President Lennart Meri and Mrs. Helle Meri are leaving for Riga tomorrow morning in order to participate in the 80th Anniversary celebrations of the Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia.

Tomorrow, at 2 PM, Guntis Ulmanis the President of the Republic of Latvia will host a dinner in honour of the guests in the Riga Palace. At 5 PM, the festive celebration ceremony of the Anniversary will start in the Latvian National Opera, where the Latvian President will hold the Anniversary Speech.

The Estonian President Lennart Meri will also give an address on the occasion of the Anniversary. The Estonian present to the Republic of Latvia on the occasion of the Anniversary is glass sculpture ''The Dialogue'' by the Estonian artist Rait Prääts. Valdas Adamkus, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, will also give an address.

At the end of the concert, the festive fireworks, accompanied by the music composed specially in honour of the occasion by Jānis Lūsēnis will start at the 11 November Memorial on the Riga Embankment. At 10 PM, the reception on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia, hosted by President Guntis Ulmanis and Mrs. Aina Ulmane, will start at the Arts Museum.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, November 17, 1998

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