Goals/objectives

• to establish a tradition of having informal open debates on foreign and security policy issues;
• to facilitate a dialogue between policy makers and wider society;
• to provide a platform for exchange of ideas and opinions on actual foreign policy issues;
• to contribute to the creation of Latvia’s expert community etc.

Format of discussions

The discussions will be organized in Latvian language on a regularly basis under the Chatham House rules. The venue will be the LATO office, which can accommodate around 25-30 persons. Every discussion will be dedicated to a specific topic. The expert of the discussion will be invited to make a short presentation on the topic with the following Q & A session. The whole even will be conducted in an informal atmosphere with the coffee/tea served. The discussions will be organized at 18:00 on a workday (apprx. 2 h). If a particular topic receives greater attention resulted in a bigger number of registered participants, the discussions will be organized in the big hall of the Latvian Academic Library, where LATO office is located.

Target group

The discussions will be opened to the wider public without any limitations. Everyone who is interested into the topic can register him-/herself for the event via e-mail lato@lato.lv or phone (+371) 67322883.

Follow-up

The next day after the event a short report (in Latvian and English) with photos will be published on LATO webpage.

Results

• enhancement of knowledge of wider society (especially young generation) about actual foreign and security policy issues;
• establishment a tradition of holding regular debates on foreign and security policy issues;
• creation of a new platform for communication;
• this project will unite professors and students from different universities, giving the fresh and non-doctrinal views in terms of only one academic organization etc.

Upcoming discussions

March 3, 2010

Mr. Jānis Sārts, State Secretary, Ministry of Defence of Latvia

March 10, 2010                              

Amb. Jānis Eichmanis, Permanent Representative of Latvia to NATO

If you have any questions or proposals related to the project, please, contact LATO project manager Ms. Irina Ivaskina ( irina@lato.lv , +371 67322883).

This year Aliante celebrates it anniversary – 10 years – but in Latvia the competition is organised for the seventh year already. Despite the economic crisis, which put into chaos many enterprises, LATO is committed to continue the organisation of Aliante in Latvia, aiming this year to attract more participants from all the country.

Taking part in the competition, its participants not only will extend their knowledge in the competition areas, but also will have a chance to meet people with similar interests from other countries and gain contacts that can be useful in further studies or even during a professional career.

But it is not only this, what attracts several thousands participants every year. It is also a superb trip for Aliante winners that you just can’t get at a travel agency. Aliante 2007 winners traveled through huge parts of the USA, in 2008 the Winners’ Trip lead them to scenic Norway and last year to the Czech Republic. This year winners will go again to Central Europe. As the very first winners of Aliante in 2001, they will visit Poland.

The competition is designed for all secondary schools students between the ages of 15 to 19 (born in the period of August 1st, 1990 – May 31st, 1995), who are residents of the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. The competition is designed for teams consisting of two students. However each team may also have a reserve member who will be used in the event that an original team member is unable to participate in the next round. The rules, programme and other information on the Aliante 2010 can be found on the competition’s official web-page – www.project-aliante.org

The Aliante competitions consists of three rounds:

1st round of knowledge based questions will take place exclusively via the Internet. Competitors have to correctly answer 20 questions no later than 21st March 2010 before 23:59 CET. Answers submitted after the deadline will be void. Correct answers to at least 15 questions are required to go through to the 2nd round.

2nd round of knowledge based questions will take place from 22nd March 2010 to 29th April 2010. In the 2nd round teams have to answer 35 questions in writing (in printed form or on CD) and then send them to LATO (Rīpniecības iela 10, LV1010, Rīga, Latvia) and to e-mail: aliante.latvia@gmail.com by 29th April (the date of the postmark is decisive). LATO together with professional political scientists will evaluate the written answers. The number of those who will get to the final will be determined on the activeness of participants. However, the first five teams will get a chance to visit Latvian military base in Ādaži as well as valuable souvenirs fnrom the Ministry of Defence and NATO. All five teams will be awarded with diplomas by the Minister of Defence Mr. Imants Lieģis.

3rd round - the international final will be held in Georgia, at the Sachkhere Mountain Training School, from the 28th June to 2nd July 2010. In total, 40 teams will go through to the final. From each country there will be at least one team - provided that it has been able to answer 2nd round questions to the satisfaction of the national coordinators and political scientists.

With the purpose to address young people, LATO has set up a separate Aliante 2010 blog, where participants can find all the information related to the competition: http://aliante2010.blogspot.com

If you have more questions on the project, please contact Aiante 2010 national cooordinator in Latvia Mr. Didzis Stāvausis (didzis_s@inbox.lv) or public relations assistant to the national coordinator Ms. Irina Ivaškina (irina@lato.lv, 67322883).

During the simulation game each team will represent one of the NATO member states with the aim to come to an agreement on the text of communiqué and at the same time defending interests of their respected countries. The goal of the simulation game is to enhance knowledge and interest of Latvian youngsters about NATO as well as international security and defence policy issues thus facilitating political awareness, independent research work, improvement of analytical skills and better understanding of decision-making process at NATO of a young generation.

In order to take part in the simulation game, applicants should be 18-26 years old, have good communication skills in Latvian and find a partner to make a team. The application procedure starts on February 11, 2010. All the applicants are required to write an analytical essay (till 8 000 symbols) on the theme „A New NATO Strategic Concept: Latvian Perspective” and send it till March 8, 2010 4:00 PM to the following addressees: arvils@lato.lv and laura.kellija@mfa.gov.lv

All the essays will be evaluated by a special commission made of representatives of LATO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. The results will be published on March 15 and the authors of 28 best essays will be selected to take part in the simulation game. On March 17 participants will be invited to the LATO office, where they will choose countries they will represent. The first six teams, which gained the highest score, will have an opportunity to be the first to choose. Others will define their countries according to the drawing procedure. Participants of the simulation game will also be introduced with the decision-making process at NATO by a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Performance and work of teams during the simulation game will be assessed by a commission of experts, which at the end of the game will announce the six best teams. The first three teams will be awarded with the trip to the NATO HQ in Brussels, Belgium. The next three teams will get valuable books.

NATO Summit simulation game is supported by the Ministry of Defence of Latvia, NATO Public Diplomacy Division and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.