages in a horse-drawn cart or by hitching a ride to sprinkle holy water on the believers’ homes. I visited many people who lived in abject poverty.

I ministered in kaunas in 1990-1991. It was the time of the breakup of the USSR. Lithuania proclaimed independence and stated its readiness to defend it. Troops entered Vilnius and occupied the television center. There were fatalities among the civilians. I was asked to make an address on kaunas television which still remained in Lithuanians’ hands, and I agreed. At that time, I had no thoughts about any political interests; the most important thing was to prevent a group of people from committing bloodshed and save the lives of others. I spoke on television and urged the soldiers not to shoot at unarmed people in case they were given such an order. Thank God, we managed to avoid further bloodshed.

It was a very interesting time, the time of gradual emergence of freedoms, including freedoms for religious life and preaching. In kaunas one of my first missionary activities was to visit the nearest Russian school, where I volunteered to teach children. At first the school administration was apprehensive. I was told there had been no such lessons in the Soviet school and that it was not possible. But one day, the school director went to the church to baptize her granddaughter. I offered her a “bargain”: I baptize her granddaughter and she lets me conduct at least one lesson in any class. This is what we agreed to. I conducted one lesson, then another and then other classes asked me to teach. Eventually, I took up all the ten classes of the school. That is, aside from a minister’s workweek, I was fully employed as a schoolteacher. Then I had invitations from other schools. I quickly understood that I could not cope alone and imparted my knowledge of Scripture to my parishioners, who followed suit and began to teach at schools. A very interesting time it was. I have very warm recollections of it today, and whenever I visit Lithuania, I feel as though I am in my homeland.

What is the Russian diaspora and the Orthodox Church situation in Lithuania?

The Orthodox tradition in Lithuania is 800 years old. In modern Lithuania, it is the Russian-speaking population that largely professes Orthodox Christianity, in the first instance Russians, Belarussians and Ukrainians, so it is well-represented in the large cities such as Vilnius, Klaipeda and Visaginas. However, there are also Orthodox Lithuanians, and some Orthodox churches conduct services in Lithuanian. According to the census, Lithuania has more than 130,000 Orthodox believers.

There is the diocese of Vilna and Lithuania in the republic, currently led by Archbishop Innokenty. In 1996, the diocese was officially registered as “the Orthodox Church in Lithuania.” It comprises 50 parishes divided into three deaneries. As far as I know, the diocese is not short of priests. It runs a monastery and a convent. Some schools have Sunday classes for children from Orthodox families, and a number of Russian-language schools offer religion as a subject. The diocese takes care of the preservation and renovation of churches, and receives annual subsidies from the state for these tasks.

An overwhelming majority of Russians in the republic – who number over 200,000 – have Lithuanian citizenship. It is the only Baltic republic which adopted the so-called zero option of the citizenship law, i.e. those who were resident on the territory of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic were granted citizenship in the new Lithuania.

The persecution of believers and the church came to an end in the late 1980s. When you were dean of the Annunciation Cathedral in Kaunas, Sigitas Tamkevicius was rector of the local Catholic seminary who had recently returned from prison and exile. Please tell us about him.

I first met Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevicius in 1989, when he was appointed rector of the kaunas theological seminary. I was a young priest then. I asked Father Sigitas where he had been before, meaning his previous parish and post. He answered, “I have been in prison.” In those years, prisoners of conscience, including clerics, were returning from prisons and penal colonies. Tamkevicius was one of them. He was arrested in 1983 for conducting religious education and secret activities aimed at protecting believers’ rights, and spent five years in Perm and Mordovian penal colonies.

In the new historical conditions, Archbishop Tamkevicius is continuing his uncompromising defense of the freedom of faith and the Christian principles of public morals in his country; he tirelessly urges the powerful ones of this world to heed the voice of conscience in making decisions and do as required by public good, not selfish interests. Many Lithuanians take him seriously.

The first ever visit of Russia’s First Hierarch to Poland took place in August 2012. Although 600,000 Orthodox believers live there, it wasn’t merely a pastoral visit. Regrettably, Russian and European public opinion was focused on less significant events. How do you think relations between the peoples of Russia and Poland might develop in the future?

I cannot agree that Russian and European public opinion ignored His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s visit to Poland. Many large mass media outlets reported the event. For example, the popular channel Euronews closely monitored the Russian Patriarch’s first visit to Poland. It was broadly discussed by public circles in Russia, Poland and other states, and mostly drew positive comments.

