At the 2014 AAG conference a presenter gave a talk "Latvians - an endangered species?"
He noted that within Latvia's 2 million people are 1.3 Latvians with the rest being Jews and Russians. He said Latvia had been independent before the Russians took it over in 1920. As with Russia's other SSRs during the Soviet Union, Moscow installed ethnic Russians in leadership positions such that by 1945 Russians dominated all cities.
He noted that ironically, ethnic Latvians are a minority in Riga the capital despite the country being 77% Latvian, a leftover trend from the Soviet era. He said many Latvians now live in the UK, Ireland, and Germany which accept Latvians under the EU's policy of free movement and migration.
Interestingly, he also mentioned that since Latvia became part of the EU in 2004 its economy has improved which has in turn encouraged Russians to stay so that they can send remittance money back home to Russia where the ruble is on the skids.
During the talk the presenter mentioned how Latvia was occupied both by the Nazis in WW2 and then by the Russians during the Cold War, which really drove the point home that much of Eastern Europe has really had a hard time of it in the 20th century. How good they must feel to be out from under both of these despotic regimes. Overall I personally feel there is a very positive energy in Eastern Europe from the excitement about the post-Soviet, EU-connected era of democracy and economic improvement that is very different from the Western Europe.
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