I am a Latvian citizen living in Australia and will retire this year. I can afford to live in Latvia and I am expirementing with the idea of living there premanently.

  What bothers me is the economic situation and the idea of living with Russia next door - I fled with my parents at the end of the war when I was 18 months old.

  I live in Melbourne which has a population of 3.8 million and do not know whether I could adjust to the change in climate and the language.

  I am coming again anyway as I want to improve my Latvian Language skills. I visited the country in 1976, 1996 and 1999.

 
  I actually enjoy the fact that I can read and make sense of Latvian text - might take the citizen test to see how good I am.

  Any ideas and views appreciated !

  From Melbourne

  Karlis

Well, not only Russia is next door, a russian will be hiding
under your bed, literally….......................if you
will be living in Riga, or any other big city.
But don’t listen to me, go for it

That’s a hard question to answer. I was born there and from time to time have thought about returning full time. This summer I spent three months there as a trial run and the honest answer is it hasn’t pushed me either way.
I guess it all depends. If you are someone of independent means then Latvia can be a good place to live. Its a beautiful country. Plenty to see and do. Lacks for nothing in material terms. Some people worry about the quality of medical care, but in my opinion its just as good as any where else. Then again, I seldom have the need. A bottle of iboprufen usually cares what ails me.
One thing I would recommend for anyone who considers living there to at least visit in the offseason for a week or so. The winters can be long and dark. The summers make up for it with the sun still shining around 10pm or so, but you pay the price during the winter. Really pay.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the Russians next door, or for that matter, the Russians next border one way or the other. But that’s just one man’s opinion.

Andrejs