In my opinion, the positive dynamic in Russian-Polish relations that have begun to show in the recent times will continue. It is gratifying that the Russian Orthodox Church made its contribution to the rapprochement between the two peoples. During his visit to Poland, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, together with the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference Archbishop Jozef Michalik, made a joint statement to the peoples of Russia and Poland reflecting our common Christian approach to bilateral relations. This historic address became an important contribution to the normalization of Russian-Polish relations which have a long record of strife, misunderstanding, armed conflicts and religious disputes.

We sometimes hear questions and even rebukes regarding what gives the two Churches the right to act as peacekeepers and offer ways of overcoming mutual mistrust. Both Russia and Poland are Slav countries with deep roots in Christianity. We are very close ethnically and culturally. I’m deeply convinced that spiritual affinity is the only solid foundation upon which we can build a productive and open relationship between the peoples of our countries. For its part, the Russian Orthodox Church is ready to make all efforts towards maintaining peace and accord between Russians and Poles.

The persecution of Christians is one of the most acute problems of the modern world. News about “legal” incarcerations and reckless murders is reported daily. The well-being of the North and the Baltic region against this background gives no reason for complacency. Yet it seems our societies do not wish to hear about the persecution of Christian believers all over the world, although the public quickly shows its indignation at other matters.

What is the cause of this ambiguity, this double morality? Is it aggressive secularism or the relationships between Christians?

There are several reasons here. Firstly, it is Europe’s loss of its Christian identity and the aggressive intrusion of secular notions into society. This has also affected certain Christian creeds and eroded their notions of traditional values. As a result, we encounter double standards: there is the lobbying of extreme liberalism on the one hand, and deliberate unwillingness to hear about the infringement upon Christians’ rights on the other. Consequently, the press deliberately distorts or suppresses the facts concerning the persecution of Christians. The Syrian conflict can serve as an example, with western mass media conducting an information war and preferring to deliberately suppress the problem of the persecution and murder of Christians by militants from various radical groups. Tens of thousands of Christians find themselves in a humanitarian catastrophe; many are killed by the most brutal methods, and acts of terror against them continue unabated. The West prefers to keep silent about it. But there are still some honest reporters who try to tell the truth, otherwise we would know nothing about the fate of Syrian Christians. As an example, I would like to mention Russia 24 channel reporter Anastasia Popova, whom the president recently awarded with a medal for bravery. May God let the West have more such honest and courageous journalists.

In the autumn of 2012, part of the Russian public expressed serious concern about the situation regarding a Russian-Sudanese family in Finland. Regrettably, our domestic routine, with tuberculosis and venereal diseases in children, teen drug abuse and homelessness, does not often become a subject of special attention on the part of the society. In this connection how does the Church feel about this political and legal initiative popularly known as “juvenile justice?”

Juvenile justice has been broadly discussed in society recently. The Church does not stand aside from these discussions. It is concerned about the regrettable overregulation of parent-child relations by government bodies which may dismantle the family as a social institution. There were cases of unjustified interference in family life under the pretext of protecting children’s rights.

The advocates of juvenile justice emphasize that introducing this system for underage offenders is quite justified, as it gives up repressive measures of influence upon children and returns them to the fold. Adequate programs allegedly correct the behavior of “problem” children more effectively than penal colonies for juvenile delinquents which leave them branded for life.

Yet it is right to say that a family cannot live in constant fear that somebody might come and take away their child, for example under the pretext that the standard of living in a family does not meet the needs of the child.

Recently, the phrase “creative class” has come into the vernacular, meaning a certain stratum of citizens with superior quality of thinking compared with the rest, “non-creative” Russians. Sadly, quite a few people take this formula seriously, including with respect to themselves. While taking an ironic view of this, we cannot but ask a quite serious question: what is the measure to test a modern person’s ability to build his and his country’s future?

This measure is responsibility. Building the future of one’s country or family is only possible for a person who feels responsibility for this future, in the first place responsibility before God. As St Paul said “… whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colos-sians 1, 16-17). Addressing the contemporary representatives of the “ruling class,” St Gregory the Theologian wrote : “It is with Christ that you command, with Christ that you govern, from Him that you have received the sword.”

He who assumes responsibility for the future of others should be gifted with special sense of self-sacrifice and special self-denial. Public activities and politics should not be an end in itself or a breeding ground to espouse pride, greed or other vices. St. John Chrysostom says: “A true king is he who conquers anger and jealousy and voluptuousness and subjects everything to the laws of God and does not allow the passion for pleasure to prevail in his soul.”

