Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts Diaspora and Migration in the Latvian Context

Diaspora and Migration in the Latvian Context

  • August 6, 2026

 

In this episode of Baltic Ways, recorded on the sidelines of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, host Indra Ekmanis speaks with Inta Mieriņa, a political sociologist and director of the Center for Diaspora and Migration Research at the University of Latvia. Dr. Mieriņa discusses her path to being awarded a prestigious European Research Council grant and unpacks her new project comparing how European societies received Ukrainian refugees. The conversation also traces her groundbreaking work surveying the Latvian diaspora, from a landmark 14,000-person study to plans for a permanent diaspora consultation panel that could give emigrant communities a stronger voice in policymaking.

Baltic Ways is a podcast from the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, produced in partnership with the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of AABS or FPRI.