Thursday—May 30, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A protester briefly handcuffed himself to Riga Mayor Gundars Bojars during an exposition in Moscow devoted to the Latvian capital, BNS reported. The man in his 20s, whose name was not given, was said to have been a supporter of the fringe communist group the Russian National Bolsheviks that has earlier staged anti-Latvian protests in both Russia and Latvia; several National Bolsheviks were jailed in Latvia last year for threatening to blow up a church with a grenade that later turned out to be fake. The left-wing organization opposes NATO expansion and has called for the restitution of the Soviet Union. The protester reportedly carried a small placard that said, “This exhibition is a shame on Russia.” The mayor, who had just cut a symbolic blue ribbon opening the expo, was freed after five minutes and the assailant was detained, according to BNS. Boyars was not hurt.
The so called Riga Expo in Moscow is the largest exhibition of its kind to be organized outside Latvia over the past decade; it will include cultural programs and exhibits highlighting Riga as a tourist destination.

Wednesday—May 29, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) The medieval-era Holy Ghost Church, a major landmark in Tallinn’s old city, caught fire early Wednesday morning, largely destroying its distinctive spire, BNS reported. By the time fire crews arrived around 5:30, flames were pouring out of the sides of the tower; it took firemen four hours to extinguish the blaze. The main part of the church (called Puhavaimu in Estonian) was not seriously damaged.
Fire officials were still inspecting the scene, but a short circuit in a power cable was seen as one possible cause. The cable ran to flood lights that illuminated the church at night. Inspectors ordered that such lights used on other historic buildings be given immediate safety checks.
The core of the Holy Ghost Church was built in the 13th century—the spire in the 17th century. The spire caught fire once before in 1684 and it took four years to rebuild it at the time. Fire has been a curse in the Tallinn old town going back at least 700 years; to lessen the fire hazard, city elders decreed later in the 1300s that all buildings must be made predominantly of stone.
(The Holy Ghost Church is in the bottom right corner of the picture that you can see here: http://www.ee/vana-tallinn/pic/raek_pl3.jpg )

Tuesday—May 28, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) U.S. Ambassador to Tallinn Joseph DeThomas has urged Estonia to do more to confront the period of Nazi occupation during which at least a thousand Jews were killed. DeThomas, writing in the Eest Paevaleht daily Tuesday, said “Estonia and its people were not given the freedom to choose between good and evil” during World War II; “the fact that the Soviet occupation did more direct hard in Estonia, however, does not negate the fact that the Holocaust happened here, too.”
The ambassador said he was motivated to speak out after reports in the Estonian press that famed Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal had called for a boycott of the Baltic states because they hadn’t done enough to address Holocaust issues. But spokesmen for Wiesenthal later insisted that he had never made such a statement. “The comments (in reaction to the boycott report) were angry, defensive, and—with regard to my government’s position—erroneous,” DeThomas wrote.
The diplomat recommended that Estonia spend more both on education about the Holocaust and on memorials to Jews who perished; he also said more should be done to track down and try any Estonians who took part in killing Jews. He also warned about the emergence of anti-Semitism.
The American statement was one of the strongest directed at Estonia from Washington since this Baltic coast nation regained independence in 1991. U.S.-Estonian relations have generally been extremely warm.
Estonians have denied accusations in the past that haven’t done enough to confront the legacy of Nazi occupation. Police say they have combed their archives and found no evidence against any living Estonians that might justify a trial. As proof that they have faced the past forthrightly, Estonians also point to a historical commission set up by former President Lennart Meri that exposed the role of a handful of Estonians in the Holocaust.
(You can see the full text of the ambassador’s article… here. You can see part of the presidential commission’s report on the Holocaust in Estonia… here)

Saturday—May 25, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Special Report!!!—Latvia Follows Estonia in Winning the World’s Biggest Song Contest—The Eurovision Song Contest title stays in the Baltic neighborhood for another year after Latvia won the event in a closely fought competition with Malta that went down to the very last vote cast. Latvia trumped favorites Germany, Britain and Sweden to dramatically storm to victory.
The contest—one of the pop music events of the year in Europe—was held Saturday night in another Baltic state Estonia, which won the right to host the extravaganza after it won last year. Estonia was the first ex-communist state ever to host Eurovision—that is watched by as many as 300 million television viewers.
CITY PAPER magazine, the one and only official magazine for the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest and the flagship publication of this website, had given the Latvian winner, Marie Naumova, the highest rating out of the 24 contestants it reviewed. It was one of the few media to single her out weeks ago as a potential winner. The CITY PAPER article giving Naumova an 8 out of 10 song ranking received widespread press coverage in all three Baltic states and on Eurovision websites across Europe earlier this month.
Naumova, an established jazz singer with a law degree, won for Latvia with a funked-up, Latin-tinged song called “I Wanna,” Facing a sea flashing cameras at a post-competition press conference in Tallinn, a maroon and white Latvian flag next to her, she said she was thrilled but overwhelmed. “I’m very happy and very nervous and I don’t quite understand what is happening at the moment,” said an effusive Naumova, a member of Latvia’s large Russian minority. “I wasn’t expecting this. Not first place.” “If I win, I will drink. I don’t know what, but a lot,” Naumova, whose stage name is Marie N, had said just before Saturday night’s event.
It is the highest showing for Latvia in the much maligned by heavily watched Eurovision; its previous highest showing was in 2000, when Latvia’s highly acclaimed BrainStorm came in 3rd.
Latvia, as Estonia the year before, appeared to benefit from strong backing from its neighbors. It won the highest possible points, 12, from Estonia. The event became an all-Baltic drama with Latvia’s victory coming down to the last votes—cast by the third Baltic neighbor Lithuania, which also gave Latvia 12 points. The final tally was Latvia 176 points, and Malta 164.
Singers representing 24 countries, from Slovenian transvestites in glittery red flight attendant uniforms to a Russian boy band in loose-fitting hip-hop garb, battled it out on stage before 7,000 flag-waving fans at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, the capital. The 21-year-old winner was selected by television viewers who called special hotlines. Only those in participating nations could vote, and they couldn’t cast ballots for their own country’s entrant.
Euro-sophisticates mock Eurovision for its perky, saccharine tunes; the lyrics from the Russian song, sung in English, includes the line, “Lady ice, how can I melt you baby?” But millions in and around Europe have come to love—and love to hate—the event. Estonia won the right to host it when its entrant, Dave Benton and Tanel Padar, triumphed in Copenhagen last year. Estonia welcomed the chance to stage the event to raise its profile and boost tourism; that opportunity now passes to Latvia.
Some of the Estonian organizers of the Tallinn contest said they were out disprove some initial skeptics abroad who said a cash-strapped if dynamic ex-communist state couldn’t stage the technically complicated show, the largest and costliest production by far in Estonian Television’s history. But the three-hour show, which showcased this Nordic-feeling nation’s culture and economy in short film clips between songs, went off without a glitch—with many of the 1000 international journalists saying is was one of the most tastefully done productions in the history of the contest.
Hard work on the road to international stardom still lies ahead for Naumova. Sweden’s ABBA was propelled to international fame after it won with “Waterloo” in 1974; other previous contestants include Celine Dion and Julio Iglesias. But most Eurovision victors have quickly faded into obscurity. A member of last year’s winning duo, Dave Benton, said his victory opened a few doors for him, including a record contract. But his word of advice to the new title holder was to find a good lawyer and to not start dreaming of being the next ABBA. “If someone who wins Eurovision starts thinking, ‘Yes! I’ve made it’…they’re going to be so disappointed,” he said. “Winning Eurovision alone is not it. It’s what you do afterwards that counts.”

You can hear a Real Audio recording of “I Wanna” and the other Eurovision songs at www.eurosong.net . Click on “ESC 2002,” then on the green colored links. See CITY PAPER6s Eurovision website, here.

Friday—May 24, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The Eurovision Song Contest—a pop glitzfest so many love and love to hate—begins Saturday in Estonia, the first ex-communist state to host the annual event that’s watched by as many as 300 million TV viewers. Singers representing 24 nations, from a trio of Slovenian transvestites in red stewardess uniforms to a Cypriot boy band, are slated to take to the stage in Tallinn.
Odds makers peg Corinna May—a blind singer competing for Germany— and Britain’s Jessica Garlick as among the favorites. But past winners have been hard to predict. Latvia, Estonia, Belgium or even Slovenia are seen as having chances to win. Among others vying for the contest title are Russia’s Prime Minister, a four-man group with a fondness for hefty gold rings and loose-fitting, hip-hop garb. “Lady ice, how can I melt you baby?” goes their song sung in English. While the 47-year-old contest is mocked by Euro-sophisticates for its perky tunes and anodyne lyrics _ it has become a kind of Olympics of pop, must viewing for millions in Europe and beyond. Even its many detractors tend to tune in. The TV audience selects the winner by calling special hotlines. While most Eurovision victors have faded into obscurity, Sweden’s ABBA was propelled to international fame after it won with “Waterloo” in 1974. Eurovision also boosted the career of pop star Celine Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988.
The dynamic but still cash-strapped Estonia had to foot half the 122 million kroons (7 million dollar) bill of staging the extravaganza; its total cost approaches the entire yearly budget of the main organizer, Estonian Television. But leaders widely welcomed the chance to raise the profile of this little-known nation and to increase tourism. “Eurovision: A Billion Dollar Ad for a Tiny State,” read the headline of one press release from Estonia’s Foreign Ministry. Estonia won the right to host the event after its entrant, Dave Benton and Tanel Padar, triumphed in Copenhagen last year—a shock win prompting Estonians to stream onto Tallinn streets waving blue, black and white national flags.
Estonian organizers said they’re out disprove some initial skeptics abroad who doubted it could successfully stage the technically complicated show, the largest production by far in Estonian Television’s history. But they’re taking no chances that glitches could spoil the coming out party of their Baltic Sea Coast nation, so anxious to establish its credentials as a mainstream European state that’s close to joining the European Union and NATO. A tangle of TV cables, computers and lights in the 10,000-seat Saku Suurhall—the contest venue—includes duplicates of key equipment. Two giant, diesel-powered generators are on standby on the off-chance of electricity failures.
(You can watch a live broadcast on most European state TV channels and also via a live webcast at www.eurovision.tv; also see CITY PAPER Eurovision page, here.)

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A Golden Plover from Iceland Friday walked, or rather flew away with the first ever Eurovision Bird Song Contest— modeled after its counterpart for humans to be held here in Estonia the following day. The winner was named at a news conference at the Tallinn Zoo, not far from several caged lions and bears, and just across from the venue for the better known contest featuring non-feathered singers from 24 mostly European nations.
The 21 competing birds, including a Slovenian red-breasted Flycatcher and Maltese Shearwater, didn’t participate live, but sang— sometimes squawked, crowed or clucked— in 30-second recordings on the Eurovision Bird Song website. The birds _ nominated by ornithological societies— had to be native to a participating country or migrate through it to qualify.
The Golden Plover— or Pluvialis apricaria by its latin name— is a brownish, yellow-tinged bird that nests in Iceland’s lowlands and its call is regarded as a harbinger of spring on the North Atlantic island and other Nordic nations. “It doesn’t necessarily have a beautiful voice. It’s got more of a fluty call than a song,” said one of the contest organizers, Robert Oetjen. “But it’s interesting, and so lots of people voted for it.”
An estimated 30,000 people visited the site over the past four weeks to listen to the mp3 audio files of the bird songs and rate them from 1-5; the Golden Plover received the highest average rating, a 3.6, to take the title.
Second place went to a Belgian Bluethroat and a Belarussian Aquitic Warbler came in last. A panel of professional bird watchers named Estonia’s entrant, a Thrush Nightingale, as its favorite. They were less enamored with the Icelandic bird that won the popular vote, putting it in 14th place.
The competition was organized by Estonian environmentalists, who said their goal was to raise awareness about threats to European birds. One contest news release, headlined “Illegal Killing of Bird Eurovision Artist,” said millions songbirds are trapped in Cyprus each year, many for food. It said the Cypriot entry, a Blackcap, was among birds prized as a gourmet dish. “The Blackcap is better alive and singing than dead and pickled in a jar,” the statement said. It criticized the government in Cyprus for not enforcing bans on the practice and said similar killings were also common in Italy and France.
Top prize was a small trophy and “national honor”, said contest spokesman Kristjan Adjoaan. He said it wasn’t yet clear whether the contest would be held next year or whether the winning country would take the lead in organizing it. A local communications firm, Tele2, foot the 20,000-dollar bill to put on the event, the brainchild of Estonia’s Nature Fund and Ornithological Society. The Bird Song Contest was not formally sanctioned by the Eurovision Song Contest _ though organizers of that annual extravaganza gave their tacit approval, including by helping to publicize the birdsong competition.

(To hear the competing birdsongs, go to www.birdeurovision.org)

Thursday—May 23, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia has launched its biggest security operation ever to protect attendees of the Eurovision Song Contest—including from terrorist attacks—officials said Thursday. Over 1000 police will be on duty as the annual contest—involving 24 nations from in and around Europe—begins Saturday in Tallinn, said police spokesman Indrek Raudjalg. Armed street patrols were tripled in Tallinn and police are highly visible at the 10,000-seat Saku Suurhall—the contest venue and press center for over 1,000 journalists—with metal detectors at entrances and guards circling the grounds.
Raudjalg declined to confirm reports that Israel’s delegation, including its Eurovision singer Sarit Hadad, asked for extra security in the wake of violence in the Mideast; Israeli spokesmen also declined comment. With the Sept. 11 airborne attacks in the United States last year in mind, planes flying over or near Tallinn would also be monitored by radar, according to Ministry of Interior spokeswoman Annela Laaneots.
Police spokesman Raudjalg said detailed security measures for Eurovision were compiled in a brief 3-centimeters (1-inch) thick—but he wouldn’t say how much terrorist acts related to the Middle East or the U.S. war on terrorism were factored in. “These regions are far away from us,” he said. “But we also read the international media, and we have all potentialities covered.”
On the other end of the danger scale, police also said they wanted to thwart petty thieves targeting tourists. In a Thursday news release, Eurovision organizers boasted that pick-pocketing has already sharply reduced due to the higher police profile.

