He played a role in the early days of renewed Latvian independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 1980 he founded the Bürgeraktion Demokraten für Strauß and campaigned for the candidacy of Franz Josef Strauss for Chancellor.
Following Strauss's defeat, he became the leading reporter of the HÖRZU, a magazine also published by the Axel Springer Verlag.
In 1985 he left Springer over political differences, and wrote his first book, Willy Brandt - Das Ende einer Legende.
In response, he founded the People's Movement for Latvia (Tautas kustība "Latvijai"), also known as the 'Siegerist Party' (Zīgerista partija) due to its reliance on its leader's personality.