The President of Latvia, his Excel-

lency Egils Levits, discussed several key 
issues regarding foreign and domestic 
policy at an event hosted by the 
Uni-

versity of Michigan Weiser Center for 
Europe and Eurasia and the University 
of Michigan Law School on Sept. 23.

The 
talk 
included 
Geneviève 

Zubrzycki, WCEE director and profes-
sor of sociology, and Daniel Halbers-
tam, Eric Stein Collegiate Professor of 
Law and director of the European Legal 
Studies Program, as moderators.

Levits has held office since July 2019. 

He previously served as vice prime min-
ister, minister for justice and Latvia’s 
ambassador to Hungary, Austria and 
Switzerland. Levits was also the first 
Latvian judge at the European Court of 
Human Rights from 1995 to 2004 and a 
judge of the European Court of Justice 

from 2004 to 2019.

Next year will be the 100-year anni-

versary of diplomatic relations between 
the United States and Latvia. Frederick 
Coleman, the first ambassador of the 
United States to Latvia from 1922 to 
1931, obtained his bachelor’s and law 
degree from the University of Michi-
gan.

The event began with Levits discuss-

ing the history of Latvia and its road to 
independence. The Soviet Union occu-
pied Latvia during World War II until 
1990 when the state was restored.

“Democratic movements were very 

important, not only in regards to the 
restoration of (Latvian) independence 

but also in changing the European 
political map,” Levits said. “The Soviet 
Union broke up as a result of the inde-
pendent movements of Estonia, Latvia 
and Lithuania.”

Levits also addressed the current 

situation between Russia and Belar-
us, where there has been a repres-
sion of democratic movements since 
World War II. He said Latvia supports 
demands for new, free and fair elections 
in Belarus.

Levits talked about current events, 

including Latvia’s involvement in the 
European Union. Levits said he would 
like to see more effective European 
policy with the “no harm principle,” in 
which every country is taken into con-
sideration when taking political action.

“We are for further development 

and deepening of the European Union, 
of the common market,” Levits said. 
“We are also for more visible European 
foreign policy.”

According to Levits, Latvia is work-

ing with Estonia and Lithuania to 
ensure a strong community and address 
the issues in Belarus.

In an interview with The Michi-

gan Daily, Aiva Rozenberga, a public 
relations advisor to Levits, said trans-
parency in the European Union is 
especially vital for small countries like 
Latvia, which has a population of less 
than 2 million people.

“Transparency is very important 

because being a smaller country, as 
Latvia is, it’s important that all the 27 
member countries have the same voice 
so that everybody can participate in 
this process where you make decisions 
about the whole continent,” Rozenber-

ga said.

Halberstam asked Levits to speak on 

the relationship between the European 
Union and the United States, citing 
President Biden’s recent decision to stop 
consulting European allies on Afghani-
stan and the Australian Submarine 
Agreement as well as his meeting with 
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson 
in the White House Wednesday.

Levits explained the importance of 

collaboration between Western coun-
tries to maintain power and democratic 
values, especially as China continues to 
grow both economically and politically.

“The United States and Europe are 

based on the same democratic val-
ues, and this is very important when 
we have so few centers of power in 
the world,” Levits said. “We should 
work together in order to defend the 
threats to our fundamental beliefs — for 
democracy and for rule of law.”

Rozenberga talked about the impor-

tance of good relations between the 
United States and Europe, regardless of 
changes in the administration.

“It’s very important for the Bal-

tic States, not just for Latvia, but for 
the whole region to have very strong 
transatlantic ties,” Rozenberga said. “It 
means very active political dialogue, 
and it means active contact in the eco-
nomic sphere and in the military as part 
of NATO. When the situation changes 
geopolitically still, we know that we are 
one family.”

Rackham student Anna Tanalski, 

a second-year student in the Masters 
of International Regional Studies pro-
gram, said she was honored to be able 
to attend the event and found Lev-

its’s focus on democratic values to be 
impactful.

“I think the most impactful subject 

that he touched upon was maintaining 
allyships and relationships with neigh-
boring countries and their unity in the 
face of collective difficulties, whether it 
be the crisis of refugees or whether it be 
kind of this general resistance to a feel-
ing of some people wanting a return to 
Soviet values,” Tanalski said.

During the open Q&A section of the 

event, an audience member asked Lev-
its about the state of Latvia’s judicial 
system, which he referred to as “one 
of the weakest institutions” due to the 
inefficiency of the courts.

Levits responded, explaining that 

over the past 10 years, the judicial 
system in Latvia has become much 
more efficient. He plans to continue 
this growth by introducing a change 
in criminal procedure law that allows 
judges to deliver judgement. Levits said 
this change will contribute to further 
developing an efficient court system in 
the country.

Rozenberga said Latvia had to build 

its legal system from scratch following 
its restoration of independence from the 
Soviet Union.