Wednesday—May 22, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian Prime Minister said Wednesday that increasingly close relations between Moscow and the West make the small, historically vulnerable Baltic states more secure. Speaking in an interview from his office in Tallinn, he said the Baltics have always suffered during East-West tension—including when they were forcibly annexed by the Red Army in 1940. “Now, if confrontation between the West and Russia no longer exists, our very vulnerable situation also disappears,” he said.
Kallas said he welcomed a historic Russian-NATO agreement, struck in Iceland last week, giving Moscow a greater voice in the alliance—countering some skeptics who said Russia could now try to lobby against Baltic NATO membership.
Officials here have recently emphasized they want into NATO to contribute to international security. But Kallas conceded average Estonians saw potential threats from the east as the most persuasive argument in favor of NATO entry. “I have no doubt that Russian officials have a strong intention…not to be a threat to the Western world,” he said. “But I can understand the opinion of average Estonians.”

Monday—May 20, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Delegations from 24 nations and journalists from around the world have descended on Tallinn in the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in the Estonian capital this Saturday. The glitzy, heavily watched competition—which Estonia won the right to host after it won last year—is considered one of the largest events of its kind ever held in the region. Streets were meticulously cleaned, extra police patrols assigned and banners were strung across some city streets welcoming the pop music delegations, as well as the tens of thousands of visitors expected to arrive for the annual happening; up to 300 million people are expected to tune in via television Saturday. Special VIP parties and concerts are slated for the week leading up to the big event, and there were already continuous new conferences at the official press center that skirts this year’s Eurovision venue—Saku Suurhall. Estonia has spent several million dollars to prepare for the extravaganza and is hoping that the corresponding publicity will help boost tourism.
(For details about the Song Contest in Tallinn, plus a new schedule of events for the week, see CITY PAPER’s Eurovision page, here.)

Friday—May 17, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian officials have formally asked CNN to include Vilnius on the news channel’s TV weather map, BNS reported Friday. The Lithuanians say including Vilnius will help boost the city’s name-recognition around the world. The appeal was reportedly made by Lithuania’s U.S. embassy in a letter this week to CNN executives in Atlanta. Vilnius mayor Arturas Zuokas made a similar request last year—to no avail.
Tallinn and Riga are also not included on the CNN weather map. But Minsk, the capital of nearby Belarus, and the Polish capital Warsaw are included. The Baltic states have often fretted over a lack of awareness of their countries outside northern Europe, saying a lack of elementary knowledge about their nations sometimes inhibits efforts to woo businessmen and tourists.
Other European capitals have also fought for inclusion on CNN’s weather map. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, was finally included last year after months of heavy lobbying by Danes.

Wednesday—May 15, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The Baltic states Wednesday expressed cautious backing for a historic Russian-NATO deal giving Moscow a greater role in the alliance—though some observers said it makes them uneasy. The Baltics made NATO membership a top foreign policy priority after regaining independence, citing concerns about possible future threats from their giant neighbor Russia as a main motivation.
Official spokesmen said the agreement, struck during a summit in Iceland this week, could allay Moscow’s fears about Baltic membership—which Russia has repeatedly said it would see as a threat. “Estonia welcomes this,” said Madis Mikko, spokesman for Estonia’s Defense Ministry. “Anything that calms down tensions between Russia and NATO, and between Russia and NATO applicant countries, is a good thing…for Estonia, too.”
But others, suspicious that Russia wants to maintain undue regional influence, say Russia could use its strengthened voice in NATO to try and foil Baltic bids to join the 19-nation alliance. Some news reports did suggest that Russia lobbied for a say within a newly established NATO-Russia council about the Baltic bids to join. Russia would also have a newly upgraded presence at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Most observers have said that the staunchly pro-West Baltics are top contenders, even shoe ins, to join NATO within a few years. Marko Mihkelson, head of the Tallinn-based Baltic Center for Russian Studies, said he didn’t share concerns that Russia would try to manipulate the process. (He said he thought most Baltic officials also weren’t anxious about the Icelandic deal.) Mihkelson said he believed even Russia accepted that Baltic membership—with such widespread Western support—was now a fait accompli. “Given our history of rule by Moscow, average Estonians are suspicious of everything linked to Russia,” he said. “But I don’t think Russia could try to use this new NATO council to stop Baltic entry. That isn’t even conceivable.”

Tuesday—May 14, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s Health Ministry Tuesday scrapped a widely criticized Soviet-era rule requiring that women undergo gynecological tests to qualify for a driver’s license. An ombudsman office recently declared the provision discriminatory since men aren’t asked to take an equivalent test—such as a urological exam. Ausrine Burneikiene, who heads the office, rebuffed a handful of officials who said certain deceases in women could cause sufficient pain to inhibit driving; she said “a majority of our consultants said there are no specific women’s diseases which could hinder women driving.”

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) This year’s official Eurovision magazine gave its highest song rating to underdog Latvia—picking it, along with Britain, Estonia, Belgium and Macedonia as having the best entrants for the 2002 Song Contest.
The pan-Baltic CITY PAPER gave its highest mark among the 24 participants, an 8 (out of 10), to Latvia’s Maria Naumova, who sings a funked-up, Latin-tinged song called I Wanna. “This is a song that does stand out in the crowd,” CITY PAPER wrote. “This is a commendable follow up to Latvia’s highly acclaimed 2000 entry, My Star, by BrainStorm.”
The magazine, which will be handed out to thousands of journalists and other VIPs before the May 25th show, gave Britain and Estonia a 7+ rating and handed both Belgium and Macedonia a 7.
“Between 1-10, we saw a 1 as being a completely unlistenable song. A 10 would have been, say, on the level of The Beatles or at least an ABBA hit,” explained CITY PAPER editor Michael Tarm. “We didn’t hear any 10s I’m afraid.”
Croatia received the lowest rating from CITY PAPER, a 2+. Denmark and Romania also fared badly, scoring 3s.
Lithuania received a 5+.
Many international commentators have predicted that this year’s Eurovision winner will be either Britain, France, Germany or Spain. CITY PAPER gave France a 6, Germany a 5+ and Spain a 4+.
Frances song, CITY PAPER wrote, “could have been sung by Celine Dion for the soundtrack of a film about a sinking ocean liner.” It quoted one commentator as calling the French entry “a poor man’s Celine Dion.”
But CITY PAPER—a 10-year old news and tourist magazine that early this year won a competition to be the sole official guide for the 2002 Song Contest—conceded that judging any Eurovision tune is a dicey business.
“One guy’s favorite Eurovision song is the worst song the next guy has ever heard in his life,” it wrote in an editorial.

(You can hear a Real Audio recording of “I Wanna” and the other Eurovision songs at www.eurosong.net . Click on “ESC 2002,” then on the green colored links. The Eurovision edition of CITY PAPER is now available across all three Baltic states.)

Friday—May 10, 2002
TALLINN-RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A 21-year-old man suspected of brutally murdering four people in Estonia and of shooting dead a policeman in Latvia was captured by Polish border patrols Friday afternoon, BNS reported; police said the Russian citizen, Yuri Ustimenko, may have also been involved in several murders in Russia.
There were widespread fears in Estonia that Ustimenko, who police said appeared to “enjoy killing,” would try to kill again. Police released excerpts of a diary written by Ustimenko in which he boasted about the murders, sprinkling his commentaries with details of the deeds; he described himself as a “predator.” The diary included cut-out pictures of Lenin, Stalin and Hitler, as well as press clippings of the World Trade Center attack. (One page of his diary, rerun in Thursday’s Postimees, had a recent CITY PAPER cover—a drawing of Uncle Sam with Baltic flags sticking out of his red, white and blue hat—glued prominently to one page.)
Estonia and Latvia launched a nationwide manhunt for Ustimenko after he allegedly shot dead the Latvian policeman who tried to detain him last weekend. Ustimenko and an accomplice are believed to have killed two shop employees, a taxi driver and a security man over the past month and a half in Estonia, shooting all their victims at point-blank range in the head. The other suspect, Dmitri Medvedyev, was shot dead by Latvian police Sunday, while Ustimenko managed to flee.
Both men were said to have been third year cadets at a top St. Petersburg naval academy before going AWOL and crossing illegally into Estonia earlier this year.
Details about Ustimenko’s capture in Poland weren’t immediately available, but it appears he was caught without major resistance.

Thursday—May 9, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvia’s Saeima legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of dropping a disputed language provision that NATO warned would have precluded it from joining the alliance. NATO has said repeatedly for months that the law requiring that candidates for elected office be able to speak Latvian did not meet the alliance’s standards of democratic procedure. It was seen as the last major obstacle to NATO membership for Latvia, which, along with Estonia and Lithuania, was otherwise seen as a leading candidate to win an invitation to join later this year. Deputies voted 67-13 to approve the changes; there were 20 abstentions.
Latvia’s government and president had argued that the language rule, even if justified, wasn’t worth risking the country’s decade-long bid to win NATO membership—a goal that was now well within reach. Others, especially those on the right, had said the requirement helped entrench Latvian after so many decades of Soviet rule, during which Russian was often given preference by leaders in Moscow. They complained that Latvia was caving in to undue international pressure.
The Thursday bill, in a concession to critics, said candidates must state their level of Latvian-language proficiency on a written form—as a way to inform voters about the candidate’s abilities to represent constituents. But Latvian citizenship and a minimum age of 21 are now the only requirements to run for office. Latvian remains the sole working language of parliament, and the pool of candidates in elections wasn’t expected to change drastically.
The U.S. embassy in Riga issued a statement later Thursday welcoming the legislature’s vote. “This important decision shows that most of the people’s representatives see Latvia as a country with equal rights for everybody,” it said. “We rejoice at Latvia’s continuous efforts to build an integrated, tolerant and generous community open for all.”

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The Washington Post this week reportedly referred to star Lithuanian basketball player and national hero Arvydas Sabonis as a “Russian”—prompting a swift response from Lithuanian diplomats, BNS said. The influential daily apparently made the mistake in a list it ran of the best European basketball players to have been in the NBA. The Lithuanian Embassy in Washington is said to have dispatched a letter to The Washington Post asking it to publish a correction. “The fact that Lithuanian players used to be part of Soviet teams has not turned them into Russians,” the letter by Embassy Secretary Rolandas Kacinskas was quoted as saying. The 37-old Sabonis, who recently played for the Portland Trail Blazers, also led the Soviet team to a gold medal in 1998; the majority of the players on that team were Lithuanian. Sabonis returned to his homeland last year and began playing again with a team he partly owns, Kaunas Zalgirs.

Wednesday—May 8, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Eurovision Analysis: Who’s Afraid of Terry Wogan?—One of the reasons Estonians have so enthusiastically embraced the chance to host the Eurovision Song Contest on May 25 is that it gives them a rare chance to shine on an international stage, to make an impression on the world at large. But there are fears here that one widely watched British Eurovision commentator, Terry Wogan, could rain on Estonia’s big parade.
Wogan’s 30-year radio career has been made, at least in part, by his witty, often biting comments about Eurovision during the BBC’s annual airing of the event. Last year during the Danish-hosted Song Contest, for instance, Wogan dubbed the two Danes who introduced each song as “Dr. Death and the Tooth Fairy.” His fans ate it up. Danes were outraged. (Apparently red-faced higher-ups at the BBC even contemplated an apology.)
Even Brits who otherwise don’t listen to Wogan on his regular Radio 2 slot each weekday morning, seem to love his annual Eurovision shows, peppered with so much dry humor and stinging barbs. His trademark Eurovision commentary is credited with dramatically boosting the number of Brits who tuned in to watch the competition each year.
Said a commentator on the British-based www.dooyoo.co.uk: “Like most right-minded people, I don’t much like Terry Wogan. He’s irritating as hell. But for one night a year, he becomes my hero.” Others peg Wogan as Britain’s best broadcaster hands down, Eurovision or no Eurovision.
Estonians have hardly sounded similar notes of appreciation for Wogan’s famous and/or infamous flare.
On the contrary, Estonia’s Eurovision organizers have appeared to amount a preemptive defense against a fully expected Woganesque onslaught, going out of their way to single him out for criticism weeks before his plane even touched down in Tallinn.
In an April 30 press release entitled “BBC Show Host will not have Mercy on Estonia,” the Estonian organizers noted that the “Eurovision Song Contest to take place in Tallinn will be subject to a crushing assessment.” “This,” it went on to say “is going to happen, if, instead of our gravely serious commentators, you listen to the BBC Prime (broadcast), where Terry Wogan will be the host.”
“This man is loved in Great Britain and hated in greater continental Europe,” the statement said. “When commenting on the Song Contest, Wogan will leave no stone unturned regarding the organizing country, the presenters and their outfits, the songs and the final results of the show. He considers it funny and so do the British, who have started to watch the Eurovision more and more every year because of his ironic remarks.” The press release went on to say that “booze has its affect on Wogan, who becomes more and more intolerable as the show develops.”
The executive producer of Eurovision 2002, Juhan Paadam, has also gone on the record expressing his displeasure with Wogan. “Yes, I know Terry Wogan,” Paadam was quoted by Estonia’s Paevaleht newspaper as saying. “There is not such an arrogant and rare type in the world.”
“But I still believe that we should not take him so seriously,” he hastened to add. “He is an unusual person and so let him be.”
The security chief for this year’s Song Contest in Tallinn, Urmas Piir, reportedly joked that Wogan could be searched for “a very long time in order to keep him from reaching his broadcast booth as Eurovision went on the air,” Paevaleht reported.
In the end, so used to criticism from outside Britain and always on the lookout for fresh comedic material, such comments are probably all music to the ears of Terry Wogan.

