Paperjam: Please, introduce yourself and your association.

Ieva Freija-Peccati: My name is Ieva. I’m a lawyer and, currently, the president of the Luxembourg-Latvia Association. I’ve been in Luxembourg since 2003. I work at the Court of Justice of the European Union. I came here to work for the court’s translation department to prepare for the adhesion of Latvia to the EU [which happened in 2004].

For us, as a relatively small nation in numbers, it’s important to keep the Latvian culture and language alive. That’s one of the main purposes of the association, to allow Latvians to keep a link with Latvian culture while living in Luxembourg. We feel almost a personal responsibility [for that], which maybe people from bigger nations don’t.

The association was officially created in 2008 and we have around 25-30 active members.

Were you involved in its creation?

No. I don’t remember which year I joined officially, but I started working for the association via the Latvian School: we have a school that meets every second Saturday, more or less, during the school period. And I started there in 2012, first as a teacher, then as interim director, then from 2015 to 2020 I led the school. Then I stepped back and joined the board of the association, and now I’m in my second two-year term [as president].

And what are your main events?

We organise the celebration of the national day [in November, commemorating the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia on 18 November 1918] as well as the summer solstice or Jāni, a very important folkloric event on 23 June.

Wait--

Yes, it coincides with Luxembourg’s national day! But in Latvia we celebrate the night between the 23rd and 24th. We usually gather between 70 and 100 people for that.

OK. Anything else?

Besides those two main events, we do others on an ad hoc basis. For instance, in March we organised a literary event where we had a Latvian writer and his French translator. And we help the embassy to organise the Latvian stand for Europa Day. And last autumn we organised a film screening at Utopia. And a stand for the Immigration Festival. And a stand at the International Bazaar. And, in previous years, shows and concerts by musicians from Latvia, meetings with Latvian officials and academics visiting Luxembourg, networking events and family sports days.

The association is actually kind of an umbrella organisation and under it we have, as I mentioned, the Latvian School, which also organises some smaller stuff like an Easter celebration in the forest or guests coming from Latvia. [Also under the umbrella] is a Latvian choir, made up mostly of Latvians but also some other nationalities. They’ve been very active: they organise a Christmas concert and do different concerts in the meantime, also in back Latvia and with other diaspora choirs. And we have a folkloric group for children and adults. And a music group that’s not necessarily folkloric but that sings different kinds of music.

And we’re lucky to have the European School, too, which doesn’t have a full Latvian section but does have Latvian language lectures. And we have a collaboration with the teachers of the school, with other events…

Oh, and it’s not an event but we also organise the voting for the Latvian national elections, because our embassy is in Brussels. So you can go to Brussels to vote… but in order to avoid that we also organise it here. It’s official, with all the security stuff, but it’s people from the association who do that. There were 300 people who participated [last time].

OK, that’s a lot. By the way, what’s a “folkloric group”?

Oh, it’s people who are singing and dancing folkloric songs and dances. For children it’s very good because they learn the language and culture through that. And you know, in Latvia… we are a singing nation [laughs]. It’s really a big movement in Latvia, the folkloric choirs, the singing, the dancing. Every five years we have a big song and dance festival. And a separate one for children.

You mean every five years here in Luxembourg?

No, in Latvia. It was first organised in Riga in 1873, so even before the proclamation of the Latvian state. It has been instrumental in the formation of the Latvian nation, Latvian identity and, ultimately, Latvian statehood. Anyway, these groups--our choir and the folkloric group--they participate in those events in Latvia. So there’s a five-year cycle where they prepare. The festival is for a week, it’s in every part of the city, there are many concerts… and not everybody can participate, you have to pass the selection process. So our Latvian choir has managed to be selected.

How many Latvians are there in Luxembourg?

Around 700.

From a Latvian perspective, is there anything particularly strange about Luxembourg?

It’s not “strange”… but the biggest difference is that Latvia is near the sea. And that somehow defines, not in way I can describe, why the feeling is different here. This is maybe what we miss here the most: the sea.

But otherwise we appreciate very much the multicultural aspect… it’s not a given, if you come from another country, [that you will be accepted]. We feel, or I feel, that in Luxembourg it’s something that is not even a question--that we speak a different language from the next person and that we’re accepted. For a foreigner, it’s nice.

Is there a place around here where Latvians hang out?

Prior to covid we organised monthly gatherings in a bar for people whom you won’t necessarily cross paths with at other events, because maybe they don’t sing or aren’t interested in culture but are still interested in meeting fellow Latvians. We’re considering starting this again.

We have a very good cooperation with the municipality of Steinsel. They’ve been very generous, letting us use their culture house for the Latvian school and [as a voting site] for the last national elections. So you could say, somehow [laughs], that Steinsel is the place on Saturdays where Latvians gather.

We have a good cooperation with Mertert as well, where we organise our national day celebration.

How about Luxembourgish food?

We have discovered that we share a love for potato pancakes [laughs]. We eat those also in Latvia. And we’re very big on rye bread. We obviously consider that the best rye bread is in Latvia…! But we Latvians have had many influences on our cuisine, including German… so it’s not the same dishes, obviously--Latvian and Luxembourgish--but it’s also not exotic for us.

Latvians are also big on mushroom-collecting.

What?

It’s really a national thing at the end of summer, early autumn. Everybody heads to the forests. And here it’s something that people do too, although maybe not at such a scale. And you can apparently go to the police station to get your mushrooms checked [to check that they’re not poisonous].

We Latvians feel very close to nature and the Luxembourgers are too. They take care of the parks in the city, the many forests.

Where do you go in Luxembourg to pick mushrooms?

A Latvian never discloses their mushroom spots!

OK, OK. Understood. Last question: any message for new arrivals from Latvia?

Just show up to our next event. We always welcome newcomers and we’re very happy for anybody who joins! Most of us are Latvians but it’s not a condition to join. Check out our website.

Editor’s note: the publication date of this article happens to coincide (nearly) with a significant date in Latvian history, as Freija-Peccati points out: this past Sunday marked 35 years since Latvia’s independence was restored on 4 May 1990 after half a century of Soviet occupation.