What has happened to us during another passing life cycle could have been much better when looking at the blessed states of North America, Western Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East.
Although, who is finding it easy these days – just look at the nearby and distant countries where it is currently cold, hungry, and frightening – to feel that we are living, perhaps, in the best of worlds. In that "golden billion," where there is almost no shooting.
Year of Diplomatic Triumph
In June, Latvia was elected for the first time as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, thereby joining the elite global circle. Interestingly, throughout the year, we twice proved that we can perceive international obligations, so to speak, creatively: in April, the country withdrew from the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines, and in October from the Istanbul Convention on combating domestic violence and violence against women. While society reacted calmly, even with satisfaction, to the first act, the second sparked a storm of emotions, culminating in politicians getting scared and, so to speak, hitting the brakes. In terms of severing ties with the East, various measures were primarily taken in the transportation sector: in March, at the border checkpoints with Russia and Belarus, there was resistance to crossing by non-motorized travelers; from October, irregular bus services were banned; by the end of the year, discussions began about dismantling railway tracks. Well, for now – we wait...
Year of Switching to European Electricity
The main economic event of the year, still not fully realized, was the final disconnection of the Baltic States from the Russian-Belarusian electric grid BRELL. From February 8-9, we joined the Continental European Synchronous Network (CESA) — the largest synchronous electrical network in the world by connected capacity. This network, operating at a frequency of 50 Hz, serves over 400 million consumers, including most of the European Union and, by the way, Ukraine.
On a practical level, of course, this could not help but lead to an increase in electricity prices. Huge investments in network infrastructure need to be recouped – and, for example, your author received a recalculation that almost doubled the amount payable for fixed electricity connection. However, the overall effect on the country's inflation is yet to be assessed. Let’s hope it will not be in double-digit figures, as it was during the COVID year and the beginning of military actions in Southeastern Europe. After all, new capacities were introduced throughout the year due to solar and wind energy.
Year of Food Confrontation
Perhaps the worst year for domestic agriculture was this one. The cold and rainy summer led to crop failures – from grains to fodder crops, and therefore should have resulted in a domino effect in the consumer market. But, knock on wood, it hasn’t happened yet.
And here, most likely, it wasn’t due to the persuasion of the Ministry of Economy that everything went smoothly, but rather thanks to the more or less restored economic ties with the East. Let’s thank the Eurasian expanses, buying an 800-gram package of buckwheat from Kazakhstan for 1 euro. Nothing similar to those ill-fated recent examples, when cereals and salt were swept off the shelves, happened in 2025.
Nevertheless, instead of genuine competition, we see a constantly growing number of identical buildings of the German supermarket chain in the cities of the republic, whose assortment remains significantly poorer than in neighboring Lithuania – and prices are higher. Has the duopoly turned into a tripoly? No new strong players have emerged. In any case, at the Central Market, which is a source of inspiration for housewives, something wild is happening, and it seems that the capital authorities completely disregard it.
Year of Cultural and Sports Triumphs
In the summer, people were excited about the August-September "EuroBasket," and although the national team did not shine with medals – our celebrities Kristaps Porzingis and Kitija Laksa stood out on a personal level. At the beginning of the year, cyclist Toms Skujiņš was recognized as the best athlete, drawing attention to a two-wheeled lifestyle, which, despite some excesses in urban street planning, still has a healthy essence. Strongman Audrius Jakubaitis, javelin thrower Anete Sietiņa, artistic gymnast Viktor Ermakov – these are all our sports hopes. Soon we will be cheering for the national team at the White Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
In March, Latvia received its first national "Oscar" for the already cult animated film "Potok." Director Gints Balodis proved that local culture gains global popularity when it starts speaking the universal language of images and music. The awarded animated film has no words – but how it moves!
Somewhat less convincing was the 13th place of the domestic folk group Tautumeitas at the May Eurovision. In reality, it is clear that the Old World is not yet ready to listen to Latvian dainas in a modern style. Well, we will get them used to it.
Year of Struggle for a Healthy Lifestyle
On one hand, it is good when you don’t drink or smoke – however, abstaining from cigarettes and alcohol does not allow you to fully share the entire range of emotions with the people. Often, it is necessary to see how a guard in a small shop near home catches a foreigner at 20:05 right in the sales area and, with a decisive motion, extracts a bottle of beer from his basket. No-no!
The ban on the sale of alcohol of any strength after eight in the evening on weekdays and after six on Sundays, which came into force on August 1, still needs to be assessed by addiction specialists. It is hard to say what the statistics on delirium tremens are – but the new regulation has certainly brought less revenue from excise tax and VAT to the treasury. We are still far from Gorbachev's decree, but as they say, the process has begun.
For young people, since January 1 of the past year, it has been forbidden to purchase tobacco products of all kinds if they have not reached the age of 20. This turns the purchasing process into quite an entertaining contest for cashiers on mental arithmetic skills when presenting identification.
Year of Linguistic Tricks
All this time, we have been bidding farewell to public broadcasting in Russian, while considering that by 2033, there should be no air left for non-state broadcasting in the country – as licenses will cease to be issued even for commercial stations, and those that exist will expire.
As for personal communication, the outgoing 2025 was marked by several trends:
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the continued subscription to the newspaper "SEGDONYA" – we managed to maintain prices despite the increase in VAT on the Russian press in Latvia;
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meetings in bookstores, which, with the increase in VAT on books in "non-European" languages, are increasingly taking on a club format. Participants in the cultural process can join online during meetings.
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all of this, along with theaters still performing plays in Russian, allows for some cultural environment to be maintained. And who knows, something might change…