(You can see more about Wogan and listen to his morning show on BBC Radio 2, here.)

Monday—May 6, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) A nationwide manhunt is underway in Estonia and Latvia after a murder suspect shot dead a Latvian policeman and was believed to have slipped back into Estonia, BNS reported. The 21-year-old Yuri Ustimenko, a Russian citizen, is wanted on suspicion of four brutal murders committed in recent months in Estonia; he was stopped by several policemen in a Latvian border town Sunday and then opened fire. In the ensuing gun battle, the one policeman was killed and two others were injured; a second suspect with Ustimenko was also killed. Some 1000 police were reportedly involved in the search in Estonia, with cars, buses and trucks being stopped and checked at dozens of roadblocks. The two assailants are believed to have killed two shop employees, a taxi driver and a security man during robberies over the past month and a half, shooting all their victims at point-blank range in the head.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Some 140 people have died in road accidents in Latvia so far this year, eight more than during the same period last year—fortifying Latvia’s reputation as having among the world’s most lethal roads, BNS reported. Since January, there have been a total of 11,428 road accidents, 1,154 of them resulting in serious injury or death. Six children have died and over 160 have been injured. Several years ago, Latvia (pop. 2.5 million) was listed in the Guinness World Book of Records as having the highest per capita road deaths in the world.
(See related story, Deathly Driving.)

Friday—May 3, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) A leading Lithuanian center, selected by the San Antonio Spurs in last year’s U.S. National Basketball Association draft, may have received career-ending injuries in a serious road accident, doctors said. Robertas Javtokas, 22, was riding a motorcycle Wednesday when it crashed at high speeds. Javtokas badly damaged his shoulder, knee and kidneys, and his thighbone was crushed.
The 2.08 meter (6-foot-10) Javtokas played briefly at Arizona University before the San Antonio Spurs chose him in the second round of the 2001 draft. But he opted to return to this Baltic Sea coast nation to play for a local team, Lietuvos Rytas.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) When a defendant couldn’t answer a judge’s question in Estonia this week it wasn’t because he was tongue-tied—but because he’d sewn his lips together to protest his innocence, police said Friday. Andrus Viks, 34, was charged with destruction of property for allegedly setting a Mercedes on fire two years ago; he was arrested earlier this year. If convicted of that charge, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Police found Viks in his cell with his mouth sewn together late last week, said police spokeswoman Kaja Kukk. A photograph in the local Ohtuleht daily showed Viks with black threads wrapping around either side of his mouth. “He refused medical help and didn’t appear to be in much pain, so police took him to the trial Monday with his mouth shut like that,” she said. Viks had used a needle and thread provided to prisoners to mend their clothes. When a defense attorney explained why his client couldn’t respond, the judge spent the rest of Monday’s proceeding addressing several co-defendants while Viks sat quietly on a nearby bench, Kukk said. Kukk said Viks has since taken the stitches out himself. She said he was unable to eat during the six days his mouth had been sealed and that hunger may have motivated his decision to end his protest.
(You can see a photograph of Viks in court, here.)

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) City Paper’s Eurovision special edition appeared for sale on Friday—in another sign that one of the biggest events ever staged in Estonia is just around the corner. The 150-page magazine—which includes interviews, articles, Eurovision song reviews, schedules, tourist information, maps and more— is the one-and-only Eurovision 2002 guide. Some 40,000 copies of the magazine will be on sale across Estonia and the other two Baltic states and will be given by the Eurovision organizers to the thousands of VIPs and journalists as they arrive for the May 25 Song Contest. “We wanted this magazine to be of practical help to visitors, but also to be entertaining, fun and, in places, maybe even a little provocative,” said City Paper’s executive editor Eve Tarm.
The introductory article is by Economist correspondent Edward Lucas, who looks at how foreigners often make false assumptions about Estonia, including that it must be technologically backward. The article is entitled “Top 10 Misconceptions About Estonia;” it’s illustrated by award-winning Estonian animator Priit Pärn. The magazine cover—of a woman with silver white hair and balls of color exploding from the back of her head—was produced by leading Estonian cartoonist Rein Lauks.
The magazine also includes an exclusive interviews with three-time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan, with executive producer of this year’s contest Juhan Paadam and with one of the 2001 winners, Dave Benton. Former Estonian Foreign Minister also discusses Estonia’s bid to join the European Union. In his interview, Juhan Paadam tells City Paper that the Eurovision event is by far the biggest, the most expensive and the most complicated project in the history of Estonian TV. Asked by City Paper how he hoped to feel when he woke up the day after Eurovision ends, Paadam said: “How do I want to feel the morning after? I want to be alive!”
(Fore details about the contents, see here.)

Thursday—May 2, 2002
WASHINGTON (AFP-BNS) The United States has signaled it might favor accepting more new members into NATO than currently anticipated, arguing that “the more allies we have, the better off we’re going to be.” The statement came at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, which featured Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith among the key witnesses.
The issue of bringing new members into the 19-nation alliance will top the agenda at a NATO summit in Prague in November. The applicants include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia and Albania. But although no final selection has been made, experts have been saying until recently that about five of these candidates were most likely to make the cut; the Baltics have long been considered among the front runners.
But according to the well-informed Republican Senator Richard Lugar, that unofficial list of those to join has now been expanded to seven, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well Bulgaria and Romania.
When asked if he believed the alliance could undergo an even “larger enlargement,” Grossman answered without hesitation: “Yes, sir, I do.” “The events of September 11 show us that the more allies we have, the better off we’re going to be,” he continued. “The more allies we have to prosecute the war on terrorism, the better off we’re going to be.”

Tuesday—April 30, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) The king and queen of Sweden are scheduled to travel to Estonia this Sunday to reconsecrate a church that was used as a gym during 50 years of Soviet rule. The St. Michael’s Church will be the focus of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia’s one-day stay, which was announced for the first time Tuesday in a statement from the Swedish embassy in Tallinn. During the private visit, however, the royal couple was also expected to stop at a coastal area once inhabited by thousands of ethnic Swedes and to dine at the palace residence of Estonian President Arnold Ruutel.
The 16th century St. Michael’s Church was built in Tallinn when Estonia was part of Sweden’s empire; Swedish rule began here in 1563 and ended in 1704 when Russian armies grabbed control of the region during the Great Northern War. Estonians returned the church to its Swedish owners in 1992, a year after regaining independence. Since then, the two nations have developed close economic and cultural ties.

BRUSSELS (BNS-Reuters) The European Commission and other EU bodies will start hiring staff from east European candidate countries next year to make itself ready for the bloc’s enlargement, the Commission said on Monday. Under the Commission’s hiring strategy, due to be approved later this week, more than 4,000 new jobs are to be created in EU institutions until 2008 for staff from up to 10 countries which hope to join in 2004. “The Commission must prepare hiring procedures…as it wants to be ready for enlargement on January 1, 2004,” said Steve Morris, the Commission’s spokesman for planning.
Under the plan, the new member countries are eventually to control nearly 20 percent of jobs in the EU institutions, reflecting their combined population of about 75 million. The enlarged Union of 25 members would have around 450 million. Interpreters and translators will account for some 40 percent of the new jobs as the EU’s expansion will increase the number of its official languages from 11 to 20. “Each new language means about 100 new translators,” said Morris, declining to name the total cost of EU staff expansion.
Politicians said that while the hiring plans were good news for bright young people from the candidate countries, the well-paid EU jobs might cause something of a “brain drain” for the states unable to offer the same level of salary. The new hiring plans may also be bad news for university graduates from the current 15 EU member states. “To achieve a geographical balance after enlargement, hiring from the current EU member countries will have to be suppressed for some time,” said Morris.
The Commission plans to hire about 500 new staffers on a temporary basis next year outside its tough system of “concours,” in which candidates must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of EU laws, history and policies. The Commission would then organize exams in those candidate countries with which the EU aims to wrap up membership talks by the end of this year.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Three-time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan has said in an interview with an Estonian-based magazine that the quality of the Song Contest has deteriorated, and he urged organizers to rethink how they stage the event. “I do think Eurovision has lost its edge over the last ten years,” the Irishman told a special Eurovision edition of the English-language CITY PAPER. “I just feel that too many of the songs are contrived these days.”
His comments to the pan-Baltic news and tourist magazine comes just weeks before the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest is slated to be held in Tallinn, Estonia on May 25.
Logan, who won Eurovision as a performer twice and as a songwriter once, said there were at least five or six good songs competing 20 years ago. Recently, however, he said there seemed to be just two or three songs good enough to win.
He reserved his harshest criticism for a decision to abandon live orchestration in favor of pre-recorded backing tracks—which organizers say has helped keep costs of staging the extravaganza down. “Backing tracks makes it too karaoke for me,” said the 47-year-old. “Backing tracks take away any feel of the real musician….I would like to see an orchestra available again, or at least for people to have a choice.”
He also criticized recent on-air Eurovision presenters, including at Copenhagen last year, saying they’ve become too scripted and that there should be more spontaneity in the show. He said he also believed televoting was too easily manipulated and that an alternative voting system should be developed. Logan suggested that a forum be set up to allow Eurovision fans to propose their own ideas about how to improve the contest.
Logan did say he thought Estonia’s victory in last year’s Song Contest in Copenhagen could help breathe new life into Eurovision. “It was a really great thing for Eurovision,” he said. “The same countries winning all the time is just not going to allow interest to spread. After the Estonians won, everybody feels they have a shot at winning. That’s good.”
But Logan, the only person ever to win Eurovision more than once in its 45-year history, also adamantly defended the Song Contest from critics who deride the event as a celebration of pop kitsch. “A lot of people who run Eurovision down are like eunuchs in a harem,” he told CITY PAPER. “They see it done every night, but they can’t do it themselves.”
Logan won in 1980 with What’s Another Year and then in 1987 singing Hold Me Now; he wrote the 1992 winning song, Why Me?, performed by Linda Martin. The two songs he sang both became No. 1 hits in most European countries. He conceded that winning Eurovision was “a two-edged sword.” “You enjoy your success at Eurovision and the success of the winning song, sure,” he said. “But then you also become The Eurovision Winner _ and that can be very unfashionable, certainly in England.”
He said questions about how Eurovision has changed over the years arose in his own mind after he recently sat down to watch his 1980 victory on video. “I still get really nervous when I watch that, it’s funny,” he told CITY PAPER. “I’m still never quite sure I’m gonna end up winning.”
The Johnny Logan interview will appear in City Paper later this week. City Paper is the official guide for the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest.

Monday—April 29, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian discus thrower Romas Ubartas, a gold medallist at the 1992 Olympics, has tested positive for a banned steroid and will likely be barred from the sport for life, officials said Monday. The 41-year-old—who became a national hero when he won Lithuania’s first gold medal after it regained independence—initially tested positive at a training camp in the United States on April 1; but a decisive follow-up test, completed late last week, confirmed traces of the anabolic steroid boldenon in the same urine sample, according to the Lithuanian Athletic Federation.
Ubartas denied the doping allegations and called for further tests, but it looked likely he would be slapped with a life ban as soon as next week. He also tested positive for the same substance in 1993 and was suspended for four years then; commentators said a second offense would make a life ban almost certain.
Ubartas, who has remained competitive past the age most discus throwers retire, had been preparing for the European athletics championships in August. He also participated in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, though he didn’t win a medal. The gold medal was taken that year by his Lithuanian compatriot, Virgilijus Alekna.

Thursday—April 25, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A Slovenian red-breasted Flycatcher and Icelandic Golden Plover are among 21 birds that began squaring off Thursday in the first ever Eurovision Bird Song Contest—modeled after its counterpart for humans. Other participants, selected by national ornithological societies, include a British Blackbird, a Swedish Bluethroat, Hungarian Mustached Warbler and an Estonian Nightingale; an entrant had to be a bird native to that country or migrate through it to qualify.
The competition to select Europe’s most beautiful birdsong was organized by environmentalists in Estonia, which hosts the better-known Eurovision Song Contest on May 25. Birds don’t participate live, but sing—in some cases squawk, crow or cluck—in the form of 30-second recordings posted on the Eurovision Bird Song website (see below). Four weeks of online voting, open to all visitors to the site, began Thursday.
A main goal was to raise awareness about threats to European birds, said Eurovision Bird Contest spokesman Kristjan Adojaan. One contest news releases, headlined Illegal Killing of Bird Eurovision Artist, said 10 million songbirds are trapped in Cyprus each year, many for food. It said the Cypriot entry, a Blackcap, was among birds prized as a gourmet dish. “The Blackcap is better alive and singing than dead and pickled in a jar,” the statement said. It criticized the government in Cyprus for not enforcing bans on the practice and said similar killings were also common in Italy and France.
Website visitors can rate each birdsong from 1-5 and the one with the highest average wins; there will also be a separate vote offline by bird experts.. A winner will be named May 24 in a ceremony at the Tallinn Zoo—just across the road from the auditorium venue for the pop music contest the next day. Top prize is “basically national honor” and a small trophy, said Adojaan. He said most money appeared to be on the nightingale and blackbird to take the European Birdsong title, though he said his favorite was Malta’s Cory Shearwater. A local communications firm, Tele2, is footing the 20,000-dollar bill to put on the event, the brainchild of Estonia’s Nature Fund and Ornithological Society.
The contest for non-feathered singers, derided as a celebration of kitsch by some, draws over 200 million television viewers a year. Estonia won the right to stage the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest when its entrant won last year in Denmark. The Bird Song Contest is not formally sanctioned by the Eurovision Song Contest—though organizers of that annual extravaganza have given their tacit approval, including by helping to publicize the birdsong competition.

(To hear the competing birdsongs, go to www.birdeurovision.org and click on “voting.”)