The building of the future can only be entrusted to him who makes public expediency and social good the cornerstone of his actions, for whom high ideals are not merely a pleasant-sounding phrase; they manifest themselves even in seemingly insignificant matters and daily “trifles,” such as everyday behavior, relations with neighbors, conscientious work, and observing the rules of communal life, not to mention observing the laws of the land.

All construction begins with the foundation. A foolish man builds his house upon the sand. A wise man builds his house upon the rock (see Matthew 7, 24-27). Jesus is the stone… “the only one who can save people.” (Acts 4, 11).

The future can be likened to our common home. The happiness of each individual and humanity as a whole depends on what comprises its foundation.

Last Easter Pavel Lungin’s film The Conductor was shown in Russia. It tells the story of guest performances by a group of musicians in Jerusalem, where the first night of the St Matthew Passion oratorio was to take place. The film sets the Gospel story of suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to music which you had written for it. What place does music have in your life and your mission?

After taking monastic vows I was sure I had closed the musical chapter of my life once and for all. I was rather radical when I was twenty. I assumed I had given up music for good. But “man supposes and God disposes.” At some point the period of radicalism seemed to pass, and I gradually began to enjoy once again listening to classical music. However, I never occupied myself with it actively. It was only in 2006 that something suddenly changed in me and I began to compose music.

To me, music reflects the state of the soul and is an important medium for conveying the good news of the Church. It is a special language which can convey the loftiest feelings and which does not require special training in order to be understood – it is sufficient to have a soul and a heart open to these feelings. The language of music gives people the opportunity to communicate at the profoundest level where words are no longer necessary.

Music is one of the forms of sermon and mission. I use it as a means to convey the good news of the Gospel. Bringing home to people the image of live Christ was my main objective when I was writing “St Matthew Passion.“

Now we have a question about Petersburg, our northern Alexandria. What significance does this city have for the Christian Church? What significance does it hold for European civilization?

Petersburg was conceived by Peter the Great as a European capital. It is known that in his time everything of Russian origin was regarded as obsolete, not up to the spirit of time and Enlightenment standards – almost in the same way as nowadays. In this sense, the new capital in the beginning of the 18th century broke off from old Russia and its Byzantine heritage. The architecture of St Petersburg, including its churches, tried to emulate the best European style – English, Dutch and German at first and then French and Italian. It was an to endeavour to Europeanize Orthodoxy, with the view of distancing Russia from the prevailing Byzantine heritage in Eastern Christianity. Peter the Great and his followers seemed to entertain hopes of creating a new and original Russian Orthodoxy.

It is obvious today that this attempt was only partially successful, because Italian patterns in church architecture and music were alien to our culture. Although they have lasted for three centuries, they are increasingly re-appraised in a critical manner. Churches are ubiquitously built in old Russia style, and it is only rarely that European classicism is used, for example, if so required by architectural ensemble. I dare to assume that the “Petersburg period” in Russian history has come to an end.

On the other hand, Petersburg remains our favorite northern capital. To my mind, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It continues to be a bridge between Russia and the West. Petersburg is associated with Dostoyevsky and Pushkin works. I believe Pushkin’s words from the Bronze Horseman about “a window to Europe” can carry not only geographical, but also cultural meaning. Petersburg became such a window for Russia.

This issue of Amber Bridge is to be published in mid-March, i.e. by Forgiveness Sunday which falls on March 17, New Style, this year. It will be read in all the countries of the Baltic region. What would be Your Eminence’s final thoughts to the readers of Amber Bridge?

Forgiveness is a basic principle of being, by which a person should live daily, on the strength of his faith in the All-Forgiving God. As a result of the “humanization” which has taken place in the past century and a half, the virtue of forgiveness has been stripped of religious substance and harnessed solely personal relationships. Thus in practical terms it has become a mere means to an end. Simultaneously its interpretation has changed: whereas people used to forgive each other solely “for the sake of God”, i.e. selflessly, by the commandment to love, they now do it out from a “humanistic” perspective; a person may be undecided as to the extent to which he should forgive his neighbor or if he should forgive at all.

I would like to wish the readers of your magazine to consider the religious meaning of forgiveness ahead of Forgivness Sunday. I am sure that Christian forgiveness “for the sake of God” will open up to us a far broader horizon in improving relations with our neighbors – family members, relatives, friends and colleagues. It will be a decisive step on the way to the God, who cannot be known without forgiving our enemies, ill-wishers and those who have insulted or hurt us.

I wish God’s help to all Amber Bridge magazine readers

Metropolitan Hilarion