“It has been a very hard job, and as 

the President stated today, we have a 
very strong legal system, except a few 
technical things that we still have to 
fix and he’s currently working on that,” 
Rozenberga said. “Being a lawyer and 
judge in his previous professions, he 
really knows what needs to be done.”

Daily Staff Reporter Kate Weiland can 

be reached at kmwblue@umich.edu. 

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GOVERNMENT

President of Latvia talks foreign and 
domestic policy during UMich visit

Egils Levits speaks at event hosted by Law School, Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

KATE WEILAND
Daily Staff Reporter

Associate Editor: Julia Maloney

KATE HUA/Daily

Artist Rashaun Rucker discusses his new exhibition “Never Free to Rest” in the Institute for the Humanities Gallery Wednesday Sept. 22.

PHOTO

Survivors of Dr. Robert E. 

Anderson — a former University of 
Michigan doctor with hundreds of 
sexual abuse allegations against him 
dating back to the 1970s — spoke to 
the Board of Regents about their 
experiences with Anderson while 
they were students at the first 
in-person meeting for the Regents 
since March 2020. 

The meeting was held at the 

Postma Family Clubhouse on the 
University golf course. Regent Ron 
Weiser (R) showed up 30 minutes 
after the start of the meeting, 
and Regents Paul Brown (D) and 
Katherine White (D) joined the 
meeting virtually.

A crowd of more than one 

hundred protested the University’s 
handling of Anderson prior to the 
start of the meeting, and during the 
public comment period, speakers 
recounted 
their 
experiences 

with Anderson and called on the 
University for accountability. Dozens 
of University employees were alerted 
to Anderson’s abuse throughout the 
decades, according to a report by the 
law firm WilmerHale commissioned 

by the University. The University has 
received backlash for their handling 
of the Anderson allegations. 

University 
alum 
Jeffrey 

DesCamp, the first public speaker, 
said he was abused by Anderson 
while 
receiving 
a 
Federal 

Aviation Administration medical 
examination, a test he needed to take 
to receive a certification to become a 
student pilot. Anderson mandated 
that DesCamp continually return 
to his office before he could receive 
his certification, visits in which 
Anderson left DesCamp shocked 
by the magnitude of the abuse he 
experienced.

“I was savaged by (Anderson’s) 

insatiable desire to do as he pleased, 
while tears from my eyes streaked 
down my face from the pain he 
inflicted upon me,” DesCamp said. 
“I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t 
believe any human being could do 
what he was doing to me.”

David Share, another survivor 

of 
Anderson’s 
abuse, 
stood 

before the Regents to ask them 
to take accountability for the 
wrongdoings of previous University 
administrators. Share pointed to 
the University’s common slogan 
of “Leaders and the Best” for their 
community, 
emphasizing 
that 

inaction would be contradicting that 

claim. 

“You will forfeit U-M’s right to 

the claim of being leaders and best 
if you sidestep accountability for the 
harm caused by the misdeeds and 
mistakes of University of Michigan 
leaders,” Share said. “For once and 
for all, you need to address these 
wrongs. I urge you to do so.”

Other speakers, like former 

U-M 
football 
player 
Vincent 

Washington, 
described 
feeling 

silenced by University leaders and 
appalled at the University’s seeming 
protection of Anderson. Through 
tears, Washington described why 
he felt discouraged to speak up 
about Anderson’s abuse and how the 
trauma has affected him in the years 
since.

“The question I always ask 

myself is, ‘Why didn’t I put it 
together, or object, or say something 
sooner?’” Washington said. “Coach 
Bo (Schembechler) would always 
say that the enemy of learning 
was distraction, the enemy of 
winning was being a distraction. 
So, subconsciously, I knew that if I 
became a distraction, my career at 
Michigan would be over. I carry a lot 
of guilt for this.”

Several former student-athletes 

have alleged in the WilmerHale 
report and publicly that they told 

longtime head football coach Bo 
Schembechler about the abuse. 
Matt Schembechler, Bo’s son, said 
this summer that Anderson abused 
him when he was young but that 
Bo blew off his complaint. Other 
members of the Schembechler 
family have disputed that account.

Former 
U-M 
hockey 
player 

Dean Turner said he felt that 
the University cared about their 
reputation more than Anderson 
victims like himself.

“The University could have 

put an end to this and protected 
student athletes such as myself, but 
instead they protected a rapist and 
a brand,” Turner said. “I have and 
will continue to suffer the traumas 
of this rape, as you know. Healing 
doesn’t follow a timeline, and 
neither should we.”

Regent Jordan Acker (D), chair 

of the board, thanked the survivors 
for speaking at the public hearing 
and maintained that the University 
is committed to preventing further 
abuse like that of Anderson. He said 
that he and the other regents were 
limited to what they could say due to 
the confidential mediation process 
going on in court.

JULIA FORREST &

 CHRISTIAN JULIANO

Daily Staff Reporters

Board heard from Anderson survivors at first in-person meeting
Regents announce pay raise for Schlissel

ADMINISTRATION

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