Wednesday—April 24, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, 69, has married his long-time girlfriend in a secret ceremony after weeks of media speculation about his private life. The one-time Communist Party boss married 53-year-old hotel director Kristina Butrimiene on Tuesday, his spokesman announced only on Wednesday; they refused to provide any other details, including where the wedding was held.
The popular Brazauskas has been seen as a potential candidate for Lithuania’s presidential election, scheduled for December. Incumbent President Valdas Adamkus is the leading contender to win a second term. But most Lithuanians are Catholic and more conservative voters could be expected to scrutinize the prime minister’s marital status. The media has focused on whether Brazauskas had divorced his wife of more than 40 years; Brazauskas said in a statement last week that he divorced Julija Brazauskiene “some time ago”—though he didn’t specify when. Some accused him of misleading the public or even outright lying about the matter. Some speculated that he may have wed now to ensure his private life didn’t become a campaign issue later this year.
Brazauskas was president from 1993-98 as a member of the formerly communist Democratic Labor Party, which later merged with the Social Democrats. In the 1980s, he led the Lithuanian Communist Party, which challenged the Kremlin by demanding more political freedom. He has been a pro-market advocate since Lithuania regained independence. He came to power last year after a center-right government unraveled following coalition infighting.
Monday—April 22, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) A group of Americans have turned part of the Vilnius old city into a new country called Molodonia, a place that is ruled by an iron-fisted military dictatorship, BNS reported. The place is, alas, fictitious, part of a new Hollywood action movie being filmed in Vilnius and elsewhere in Lithuania.
The Los Angeles-based Martien A.V.V. is the latest of a string of production companies to use Lithuania as a lower-cost location to film. Parts of a TV series about Robin Hood were filmed here several years ago, and at least one other feature film and three other TV movies were made here in 2001 alone.
The latest movie company is also employing several Lithuanian actors and stuntman, as well as Lithuanian film crews and studios in what has been a lucrative deal for the local film industry. Robertas Urbonas, of Lithuanian Films Studios, was quoted as telling BNS that some 90 percent of its income has come from foreign filmmakers arriving to use Lithuanian sets, actors and equipment. “It it wasn’t for these orders, we would have closed down back in 1994,” he said.
He added that by filming in a European country, American producers also got around tough restrictions on wholly American-made movies that are in place in some European nations, like France.

Friday—April 19, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The official Estonian ruling is in: Vladimir Lenin is guilty of serious economic fraud.
Many would hasten to agree about the demerits of the legendary communist revolutionary. It’s just that the verdict in this particular case, handed down by an Estonian judge Thursday evening, has nothing to do with him.
The Vladimir Lenin in question is a 35-year-old Estonian resident—convicted by a district court of setting up a phony oil firm to fraudulently claim 825,000 dollars in government tax rebates, officials said. A judge gave Lenin, an ethnic Russian living in Estonia, a two-year suspended sentence and ordered that he repay the state some 235,000 dollars, said Estonian police spokesman Haino Kurman.
Estonia’s Lenin went into hiding in 1999 after he was indicted, and the fugitive was arrested in Tallinn three months ago. There has been one other arrest in the case, and three suspects were being sought but were believed to have fled to neighboring Russia.
Kurman said Lenin was the convicted felon’s legal name, not a nickname. Estonia’s Lenin even shares the same middle initial as the Soviet founder, “I,” the official explained, though his stands for Ivan instead of Ilyich. Police couldn’t say how the living Lenin came to get his name, or whether he or his parents were admirers of his namesake, who died in 1924.
But the communist ideologue is widely reviled here in the Baltic states, blamed for setting up a Soviet secret police system responsible for arresting and deporting millions of people. Giant Lenin statues that once stood in virtually every Baltic city were promptly torn down and hauled off to local scrap heaps after Estonia regained independence during the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Wednesday—April 17, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A pro-Moscow Orthodox church was registered in Estonia Wednesday—seen as a step toward resolving a bitter feud with a local pro-Constantinople church that has strained Orthodox unity worldwide. “We’re very happy this issue was resolved,” said Maia Burlake, spokeswoman for the Estonian Interior Ministry, which oversees the church registrations. “We’ve been grappling with this for so long.” She said the move ended a juridical no man’s land that the pro-Moscow church had found itself in—but that complicated disputes between the two sides over property still weren’t fully resolved.
The friction began after Estonia regained independence in 1991, with most ethnic Estonian Orthodox pledging loyalty to the Turkey-based Patriarchate of Constantinople, headed by Patriarch Bartholomew. But Russians in this multi-ethnic country of 1.4 million said they would remain loyal to the Patriarchate of Moscow, headed by Patriarch Alexy II—effectively dividing Orthodox believers here into two camps.
Feuds focused on which was the heir to church property, including land and churches, nationalized after the Red Army invaded Estonia in 1940. A court ruled the pro-Constantinople side was the rightful owner of virtually all the property after it registered itself under the name “Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church.” While the pro-Moscow side was not threatened with eviction, they were infuriated, saying the ruling stripped them of legal rights to churches they had used during nearly five decades of Soviet rule.
The pro-Moscow wing, until recently, had insisted on registering under the same name, “Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church,” in a bid to establish its claim to the same property. Estonian authorities refused. But Burlake said the pro-Moscow church finally agreed to use a different name, “the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow.” “Importantly, this gives them a legal foundation,” she said. “We can help, but it will be up to the two sides to arrive at a final solution about property themselves. It’s not a state matter.”
Differences between the two local churches were further complicated in 1996 when the Patriarchate of Constantinople officially took the Estonian branch under its jurisdiction. The move angered the Patriarchate of Moscow, which had presided over Orthodox believers here for 50 years. There were fears that the dispute could lead to a schism.
Most of some 900,000 Estonians are Lutheran; there are up to 50,000 ethnic-Estonian Orthodox believers. There are an estimated 100,000 ethnic-Russian Orthodox out of a total Russian population of some 500,000.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas has said his country should do more to return properties owned by Jewish Holocaust victims to their rightful heirs—a process that has stalled for a decade. Brazauskas, speaking in an interview on Lithuanian Radio Tuesday evening, called for more intensive talks between Lithuania and international Jewish organizations to resolve outstanding legal obstacles. He said the legacy of the 1941-44 German occupation, during which over 90 percent of Lithuania’s 240,000 Jews were killed by Nazis, made a resolution all the more urgent.
“We should make extensive efforts to clarify these relations after so many years,” BNS quoted him as saying. “We cannot stand out from the group of other European countries….We should make some progress in a solution this year.” After regaining independence, Lithuania adopted laws to return property nationalized by communists to pre-war owners. But officials say identifying heirs is especially difficult when it comes to Jewish property. Lithuania was a center of Eastern European Jewry before the war, with leading Jewish institutes, schools and synagogues, so scores of major buildings could be involved in any restitution deal.
The 69-year-old Brazauskas has been one of the most outspoken Lithuanian leaders on Holocaust issues. During a visit to Israel as president in 1994, he apologized for the participation of some Lithuanians in the massacre of Jews. He also told Lithuanian Radio Tuesday there was no place in this nation of 3.5 million people for anti-Semitism, saying “we should think about our past instead of expressing groundless and unfounded criticisms,” according to BNS. Last week, legislator Vytautas Sustauskas, of the fringe right-wing Lithuanian Freedom Union issued a statement saying authorities were displaying “subservience to Jews” by pledging to restore pre-war property rights. In an apparent reference to Sustauskas, the prime minister was quoted as saying prosecutors should investigate anyone who violates Lithuanian anti-racism laws that make the “instigation of national discord” a criminal offense.

Tuesday—April 16, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) The 10-year-old Mercedes-Benz used by recent Estonian President Lennart Meri during his two terms in office will be sold at an auction within the coming months, BNS reported. The car, a Mercedes 300 SL, was bought for 30,000 dollars, and has been driven 400,000 kilometers. Normally such a used car would fetch around 15,000 dollars—but its historical value could jack up the price, BNS said. The report didn’t say how the money raised might be spent.

Monday—April 15, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s 69-year-old Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas said Monday he’d marry his long-time girlfriend—an announcement that could affect the presidential election slated for later this year. The ex-communist, who became prime minister last year, came out publicly and said he’d marry 53-year-old Kristina Butrimiene after press speculation about their relationship intensified. A front-page picture in the Lietuvos Rytas daily of him and Butrimiene on a beach in Egypt last week applied further pressure; Brazauskas had reportedly said he was traveling t Egypt alone for a vacation.
The popular Brazauskas has been seen as a potential candidate for the presidential election, scheduled for December. Incumbent President Valdas Adamkus is the front-runner to win a second term. Lithuania is predominantly Catholic and voters could be expected to scrutinize the prime minister’s marital status. Media have focused on whether Brazauskas has or hasn’t already divorced his wife of over 40 years. But in a Monday statement, Brazauskas said he divorced Julija Brazauskiene some time ago—though he didn’t specify when; Brazauskas and Brazauskiene had two daughters together. Butrimiene, director of a local Vilnius hotel is also divorced, the statement said. If the prime minister is seen as bending the truth about his divorce, he could concievably face pressure to step down.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The Baltic divisions of the accountancy firms Arthur Andersen and Ernst and Young have signed a memorandum of understanding to merge their operations, BNS reported. It is the latest merger move of an international division of Andersen, the U.S.-based accounting company accused helping to hide financial problems of the bankrupt energy giant Enron. The merged company will have some 250 employees and annual revenues of around 10 million dollars; the merger deal is expected to be finalized within several weeks. Andersen’s clients in the Baltic states have included the giant Mazeikiai Oil and the Microlink computer maker.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian Ambassador to Britain Imants Daudiss died of an apparent heart attack while he was in Riga over the weekend, BNS reported; he was 56. Once a middle-ranking communist official, Daudiss later became an important figure in the drive for Latvian independence. He served as ambassador to Russia from 1997-2001 and began his posting in London last September.
In a written statement released Monday, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga paid tribute to Daudiss, saying he was “a man of trust, courage and patriotic feelings” and “one of the brightest diplomats of his country.”

Friday—April 12, 2002
BORDEAUX (BNS-CITY PAPER) French police have arrested two young Estonian men found with explosives and bomb-making materials in their car, BNS reported. The police arrested the 18 and 19 year olds in Western France on Wednesday; officials said they appeared to be traveling from Belgium to Spain.
A spokeswoman for the Bordeaux police told BNS that gendarmes stopped the car for a routine check, and initially thought the suspects were carrying hemp—then found five kilograms of explosives and fuses.
According to Spain’s El Mundo, the French police took criminal action against the men under anti-terrorism criminal codes. The Spanish news agency EFE referred to unnamed police as saying they were looking into whether the Estonians had links to the Basque terrorist organization ETA.

Thursday—April 11, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The U.S.-based Williams International and Russian Yukos oil companies initialed an equity-for-crude deal Thursday that would give the Russian conglomerate a major stake in Lithuania’s Mazeikiai Oil refinery. Williams has run Mazeikiai, this Baltic state’s largest company, since it bought a 33 percent stake in 1999. It was the biggest privatization after Lithuania regained independence from Moscow.
Under the agreement, which is still subject to final approval by both sides and by the government, Yukos would obtain a 26.85 percent stake in Mazeikiai Oil for 75 million dollars; Yukos would also give Mazeikiai a 75-million-dollar loan. Crucially, Yukos said it would also guarantee yearly supplies of 35 million barrels of crude to Mazeikiai. Deliveries from Russia to Mazeikiai have been repeatedly disrupted over the years, hurting Mazeikiai. Williams would maintain operational control. Williams would retain a 26.85 percent share of Mazeikiai, while the state would keep 40 percent; the remaining shares are listed on the stock market.
The deal, if it goes through as expected, would be the largest investment ever by a Russian company in Lithuania. Speaking at a news conference in Vilnius Thursday, Williams International’s Managing Director Randy Majors said he hoped it could be signed by June 1.
Williams and Yukos had initialed a similar deal last year, but it was never signed after disputes arose over Yukos’ insistence that it be able to eventually buy out Williams’ holding. The new agreement stops short of giving Yukos buy-out rights, but does say it will have the first crack at stocks other shareholders want to relinquish.
Mazeikiai Oil includes an oil terminal, a pipeline and refinery. It had a turnover of more than 500 million dollars last year.

Tuesday—April 9, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Vilnius officials said Tuesday that a first phase of a planned reconstruction of the city’s prewar Jewish ghetto should be completed by next year—following a three-year delay. Plans to rebuild the district, devastated during the 1941-44 Nazi occupation, were approved by parliament in 1999. Financial and legal obstacles, however, raised doubts about whether the project would ever get off the ground.
But Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas said Tuesday that public bids from builders would be announced soon. He said construction could start in June and the first of scores of buildings to be rebuilt could be finished by the middle of 2003.
When legislators approved the 110-million-dollar project, the cash-strapped government said it could only foot a fraction of the bill. A Jewish Cultural Fund was set up to seek private donations, but it too failed to pull in sufficient money. Complicated property issues concerning the land where the Jewish landmarks once stood also stalled the project.
But the city’s mayor said it has now been decided to give private firms the city-center land to build on, plus rights to use most the premises for commercial use, in return for builders funding the costly reconstructions. Builders would also have to turn a third of the completed space over to the city, which in turn would be given to the Jewish Cultural Fund.
Officials and Jewish groups say the restoration will be a fitting memorial to the 240,000 Lithuanian Jews killed by the Nazis, and could also become major tourist attractions. Before World War II, Vilnius was known as the Jerusalem of the North, celebrated for its Yiddish-language theaters, libraries and schools. Jews made up half of the city’s 130,000 inhabitants.
(For related reports on this site, also see Reviving Jerusalem North and a Forgotten Yiddish Past.)

