Frederik with the President of Latvia

Today Crown Prince Frederik has had an audience with the President of Latvia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga in Christian VIII's Palace. The Latvian president is on an official visit and after the audience with Frederik they opened an exhibition together at the Amalienborg Museum about national orders. Link to Latvia home site. A little background: Vīķe-Freiberga's parents were World War II refugees and lived in several countries before settling in Canada. In 1998 Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga returned to Latvia to head up the Institute of Latvia, which aims to promote Latvia abroad. In June 1999 she was elected president as a compromise and then re-elected for a second term in 2003. She has been a popular president with high approval ratings. She has had strong criticisms of Russia and is an enthusiastic proponent of Latvia's membership of NATO and the EU.
Crown Prince Frederik is doing the honours because he has been regent for most of August while the Queen has been vacationing in France at Château de Cayx.


From the President's website.


Photos by Jens Dige of POLFOTO

Added: From The Copenhagen Post:

On her way to even greater things

31 August 2006

Latvian President Dr Vaira Vike-Freiberga visited Denmark last week to mark the fifteenth anniversary of a post-cold war restoration of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

During a busy week that included meetings with the Prime Minister and Crown Prince Frederik, 61-year-old Vike-Freiberga – who has been tipped as a possible candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as UN General Secretary - was pictured here outside the National Museum shaking hands with the Chairman of the Foreign Policy Society, Klaus Carsten Pedersen, while Denmark’s leading elder statesman, ex-foreign minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen looked on.

As current holder of a seat the UN Security Council, Denmark is believed, along with the US, to support former psychology professor Vike-Freiberga’s candidature.The Copenhagen Post