Monday—April 8, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) It could take a generation or more for living standards in the Baltic states to come even close to those in current European Union countries, EU executives said in a recent report. They said it would take 19 years for Estonia to reach 75 percent of the average living standards in the EU. It calculated that it would take Latvia 27 and Lithuania 31 years to reach that level. Currently, living standards in the Baltics are about a third of those in the EU.
Romania would take the longest of all EU candidate states, requiring 34 years to get close to living standards farther west; Poland would need 33 years. Among other Eastern European countries, Slovenia was the closest to EU living standards, needing just a year to reach the 75 percent target. Hungary would need 11 years and the Czech Republic 15.
The EU report said countries should redouble their efforts to boost economic growth.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is scheduled to speak at an economic conference in Estonia on June 11. The one-day forum about investment in Tallinn is being sponsored by IBM and the country’s Aripaev business newspaper, according to the chief organizer of the event, Teeli Remmelg.
She said IBM and Aripaev would pay the ex-president’s speaker’s fee, though she declined to disclose the sum; the Eesti Paevaleht newspaper speculated that the fee was between 10,000 and 25,000 dollars. Clinton was slated to stay in Estonia for just one day.
It will be Clinton’s first visit to Estonia, though his wife Hillary was here in 1996. As president, Clinton visited Latvia in 1994.

Friday—April 5, 2002
(VILNIUS) BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian investigators have found 34 empty radioactive zinc tubes, part of a nuclear fuel container stolen from the country’s sole atomic power plant 10 years ago, BNS reported. They unearthed similar tubes last month that were full, containing 20 kilograms of low-grade radioactive uranium; experts said it could have been used to make crude radioactive explosives, so called dirty bombs.
The materials were uncovered in a forest in eastern Lithuania, near the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant where the theft took place, 80 kilometers north of Vilnius. Authorities zeroed in on the location last month after special troops registered radiation levels at many times normal levels.
The discoveries are part of a long-term investigation of uranium and casings stolen from Ignalina in 1992. They had been strapped beneath a bus and smuggled out, BNS reported. Plant workers involved in the theft were convicted in 1997 and have cooperated in locating the materials, reportedly buried across Lithuania. In total, some 80 of 100 kilograms of uranium have been recovered.

Thursday—April 4, 2002
PRAGUE (AFP-BNS) The Baltic presidents will meet next month in Prague, venue for the Alliance summit which will decide the fate of NATO candidates later this fall. Arnold Ruutel of Estonia, Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania and Latvia’s Vaira Vike-Freiberga will gather with their Czech counterpart Vaclav Havel on May 2, the Czech president’s office reported. Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic which joined NATO in 1999 along with Poland and Hungary, will host a landmark Alliance summit in November in which the 19-member organization will decide on its next wave of enlargement. Nine ex-communist countries—the three Baltic states, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania—are hoping to get the green light. According to diplomats, the Baltics are most likely to get the okay, followed by Slovenia and Slovakia. Bulgaria and Romania could also be invited, some diplomats say.

Wednesday—April 3, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Denmark’s Maersk Air will transfer part of its airline maintenance to Estonia, joining other firms that have moved labor intensive operations to the Baltics to save costs. Maersk Air’s core fleet of 21 Boeing 737s will undergo so called C-checks, a major maintenance of airliners that takes place about every two years, in Tallinn. The work, to begin this month, will be overseen by Estonia’s national carrier Estonian Air, which is 49 percent own by Maersk Air, according to Estonian Air vice president Erki Urva. He said it would be the first time a major airline had taken such a step in the region.
“This is labor intensive work,” Urva said. “Maersk will save by using cheaper labor here.” He said the transfer would cost 1.3 million euros (1.1 million dollars), but that Maersk Air would make that up quickly in lower labor costs. The average monthly wage in Estonia, located some 800 kilometers to the northeast of Denmark across the Baltic Sea, is about 300 dollars; Danish salaries are some six times higher. Around 20 new jobs would be created in Estonia; Maersk Air will also shift some labor intensive accounting work here, creating 10 more jobs, Urva said.
Estonia has wooed other international companies to transfer key services here as a way to cut costs. The Hilton hotel chain set up a telephone center in Tallinn last year to take reservations from around Europe for hotels in nearby Nordic nations; it currently employs 50 Estonians with plans to triple that capacity within the year. SAS, a main rival of Maersk Air, and two Nordic-owned ferry lines, Viking and Silja Line, recently set up a similar call centers in Tallinn. U.S.-based International Steel is slated to soon open a 180-million dollar port-side complex where steel products will be imported, reprocessed, then exported for sale elsewhere. It also cited low labor costs a main attraction.

Tuesday—April 2, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) A popular comedy show in Lithuania has given an annual award to Estonian Ambassador Rein Oidekivi for helping to prompt the most laughs during the preceding year, BNS reported Tuesday. Presenters of the show, called Dviracio Zynios (Bicycle News), said Estonia’s envoy to Lithuania had served as an ideal prototype for an Estonian character on their program who is always claiming Estonia is so much more progressive than the other two Baltics states. The good-humored Estonian ambassador appeared in person to accept his trophy, an ostrich egg on a stand, BNS said.
Another award went to two British police officers who were detained for urinating or attempting to urinate on the wall of the Lithuanian president’s palace recently (see earlier news report below). Many Lithuanians expressed outrage at the incident, but it also provided a wealth of material for Lithuanian comedians.

Monday—April 1, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) A leading Estonian judge who presided over several high-profile organize-crime trials was shot by an assailant in the neck over the weekend—though her life does not appear to be in danger, BNS reported. Merle Parts, dubbed the mafia judge in the local press, was shot with a small caliber pistol in the parking lot of a Tallinn supermarket at 7:10 p.m. on Sunday; police said they arrested a 28-year-old man identified only by his first name, Eero, but haven’t yet charged him. Police said the shooting appeared to be “personally motivated” and not something related to the judge’s organized crime trials—but they declined to elaborate. It was the first time an Estonian judge has been shot since the country regained independence, BNS said. A leading judge was gunned down and killed in Latvia last year.

Thursday—March 28, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Arvydas Sabonis, a longtime center for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and considered one of Europe’s greatest basketball players ever, said this week he will soon begin playing again—this time for a local Lithuanian team he partly owns, the Kaunas-based Zalgiris. Speculation about the future of the Lithuanian giant has been rife for a year, after he refused to renew his contract with Portland and hinted that he would retire from basketball. The 2.2-meter (7-foot-3) center fractured two small toes on his right foot late last year, also calling into question his fitness to play.
The 37-year-old’s three-year, 30-million-dollar contract with the Trail Blazers ended in 2001. Portland wanted to re-sign him, but Sabonis said he couldn’t reach an agreement with his former team.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Estonia’s annual growth rate for 2001 was 5.4 percent, higher than expected, the country’s Statistics Department announced Thursday. The fourth quarter figure reached 5.7 percent, well above predictions that were based on the worldwide economic slowdown following the September 11 attacks in the United States. Officials said that Estonia’s finance sector showed the highest growth, of 9 percent; the and hotel and restaurant industry was the next strongest sector, expanding by an impressive 8.8 percent. The Finance Ministry said that the growth rate should stabilize this year at between 4-5 percent, adding that business and consumer confidence now appeared strong, BNS reported.

Wednesday—March 27, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Estonia upset World Cup-bound Russia 2-1 in the dying minutes of a friendly match on Wednesday—in the nation’s biggest victory in its short soccer history. The game at a new 10,000-seat Tallinn stadium, filled to near capacity, was part of Russia’s warm-up for the World Cup competition that starts in Japan in two months. But while Russia dominated possession for most of the game, it was the scrappy Estonians who took fullest advantage of scoring opportunities.
The quick-footed Andres Oper was the hero of the match, scoring the first goal in the 10th minute and then again dancing through Russian lines to score the winning goal just before the final whistle. Russia’s Vladimir Beschastnykh scored the equalizer in the 18th minute.
Estonians said the win demonstrated that the country was now a credible soccer-playing nation. “This was a historic day for Estonian soccer,” Estonia’s coach Arno Pijpers, who is from Holland, said Wednesday evening. “There are 10 years of hard work behind this victory.”
Russia was the second World Cup qualifier Estonia has humiliated within the month. Estonia, which only rejoined international soccer in 1992 after a 50 year absence, also knocked off Saudi Arabia 2-0 in a friendly.
Russia had hoped to improve on its dismal performance against Ireland in February, in which the Russians were clobbered 2-0. But despite a handful of good tries, the Russians couldn’t get the better of the inspired Estonians. “Today’s news will hit people in Russia in the heart and soul,” said Estonian soccer official Aivar Pohlak. “For them, losing to Estonia is a kind of tragedy.”
Extra police were deployed during the match as hundreds of Russian supporters traveled to Estonia to watch the game. Around a dozen Russian fans were arrested after throwing flares from the stands.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Several prominent Estonians are toying with the idea of changing the Estonian-language name for the European Union—in part because the current version sounds uncomfortably close to the Estonian name for the Soviet Union. Estonians now call the EU “Euroopa Liit;” Soviet Union is “Noukogude Liit.” Ex-President Lennart Meri sparked talk about the name change this week by suggesting that “Euroopa Liit” could be changed to “Euroopa Unioon.” Meri, one of the country’s most outspoken advocates of EU membership and a one-time writer, has asked linguistic experts about creating what would be the entirely new Estonian word “unioon” to form “Euroopa Unioon.”
Anti-EU forces have tried to discredit Estonia’s bid to join the EU by saying the EU’s too much like the centralized USSR, which Estonia broke free from in 1991; their symbol is an EU flag stamped with a Soviet hammer and sickle. EU backers, including all mainstream political parties, dismiss the alleged parallels between the EU and Soviet Union as cheap rhetoric—but concede the argument sways some Estonians with fresh memories of repressive Moscow rule.
Polls have varied wildly, between 40-60 percent, about the level of public support for EU membership. Surveys conducted by the EU itself have shown that Estonians are among the most skeptical about the benefits of being in the EU, with just a third of Estonians asked saying they thought membership would be “a good thing.”

Monday—March 25, 2002
Quotable of the Week—”The more radical and comprehensive the initial reform has been, the greater the economic success.”—Swedish economist Anders Aslund’s praising the Baltic states for their post-Soviet reforms in his new book, Building Capitalism: The Transformation of the Former Soviet Bloc. Aslund was once an economic advisor to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who Aslund said didn’t push reforms hard enough.

Weather Forecast—The weather appears to have turned the corner, with above-freezing temperatures looking like they’re here to stay. It should be partly cloudy across the Baltic states this week, with occasional sun and little chance of any rain, sleet or snow.

Upcoming Events for the Week—Estonia plays Russia in soccer friendly on Wednesday….

Other News Below—Lithuania’s Eurovision song disqualified from 2002 Song Contest in Tallinn…. Latvia’s stock exchange to be sold to Helsinki counterpart…. Lithuanian suicide rate up…. Bomb blast in downtown Tallinn, and more.

Send comments/Letters to the Editor to—citypaper@citypaper.ee.

Friday—March 22, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Would-be NATO members Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia said Friday they’ll draw on the experience and connections of current member Poland in a final push to enter the powerful alliance themselves. At a one-day summit in Vilnius, the Baltic and Polish presidents announced plans to form a working group made up of their respective U.S.-based ambassadors that would coordinate Baltic lobbying. The Baltics are among nine countries hoping to win coveted invitations to join the powerful 19-member alliance when it holds a summit of its own this November in Prague, the Czech Republic.
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said Poland’s embassy in Washington would provide key guidance as Baltic diplomats make their case in the U.S. capital. Poland, which borders Lithuania to the south, joined NATO in 1999 along with Hungary and the Czech Republic. It also spent years lobbying NATO states, some of which appeared skeptical about the benefits of taking in new members. Despite Kremlin opposition to Baltic membership—which Moscow said would threaten Russia—the Baltics are seen as having good chances of landing invitations. NATO, though, has made no promises.
Latvia’s president expressed confidence the three Baltics, with Poland’s help, would woo NATO, adding that “I hope all four of us can open a bottle of champagne in Prague to celebrate victory,” according to BNS.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian band B’Avarija, chosen to represent Lithuania in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn, has been disqualified for presenting a song that had already been released before January 1, 2002, in violation of contest rules. The European Broadcasting Union, which oversees the hugely popular Song Contest, concluded that a Lithuanian version of B’Avarija’s song, We All, had been released commercially last year—counter to strict regulations about originality.
Under Eurovision rules, the runner-up would normally take the place of the disqualified winner. But BNS said Aivaras, which came in second at the Lithuanian final, indicated it was not interested; the report didn’t explain why. That would leave the honor of representing Lithuania to the group that came in third, Saules Kliosas.

Thursday—March 21, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The Latvian government Thursday called on a top European human rights official to resign after he suggested Latvia designate Russian a state language—a status now enjoyed solely by Latvian. Gerard Stoudmann, of the Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Wednesday that Latvia should consider boosting the official standing of Russian, the mother tongue of 40 percent of Latvia’s 2.4 million population. Stoudmann, in Latvia to attend an OSCE gathering, told journalists that Russian Cyrillic and Latvian Latin letters were both widely seen on shop signs and newstands around Riga and so “why not confirm this de jure?”
Latvia adopted policies favoring Latvian after independence in 1991, arguing the native language suffered during Russian-dominated Soviet rule. It’s softened some laws—but has always drawn the line at ever giving Russian official status. Russia has strongly criticized Latvia’s language policies, and the issue has sometimes soured bilateral relations.
In a statement released Thursday, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins called Stoudmann’s remarks “irresponsible,” adding that “he doesn’t understand how detrimental his statements are to our goals here. He should resign.” While neighboring Russia has repeatedly called for Latvia to make Russian a second state language, other ranking OSCE officials said Stoudmann’s comments don’t reflect the OSCE’s official position.
The OCSE early this year closed its Riga office, which was first opened in 1993 to monitor the treatment of Russians, saying it was satisfied Latvia now broadly respected minority rights. But it has continued to call for some Latvian legislation to be changed, especially a law requiring that all candidates for elected office be able to speak Latvian.

Wednesday—March 20, 2002
RIGA (BNS-AFP) A top official of a key European human rights organization called on Latvia Wednesday to amend its language laws prior to joining NATO and the European Union, adding that the country should even consider giving Russian the status of an official state language; currently, Latvian is the sole state language. “I’m calling for immediate steps—for example, changing the election law (that requires that candidates for office be able to speak Latvian) in the next months—and, on the other hand, on the beginning of a new thinking leading to a new perception, a dedramatization of politics,” Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann, of the Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe, was quoted as saying.
Stoudmann said Latvia needed to do more to speed up the naturalization of non-citizens—Soviet era settlers who still represent some 23 percent of the population—including by waiving mandatory language and history tests for the elderly. “You can’t ask 70 or 80-year-olds to understand what’s going on, to learn a foreign language. It would be an act of generosity to have special provisions,” he reportedly told journalists at a Riga conference on cooperation between members of the 55-nation OSCE.
While acknowledging concerns of some Latvian politicians about the need to protect the country’s language and culture after half a century of Soviet occupation and Russification policies, he said the risks must not be overstated. He said the government should seriously consider giving official status to Russian, something that has been an anathema to many Latvians, especially to rightwing groups. “Having two state languages would reflect the de facto reality. Look at the news stands and posters in the streets where you see Cyrillic text. Why not confirm it de jure? One shouldn’t get paranoid about this,” he was quoted as saying.

Tuesday—March 19, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian officials revised their 2002 economic growth estimates upward by 0.4 percent to 4.4 percent after better-than-expected results came in for 2001, BNS reported. The ministry of finance said the economy expanded by a surprising 5.7 percent last year despite turmoil in other world markets. It predicted the growth rate would be 4.9 percent for 2003 and 5.3 percent for 2004.
The other Baltic states also registered stronger-than-anticipated growth in 2001, with Latvia posting an impressive 7.6 percent GDP figure; most analysts say that should come down to a still respectable 4-5 percent in 2002. Estonia is also looking at growth numbers of between 4-5 percent for this year.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Estonia’s economy could lose up to 200 million dollars a year if the country is forced to give up tax-free trade on ferries as a condition of European Union membership, a report by the Ernst & Young accounting firm concluded. The EU has pressed Estonia to abolish tax-free sales on scores of ferries servicing the country. But tourist industry leaders have warned that doing so could dramatically reduce the number of incoming tourists—especially of Finns crossing into Estonia to buy cheaper goods. The report, commissioned by the Estonian Association of Travel Agencies, said that a corresponding drop in sales brought on by the abolition of a tax-free system could damage Estonia’s economy as a whole. Some analysts, however, said the report exaggerated the case and failed to take into account a possible increase in the number of tourists from other countries once Estonia joins the EU, according to BNS.

Monday—March 18, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s suicide rate has nearly doubled since 1991, the country’s statistics department said in a report released Monday. It said 1,533 people in the country of 3.5 million committed suicide last year—corresponding to 43 suicides per 100,000 residents, one of the highest rates in the world. The rate was 26 per 100,000 in 1990.
The average suicide rate in the European Union is 20 per 100,000—or more than half the current suicide figure in Lithuania.
Lithuania has sparked major economic growth since shrugging off communism. But new wealth has spread unevenly, with many elderly and farmers benefiting little from post-Soviet market reforms. Out of the some 17,000 Lithuanians who have killed themselves over the past decade, 82 percent were men; the report said people living in the poorer countryside were also more likely to take their own lives.
Other nations with high suicide rates include neighboring Russia, with 39 suicides per 100,000 people and Estonia, with 32 per 100,000, the report said.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvia’s sole national stock market, the Riga Stock Exchange, is slated to be sold to the Helsinki Stock Exchange, officials from both bourses said Monday. The Helsinki exchange, or HEX, bought the Tallinn Stock Exchange last year and last month merged with HEX. The Finns said they also have their sights set on Lithuania’s national exchange.
HEX has offered to buy over 75 percent of shares in the Riga Stock Exchange, an offer that Riga officials hinted strongly they would accept. “The aim of the cooperation is to create a well-functioning Latvian securities market infrastructure and increase the visibility of Latvian companies and liquidity of their shares. It is a logical continuation of HEX’s Baltic strategy, which aims to create a well-functioning marketplace for leading Baltic companies,” a joint statement from both sides said.
Latvia’s market, like others in Eastern Europe, has been plagued by low liquidity. Average daily trading volumes in Latvia are tiny, around 7,000 lat (11,000 dollars); the figure in Estonia is a slightly more respectable 16 million kroons (900,000 dollars).
The Helsinki Stock Exchange bought a 62 percent stake in the Tallinn Stock Exchange last year, and the two united after Estonians took the ten-month interval to overhaul their trading procedures. Brokers worldwide who have traded Finnish shares can now trade Estonian shares the same way, from a single terminal. It’s expected that Latvia’s bourse will also fully merge with HEX’s system by early next year.
The Helsinki exchange is bidding to increase its influence in the economically dynamic region; its Baltic connections would also help draw money from newly established Baltic pension funds into the Helsinki market.
In 2000, all three Baltic exchanges said they were gearing up to unite with the Nordic Stock Exchange (NOREX), a bitter regional rival of HEX. But those plans quickly unraveled after Estonia’s bourse opted for a friendly buyout by HEX instead.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Two bomb blasts went off seconds apart in the center of Estonia’s capital early Monday, though no injures were reported, according to police spokesman Indrek Raudjalg. The explosions occurred at 4:25 a.m. outside a clothing and hunting paraphernalia store at No. 8A Roosikrantsi street, destroying a front door and shattering several windows; Raudjalg described the incident as “relatively minor.”
Roosikrantsi, a shopping district featuring several clothing boutiques, was closed off Monday as police searched for clues and store owners swept up broken glass. Raudjalg said it would be opened later Monday. He said police were still trying to determine the type of explosives used. He said there have been no arrests, and he declined to speculate about possible motives.
Such blasts have been rare in Estonia in recent years. Just after Estonia regained independence, bombings were more common; police linked them to territorial disputes between organized crime gangs. “These kinds of incidents have reduced significantly since the mid 1990s,” said Raudjalg. “These days explosions usually seem connected to teenage pranks or hooligans, not to organized crime.”

Friday—March 15, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) A mass grave containing as many as 2,000 French soldiers who fought for Napoleon Bonaparte during the War of 1812 has been unearthed in a Vilnius suburb, archeologists in the Baltic state said Friday. The soldiers appear to have died from cold and starvation as Napoleon led his army on a hasty wintertime retreat after the French had been defeated by Russia further east. The bodies hadn’t been placed in coffins and appear to have been thrown into a single ditch in a hurry.
Construction workers recently stumbled across bones and soldiers’ clothing at a building site in the Lithuanian capital and called archeologists, who said they’ll take several months to catalogue the bodies and artifacts. The French embassy in Vilnius was informed about the find, though it wasn’t yet clear whether the bodies would be reburied in France or elsewhere.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A poll published Friday showed support for European Union membership has risen in Estonia—whose population has been seen as highly skeptical about the benefits of EU entry. Out of 500 Estonians questioned last month, 59 percent said they backed the nation’s bid to join the 15-nation bloc, according to the EMOR polling agency; the margin of error was 5 percent.
In May last year, the same agency registered just 35 percent support, said EMOR analyst Ainar Voog. His said many older people seemed to have joined the ranks of EU backers. He said the poll numbers first jumped, from 35 to 44 percent, in late May of 2001 when Estonia won the celebrated Eurovision Song Contest, sparking a wave of good feeling about Europe. He said the election of left-wing president Arnold Ruutel at the end of last year also helped convince many elderly and farmers that the EU is not as bad as they once thought.
Every government since Estonia regained independence in 1991 has been staunchly pro-EU, with leaders hoping to join by 2004. But average people have also seemed much less enthusiastic, and critics complain the EU’s too bureaucratic.
Poll findings have varied, wildly in some cases. Another Estonian-based polling agency, Turu-uuringud, found in February that just 34 percent of 1000 people questioned would vote yes in any future referendum on joining the EU. A poll released by the EU in January showed Estonia was the most EU-skeptical of 13 candidate states; just 33 percent of those asked said entry would be a “good thing” for Estonia.”The EU figures and ours don’t necessarily contradict,” said Voog. “Older people might not see benefits for themselves but support entry because they see it’ll be good for their children and grandchildren.”
In the same EMOR poll, 68 percent of respondents said they backed Estonia’s drive to join NATO, another foreign policy priority of all three Baltics. Former Foreign Minister Trivimi Velliste said the advantages of entering a military alliance were clearer to many Estonians who believe neighboring Russia could still pose a threat. “The EU is good life. NATO is life,” he said.

Thursday—March 14, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER) French Makes a Stand against English—If you’re in the Baltic states and want to ask an official about regional bids to join the European Union—your best bet, if you don’t speak the native language, is to address your question in English.
But France said this week that it wants to ensure English doesn’t become the sole lingua franca of international commerce and diplomacy, announcing plans to carve out a place for French in the Baltics as they prepare to enter the EU.
Charles Josselin, France’s minister delegate in charge of cooperation, said during a visit to Riga this week that his country wouldn’t forfeit the language battle.
“There is a demand for French in all (EU) candidate countries, partly driven by the role of France in EU affairs,” he was quoted as telling the AFP news agency.
“It would lead to an impoverishment of the cultural landscape if only one language was to be used as an international vehicle of communications,” he said.
French officials say they are launching several programs to expand French instruction, including for civil servants in the three Baltic states.
While he was in Riga, Josselin signed an agreement with his Latvian counterparts to promote French; it included some 87,000 dollars in funding for language training for lower-level Latvian officials.
Similar agreements are expected to be signed soon with the other Baltic states.
The Western-oriented Baltics are seen as top candidates for EU membership, which they hope to win by 2004. The prospect of EU entry has helped fuel a movement over the past decade to embrace English.
English has already overtaken Russian as the most widely spoken second language among young people and in professional circles in the Baltics. Most of the country’s key political and businesses leaders speak English fluently.
During the Soviet era, Russian, which was favored by the Kremlin, was the most widely spoken second language after native Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian.
Many younger, predominantly Anglophone Balts now speak little to no Russian. Even many of those who understand it, with less reason to hone their Russian skills, speak it badly.
French will have an uphill struggle to cut into linguistic territory already staked out by English.
All school children in the Baltics are required to study English; French is optional and usually only offered in later grades. In many higher business, law and military schools here, instruction is exclusively in English.
The official language for pan-Baltic presidential summits and in bilateral communication between the Baltic countries is also English.
There are some notable French speakers, however. One is Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, who spent much of her adult life in French-speaking Quebec.
Her predecessor, Guntis Ulmanis, didn’t speak French. But he did once amply demonstrate the potential pitfalls of speaking any second language less than perfectly.
Addressing a prestigious lawyers’ conference in the United States in English several years ago, he began his remarks by saying: “I’m pleased to be in the company of such distinguished liars.”
He meant lawyers.

Wednesday—March 13, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER-BNS) Latvian Mikhail Farbtukh, 85, the last person known to have been in prison for committing Stalinist-era atrocities, has been released from a Riga jail after a court said he was too ill to complete his five-year term. He was imprisoned two years ago after being convicted of crimes against humanity; prosecutors said the former KGB district chief helped deport at least 30 Latvian families, including several children, the year after the Red Army occupied Latvia in 1940; a number of the victims later perished in the harsh conditions of exile in far-away Siberia. He was released from jail Tuesday night.
Farbtukh consistently maintained his innocence, arguing that while he was high up in the notorious secret police he didn’t take part in repressions: he never expressed any remorse for the role he played in the Stalinist-era system. The only other agent of Stalinist repression in jail recently, Estonian Karl-Leonhard Paulov, died while serving his eight-year term in Tallinn last month; he was 77.
At least 15 million people were killed and some 40 million deported—including more than 200,000 people from the Baltics—by the vast communist secret police apparatus during Stalin’s rule. But only a small handful of people have ever been tried specifically for those crimes, and virtually all of them in the Baltic states over the past ten years. Russia, which has never tried anyone for Soviet repressions, says the Baltics are exacting revenge on infirm old men.
BNS reported Wednesday that Farbtukh may still try to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights with a claim that his rights were violated by his imprisonment. His son Vladimir also told BNS that he would keep fighting to defend other ex-agents in line to be tried. “As far as our family, we have won,” he said. “If we think about those many old men who still have to stand trial, I must say we will have to do a lot more fighting yet.”
(Also see archived articles: Stalnist Agent Jailed , Stalin Agents , Off to Court and Train No. 293.)

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Environmentalists say a giant willow tree in Latvia—allegedly Europe’s largest—is in danger of splitting apart under its own weight, BNS reported Wednesday. The tree, with a perimeter measuring a total of 8.5 meters (27 feet) is near the eastern Latvian town of Ape; it is said to be more than 100 years old. Large branches at the top of the willow were beginning to pull the tree apart and threatened to split it in two, killing it. The country’s Green Movement said they would help prune some of the larger branches in an effort to save the elderly tree. Estonia reportedly has Europe’s second largest willow.

Tuesday—March 12, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvia’s unemployment rate grew by a slight 0.3 percentage points to 8.2 percent in February—the only one of the three Baltic states to register a rise in its jobless level during the month, BNS reported. All three Baltic economies have remained relatively buoyant over the past year—and unemployment rates have also remained fairly steady. Lithuania has the highest official jobless rate in the Baltics of 12.9 percent; it fell from 13.2 percent the previous month. Estonia reported a 6.6 percent official unemployment figure in February, down by 1.9 percent since January; the unofficial rate, which includes Estonians who have given up searching for work, is thought to be closer to 10 percent.

VILNIUS (BNS) The decomposed body of a Lithuanian citizen has been found in the woods in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, BNS reported Tuesday. Police are investigating the death, which is thought to have occurred in late 1999, as a murder. The man’s passport was found near his body; a single entry U.S. visa had been issued in 1996, police said. No further details were available.

Monday—March 11, 2002
Quotable of the Week—“The sad reality is that apprehension about EU expansion is mounting on both sides of the former Iron Curtain.” —Business Week magazine on flagging support in some EU and EU-candidate countries for expanding the current 15-member organization.

ST. PETERSBURG (BNS-CITY PAPER) Vandals sprayed anti-Estonian graffiti and broke a window at Estonia’s consulate in St. Petersburg over the weekend, BNS reported. One slogan spray painted across a wall was “National Bolshevist Party,” a pro-communist fringe group that has also staged anti-Baltic protests in Latvia, including when several activists briefly took over a church in Riga last year. Another message scrawled across the Estonian consulate was “Tallinn—A Russian city.” Russian police said they have started a criminal investigation over the incident.

Weather Forecast—Winter continues to put up a fight, conferring another round of snow flurries on the region this week. Temperatures will be at or just below freezing, with stiff winds for much of the week—blowing at around 25 kph (15 mph).

Upcoming Events for the Week—The three Baltic prime ministers meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair at No. 10 Downing Street in London on Thursday; they’re expect to discuss Baltic EU and NATO bids—as well as Baltic-Russian relations…. The three Baltic defense ministers begin a joint visit to Washington Thursday to lobby Congressional leaders for Baltic NATO entry.

Other News Below—Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov visits Vilnius …. Latvian man killed in allegedly mysterious circumstances as he bumped Estonian Foreign Minister’s official convoy… Latvian officials say they’re pulling plug on a popular Russian radio station…. and more.

Send comments/Letters to the Editor to—citypaper@citypaper.ee.

Friday—March 8, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian broadcast authorities are pulling the plug on a Russian-language radio that they say has violated a series of laws, including rules that over half a radio’s content must be in Latvian, BNS reported. Many Russian-speakers in the country criticized the decision to cancel the license of Radio Bizness and Baltic, which is part of a Moscow-based radio network, saying the Latvian-language radio provisions were unfair. Managers of the station said they would consider taking the issue to the European Court of Human Rights, saying the move is a violation of free speech. Other Russian-language stations get around the Latvian-language rule by playing Latvian music and commercials during off-prime-time hours. Radio Bisness and Baltic does play some Latvian music after midnight, but authorities say they haven’t played nearly enough; broadcast officials say the station also broke copyright and accounting laws. Latvians have defended their language legislation, saying it is designed to protect their fragile native tongue that is spoken by fewer than 2 million people worldwide.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The three Baltic prime ministers will meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London next week, BNS reported, sourcing the Lithuanian government’s press service. Lithuania’s Algirdas Brazauskas, Latvia’s Andris Berzins and Estonia’s Siim Kallas are to hold a four-way meeting on March 14, most likely focusing on their bids to join the European Union and NATO, as well as Baltic relations with Russia, BNS said.

LONDON (BNS-REUTERS) A picture postcard believed to be the world’s oldest was bought on Friday for some 31,000 pounds (45,000 dollars) by Latvian businessman Jevgenijs Gombergs in London. Gombergs told BNS he read an article about the 1840 hand-colored postcard in the newspaper and decided on a whim to buy it; he said he hadn’t been collecting postcards earlier and didn’t plan to collect more in the future. The card had been mailed by Victorian eccentric Theodore Hook to himself as a practical joke.

Thursday—March 7, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov repeated Moscow’s opposition to Baltic NATO membership during a visit to Lithuania Thursday—but added that the three states had a right to choose. “Lithuania is an independent state and may choose what organizations it wants to join,” he said after meeting Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis in Vilnius.
The Kremlin has said repeatedly in the past that Baltic membership in NATO would be seen as a threat to Russian security. Speaking in Vilnius on the second of his two-day stay, Ivanov said that remains Moscow’s position. “We believe mechanical NATO expansion isn’t in line with the European security and stability interests of today,” he said.
Russia, however, has appeared to soften its once vehement stance against Baltic membership after relations improved with the 19-member alliance following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. And while Baltic membership initially seemed highly unlikely because of Kremlin sensitivity, they are now seen as top contenders to win NATO invitations this year.
(Below, also see analysis on Baltic-Russian relations.)

Wednesday—March 6, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Analysis—Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov arrived here in Lithuania Wednesday on a rare visit to a region that has had tense relations with Moscow in the past—but where there are signs of a thaw. Ivanov arrived in Lithuania on the first visit by a top Kremlin official since 1998; he isn’t traveling on to Latvia and Estonia, with whom relations have been even thornier.
During his two days in Lithuania, he’s expected to discuss Kaliningrad—a Russian enclave sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland—that Moscow fears could be isolated when Lithuania joins the European Union, as expected, by around 2004. Russia wants Lithuania to set up loose visa regimes for residents of the outpost and give Russia proper easier access to Kaliningrad by air, road and rail.
Lithuanian officials said Ivanov’s visit, several months in the planning, demonstrated that Lithuanian-Russian relations were on the right track. Officials elsewhere in the region said the visit was one of many signals that a new pragmatism has crept into the Baltic-Russian relationship in recent years. Through the ’90s, relations were distinguished by deep Baltic suspicions that a heavy-handed Russia wanted to maintain regional dominance by hook and by crook. Moscow, in turn, complained about what it claimed was discrimination against Russian minorities in Latvia and Estonia; it also angrily condemned Baltic bids to join NATO, saying their membership would be viewed as a threat to Russian security.
But a general improvement in relations between Russia and the West in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks has helped ease distrust between Moscow and the Baltic states. The Baltic thinking, in part, seems to be: If the West can trust Russia, we can also cut it some slack, give it the benefit of the doubt in some areas. The Kremlin’s softening of its rhetoric about Baltic NATO entry has also helped to sooth some of the traditional strains.
So has economics.
While the Baltic states were hurt by the 1998 Russian financial crisis, they have benefited by a more stable Russian economy over the past year or two; trade is up with Russia—by as much as 80 percent in Lithuania. Russia has also continued to rely heavily on Baltic ports to ship out lucrative Western-bound oil, exports that have been key to the Russian economy’s resurgence.
But sore points remain—especially with Latvia and Estonia.
While it has raised the issue less often and less passionately, Moscow from time to time still criticizes their laws that require fluency in Latvian and Estonian, respectively, to qualify for citizenship, saying the rules discriminate against local Russians.
The two Baltic governments counter that Russia is purposely distorting the issue to use as a propaganda tool. They also point to human rights groups, including the Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which say that the Latvian and Estonian legislation overwhelmingly complies with European norms.
While they insist they are interested in bilateral dialogue, Estonians complain that Moscow doesn’t seem all that interested in talking to them.
Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas said this week that for his country, if not for Lithuania, trying to arrange meetings with Russia’s Foreign Minister has been “unimaginably difficult.”
“There have been much fewer high-level contacts than you’d expect from neighboring nations,” said Kallas’ foreign adviser, Simmu Tiik. “Russia’s lacked the time and resources, it seems, to pay sufficient attention to us. But we’re ready.”

Tuesday—March 5, 2002
RIGA-TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER. Updated Tuesday evening) A Latvian tabloid sparked bilateral intrigue Tuesday when it reported that a man died in an incident involving Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland’s official convoy last month, BNS reported. The Vakara Zinas daily, which has a reputation for sensationalism, suggested that the driver of a car may have been shot dead by security men accompanying Ojuland when it bumped into her car at high speeds; Vakara Zina said the man who died was 53-year-old Augusts Sirons. But Latvia’s security police chief, Janis Reiniks, flatly denied the newspaper’s version of events, saying the man who died had been intoxicated and was killed when he drove into a tree 100 meters down the road from the convoy. “Forensic tests were done that clearly showed the injuries were sustained in a road accident,” he was quoted as telling BNS, adding that the man had a high blood-alcohol level of 3.1. He said, however, that his department has launched an in-house investigation to clarify just what happened. An unnamed spokesman at Estonia’s Foreign Ministry was quoted as telling BNS Tuesday that “we know an accident happened but we don’t know the details. You would have to ask Latvia’s police and Foreign Ministry.” BNS said an official Latvian escort car was also in Ojuland’s convoy.
In its Tuesday article, Latvia’s Vakara Zinas said that security men appeared to open fire on the man when his car veered into them, believing the minister’s life was in danger. It quoted one alleged eyewitness as saying that he ran to Sirons’ VW Golf that had run off the road and saw the man motionless inside. “His face was covered with blood, most likely from a sharp blow, while on his white shirt there were three circles, bloody speckles, with a peculiar little holes in the middle,” the alleged witness was quoted as saying. “I thought at once that these were traces of bullets.”
The incident reportedly occurred on February 10 some 40 kilometers north of Riga on the highway to Tallinn; the recently appointed minister was heading to a meeting of Baltic foreign ministers with their German counterpart Joschka Fischer in the Latvian capital. Vakara Zinas said that the local Saulkrasti Hospital confirmed that there had been an emergency call to an accident scene at around 7:10 p.m. on February 10, but couldn’t provide further details. There have been no earlier reports in any Baltic media about such an incident.
Adding to the intrigue, Vakara Zinas told BNS later in the day that the author of the article, Inga Berzina, had received a threatening phone call Tuesday warning her not to pursue the matter further.

Monday—March 4, 2002
Quotable of the Week—“We are Catholics and a conservative people, so I think it will take some time.” Kazys Paulikas, owner of the first legal casino to open in Lithuania over the weekend, to the AFP news agency explaining the thin crowd that showed up to gamble. Lithuania legalized gambling last year for the first time since restoring independence, though some politicians said the move undermined the country’s traditional values.

Weather Forecast—Baltic weather will still be indecisive for the week, with temperatures continuing to hover around freezing, and some sleet and snow flurries expected in more northerly parts of the region.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A man in Latvia took the adage about shopping around for the best price to heart when he went to an outdoor market to bargain hunt for a contract killer, BNS reported. Latvian police told journalists that the man was detained after walking around Riga’s central market amid the fruits, vegetables and car parts inquiring about hiring someone to do in an old friend for some 500 dollars. Police arrested the man last week allegedly after he had found someone to carry out the deed. BNS reported that the 51-year-old man, whose name was only given as Aldis, had an unspecified dispute with a friend in 1972 and never forgave him—leading him to begin seeking out a hired killer last year. Police reportedly dismissed claims by some kiosk owners about the unlikely shopper at first—disbelieving that anyone would be so stupid as to ask around at an outdoor market for a murderer for hire, BNS quoted policemen as saying. But they later followed up the persistent reports and arrested the suspect; police also detained the hired gunman as the two men were allegedly about to seal their deal in a local club.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian authorities have charged an 82-year-old man with crimes against humanity for deporting 41 people to Siberia in the 1940s, police said Monday. Juri Karpov allegedly delivered his victims, including several children, to cattle trains fitted with iron bars for their human cargo; at least three later died in the harsh conditions of exile, said police spokesman Henno Kuurmann.
The deportations took place in March, 1949, when Soviet forces shipped a total of 20,000 Estonians seen as opponents of communist rule to central Russia. Evidence against the ex-secret police officer reportedly includes deportation orders with his signature—culled from a cellar KGB archive that was opened to the public after Estonia regained independence. If convicted, Karpov faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Karpov lives in Tallinn but holds a Russian passport. He is one of some 20 ex-agents, mostly Estonian citizens, charged over the past decade.
Karpov’s indictment comes a month after former agent Karl-Leonhard Paulov died in an Estonian jail while serving an eight-year term for humanity crimes; he was 77. Most other convicted agents received suspended sentences.
All three Baltic states have vowed to prosecute anyone who took part Soviet atrocities, saying their main aim was to shed light on the dark Stalinist era. But Russia has denounced the indictments and trials as revenge against ailing old men; it has sent its diplomats to observe trials of accused who carry Russian passports.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s Ambassador to United Nation’s UNESCO Ugne Karvelis passed away at her home in Paris on Monday, BNS reported. The 66-year-old, who had been seriously ill, was the first Lithuanian ambassador since the restoration of independence to die while serving abroad. Sources in Paris said that Karvelis asked before she died that she be cremated and that her her ashes be scattered into the Atlantic Ocean. Karvelis, an accomplished translator, studied in Berlin, Kaunas, Tubingen, Paris and New York after 1940, and later headed the literature divisions of several publishing houses in France, Spain and Portugal. President Valdas Adamkus conveyed condolences to Karvelis’ family on Monday. “We have lost Ugne Karvelis—the brightest and unmatched ambassador of Lithuanian culture, a translator and a writer who contributed significantly to the presentation of the Lithuanian culture to the world since the restoration of independence,” he said in a statement.

Upcoming Events for the Week—Russian Foreign Minster Igor Ivanov arrives in Vilnius for a rare—if brief—Baltic visit; he won’t travel to either Latvia or Estonia.

Other News Below—CITY PAPER wins Eurovision Song Contest contract…. Baltic defense ministers to lobby West together…. Lithuanian President Adamkus says closure of nuclear plant shouldn’t be done hastily…. and more.

Send comments/Letters to the Editor to—citypaper@citypaper.ee

Friday—March 1, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Baltic defense ministers announced Friday that they will tour together in coming weeks to lobby for NATO membership, BNS reported. The Baltic states are among nine countries hoping to win coveted invitations to join the 19-member alliance when it meets for a summit in November in Prague. “Our goal is…to find arguments to show that when we join, everyone will win,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius told journalists after meeting Friday with his Baltic counterparts in Vilnius.
Despite Kremlin opposition to Baltic membership, the Baltic states are seen as having excellent chances of securing NATO invitations this year. Many analysts have said the Baltic states are the most prospective invitees among the candidates.
Linkevicius said the ministers, including Latvian Defense Minister Girts Kristovskis and Estonian Defense Minister Sven Mikser, would travel to Washington later this month and onto Berlin in April. He said there weren’t fixed dates yet.
The United States is seen as a staunch supporter of Baltic NATO bids, while Germany has said in the past that Russian concerns should be considered.
In a joint statement Friday, the Baltic ministers also called for even closer Baltic military cooperation _ what it called the “Baltification” of their armies _ to prove to NATO that they can work within a multilateral alliance.
The countries, whose armies number less than 20,000 in total, already share a common military radar network, a single military college, as well as a joint peacekeeping and mine sweeping units.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Waffen SS veterans in Latvia have canceled a planned procession in Riga for later this month, saying they don’t want to jeopardize Latvia’s bid to join NATO with any negative publicity the event might draw. In recent years, a few hundred men in their 70s and 80s have walked through Riga to the Freedom Monument on March 16, the date of a major battle in 1944, to remember 50,000 fellow soldiers who died; the public commemoration has angered many Jewish groups, who said it was insensitive to Latvia’s many Holocaust victims. It also attracted intense international press scrutiny.
The annual walk to the monument was canceled last year because the obelisk structure had been under renovation, though the veterans’ groups vowed at the time that they would restart the tradition again this year. But the veterans groups came under heavy pressure from politicians to cancel the procession to avoid any misunderstanding abroad, especially in NATO-member states. The veterans will still hold a service at a Riga church and cemetery.
The veterans say their role in the war is badly misunderstood, that they were either forcibly drafted into the front-line unit or joined it late in the war as their only means of fighting the Soviet army, which they say they saw as the worse of two evils. Soviet forces occupied Latvia in 1940; Germany ruled from 1941-44, and the Soviets retook it in 1944. With Latvia sandwiched between the Nazi and Soviet armies, 250,000 Latvians ended up fighting on one side of the conflict or the other, usually after being conscripted. Some 150,000 Latvian combatants died.

Thursday—February 28, 2002
TALLINN (Estonian Television) CITY PAPER Wins Competition to be Eurovision’s Official Guide—Estonian state television on Thursday chose the English-language CITY PAPER magazine to serve as the official city guide for the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest.
CITY PAPER will be the tourist guide and English-language information resource for thousands of VIPs, journalists and Eurovision delegates arriving for the May 25 extravaganza, the largest event of its kind ever held in the region.
CITY PAPER will include the official Eurovision schedule as well as special articles by leading Western journalists. Writers will include The Economist’s Edward Lucas and CITY PAPER editor Michael Tarm, who is also chief Baltic correspondent for The Associated Press.
Estonian Television (ETV) won the right to organize the hugely popular Eurovision Song Contest when the Estonian entrant won the 2001 event in Copenhagen.
“We highly value the professionalism of CITY PAPER magazine,” said Estonian Television’s communications director, Raivo Suni. “We are sure that the journalists and tourists who arrive here will get just the information about Estonia and Tallinn they require from it. We’re happy that there are such publications in Estonia, through which, so critically, our small country can be known by as many foreigners as possible.”
“We’re very honored by this recognition,” said Eve Tarm, CITY PAPER’s publisher. “We want to help show visitors that this is an interesting, attractive country—one that they, their family and friends should keep coming back to, even after the Song Contest is over.”
The Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn is also expected to attract between 200-300 million TV viewers, making it one of the most-watched television events in the world—second only to major sporting events, like the Olympics.
CITY PAPER, distributed in all three Baltic states as well as in Europe and the United States, regularly prints some 25,000 editions and has a readership of some 80,000, including tourists, resident ex-pats, diplomats and foreign investors.
The print run will be some 40,000 for its special Eurovision edition.

Contact: Raivo Suni
Estonian Television (ETV) Communications Director
tel. (372) 628-4085, (372) 564-80215
e-mail: raivo.suni@etv.ee

(For more information about CITY PAPER, including contact numbers, see here. You can email CITY PAPER at citypaper@citypaper.ee)

Wednesday—February 27, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will travel to Lithuania on March 6 for a rare visit to the region by a top Kremlin official, Lithuania announced Wednesday.
During his two-day stay, Ivanov will meet President Valdas Adamkus and Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas to discuss “mutual cooperation and international issues,” the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said. It declined to provide more specifics.
It would be the first visit by such a high-ranking Russian official to Lithuania in four years. Relations between Russia and the Baltic states have occasionally been strained since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Moscow, for instance, has criticized Baltic bids to join NATO, saying their entry would be seen as a threat to Russian security; the Baltics are expected to win NATO invitations this year. Russia has expressed concern about the fate of its heavily militarized enclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Lithuania and current NATO member Poland, should Lithuania also enter the alliance.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Cosmopolitan magazine will launch a Latvian-language edition in March, making Latvia the 44th county in which the famed women’s magazine appears in a native language, BNS reported. The New York-based publishers of Cosmopolitan, the Hearst Corporation, were apparently encouraged by good sales in neighboring Lithuania; there is no Estonian-language edition. “The target audience of the magazine are young and self-confident women aged 18-35,” the Latvian distributors said in a statement. “The magazine will offer a variety of materials of interest to the target audience and present a positive outlook on these topics.”
In Latvia, Cosmopolitan will be published by the Latvian-Lithuanian joint venture I&L Publishing, formed by Latvia’s Izdevnieciba Lilita publishing house and Lithuania’s Ieva. The inaugural edition will have a print run of about 25,000 copies.

Send comments/Letters to the Editor to—citypaper@citypaper.ee

Tuesday—February 26, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said Tuesday that the country shouldn’t commit to a firm date for the complete shutdown of its sole nuclear power station—as the European Union asked it to do, BNS reported. “I view nuclear energy as a clean energy source, the energy source of the future,” Adamkus told a news conference, pointing to what he said was undue pressure from Brussels on the matter. “I don’t in any way accept this pressure. We must decide ourselves on our sources of energy and our future, based on the needs of the state.”
The Soviet-built Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant has the same basic design as the ill-fated Chernobyl station, though it has undergone extensive safety upgrades. But the EU has hinted strongly that failure to commit to closing it could jeopardize Lithuania’s bid to win EU membership. Lithuania has already promised to switch off the first of two reactors by 2005, though it hasn’t yet promised to close second. Some Lithuanians say that finding alternative energy sources will be prohibitively expensive, running into the billions of dollars, and will hurt the economy. Ignalina currently supplies nearly 80 percent of Lithuania’s electricity.
Adamkus, who once served as a leading U.S. environmental regulator, said Lithuania would continue to talk to the EU about the matter—but that he wasn’t convinced by claims that Ignalina was dangerous. “The only argument used that we pose a danger to the environment hasn’t been demonstrated to me,” he said.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) The research wing of The Economist magazine, the Economist Intelligence Unit, reported this week that foreign investment in Estonia would remain strong in the years to come, BNS reported. It estimated that Estonia will attract an average of 350 million dollars of foreign direct investment per year between 2001 and 2005. That corresponds to a per capita rate of 243 dollars, a figure that is just behind the top-ranked Eastern European nations the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The Intelligence Unit said that Sweden and Finland account for about 70 percent of foreign investment in Estonia. The two Nordic countries also buy more than half of Estonia’s exports, and with both nations likely to show sluggish import demand this year, Estonian export performance will be less resilient, it said. This in turn will slow domestic growth to about 3.1 percent in 2002, a slightly more pessimistic forecast compared to others made recently. But The Economist-affiliated group said Estonia’s 2003 growth should accelerate to an impressive 6.4 percent.

Send comments/Letters to the Editor to—citypaper@citypaper.ee

Monday—February 25, 2002
Quotables of the Week—“It’s all about Washington acting tough with Moscow, making it clear that despite the new partnership with Russia, it cannot stop the Baltic states from joining NATO. If the Baltic states’ application is rejected, it will be seen as weakness on the part of NATO.”—A quote from an unnamed diplomat in The Times of London on the Baltic states appearing to be shoe-ins to win coveted NATO invitations later this year. The Times added that “the belief is that the pecking order for the nine nations hoping to be invited is: pole position, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; next, Slovenia and Slovakia; after them, Romania and Bulgaria; and finally, with little hope of finishing the race, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.”

“It is a worrying outlook that in a quarter of a century there will be about 750,000 Estonians instead of the present 1 million. This is equal to the number of residents Estonia had in the early 1860s.”—Estonian President Arnold Ruutel in an Independence Day speech on February 24 lamenting the falling birth rate in the country.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia Monday became one of the first ex-communist states to have its stock market incorporated into an established Western exchange when its sole bourse merged with Finland’s. The Helsinki Stock Exchange bought a 62 percent stake in the much smaller Tallinn Stock Exchange last year; the two could only unite Monday after Estonians took the ten-month interval to overhaul their trading procedures. “It’s an important day for Helsinki, for Estonia’s market and for Estonia,” Helsinki exchange head Juuka Ruuska told journalists in Tallinn at a ceremony where the first shares were traded under the new system. “This will definitely stimulate Estonian capital markets.”
Starting Monday, brokers worldwide who have traded Finnish shares could trade Estonian shares the same way, from a single terminal. While they’ve tied in fully with Helsinki’s trading system, Estonians maintain regulatory oversight of shares listed in Tallinn. The Helsinki Stock Exchange, or HEX, is also negotiating with the other two Baltics, Latvia and Lithuania, to cut merger deals with their exchanges. The Helsinki exchange is bidding to increase its influence in the economically dynamic region; its Baltic connections would also help draw money from newly established Baltic pension funds into the Helsinki market.
Gert Tiivas, president of the Tallinn Stock Exchange, refused to predict whether the Tallinn-Helsinki hookup would quickly boost Estonian share prices or trading volumes. But he said it clearly laid the foundation for future growth. “We haven’t put all this in place just for the fun of it,” he said.
Estonia’s market, like others in Eastern Europe, has been plagued by low liquidity. Average daily trading volumes were just 16 million kroons (900,000 dollars) last year; 50 percent of all trading was in one company, Hansapank. (Daily turnover on the Helsinki exchange, in contrast, was 700 million dollars in 2001.) Estonia’s was, however, one of the few exchanges in the world that ended 2001 with higher prices than it started, with share values rising by an average of 5 percent. Shares are still considered cheap in Estonia and across the region, with some analysts saying they are undervalued by between 20-40 percent; the new pension-based investment funds are also expected to place money in Baltic stocks, further boosting prices.
Tiivas said the new, “seamless” access to Estonia’s bourse should woo fresh capital. He said blue-chip firms listed in Tallinn now have no more than 5,000 shareholders, while similar companies in Helsinki have at least ten times that. But he said the onus would be on Estonian companies to “sell themselves” to potential Western investors.
The merging of their stock markets deepens already close ties between Estonia and Finland, whose capitals are just 90 kilometers apart across the Baltic Sea. To reflect their closeness, some have dubbed the two-city area “Talsinki.” Finland is Estonia’s No. 1 export market and Finns are among the top foreign investors here.
(You can see the new Tallinn Stock Exchange website at www.hex.ee.)

Friday—February 22, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) NATO Secretary General George Robertson has warned Latvia that it could be passed over for an invitation to join the alliance if it doesn’t amend a controversial law requiring that candidates to high public office be able to speak Latvian. Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has also called for the law, which critics say is undemocratic and discriminatory, to be rescinded—though her calls have faced some resistance.
Speaking before Latvia’s parliament during a one-day stop in the country Thursday, Robertson minced few words as he urged legislators to change the law. “NATO nations will be watching very carefully what you do this year in relation to the election laws so they conform to standards throughout NATO countries,” he said. “Every stage of enlargement has got to be successful. There is no mechanism for expelling a member of NATO. That is why the heat will be on, why you cannot afford to be in any way complacent. Every minute is going to count, every standard is going to be examined and everything you do will come under the spotlight.”
Many Latvian legislators say the law is meant to help entrench native Latvian after decades of repressive Soviet rule, during which the Kremlin imposed policies promoting Russian and de-emphasizing Latvian. They deny accusations that the law discriminates against Latvia’s large Russian population—many of whom speak little or no Latvian and so can’t qualify to run for office. Others have said they resent the NATO pressure to change Latvian legislation.
While several years ago they had been seen as unlikely future members of NATO because of strong Russian opposition, the Baltic states are now considered top contenders to win alliance invitations later this year.
(For related articles about the Baltic NATO bids, also see Alliance Bound, NATO yes, NATO No and On the Line.)

Thursday—February 21, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Some Lithuanian legislators have expressed outrage at a plan by a local alcohol company to name a new vodka after the Seimas parliament, BNS reported Thursday. An alcohol control department confirmed that an unnamed firm has applied to use Seimas Vodka for a new product line. That won’t happen, though, if parliamentarian Arturas Vazbys has his way. He promptly proposed an amendment that would ban the use of state institutions as alcohol brand names. “This is already beyond the limits of decency. There’s a limit for everything,” said another legislator, Vytenis Andriukaitis, about the vodka’s suggested name. Catchy vodka labels have been a feature of the local drinks market; a Lithuanian company several years ago launched a Putin-brand vodka, though it denied it meant to profit from the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Anti-piracy agencies have put Latvian companies using illegal software in their sights, according to BNS. The first case related to the unauthorized use of software went to court earlier this week and a group that unites the world’s leading software makers has vowed to go after other firms. BSA, which represents the likes of Microsoft and Adobe, said that 77 percent of all software in Latvia is copied illegally. The group has been operating in Latvia since January, 2001, and has been working with police to bring the piracy rate down; it began operating in Estonia earlier, with several effective campaigns there in 2000. If someone is caught using unlicensed software—which can cost a fraction of the price of the same software sold in stores—BSA said they usually first ask the company to immediately purchase the software legally; only if they fail to comply are they later brought to court. China is said to have the world’s highest piracy rate, of over 90 percent.

Wednesday—February 20, 2002
RIGA (BNS) A U.S. court on Wednesday jailed a man from Russia who had lured women from Latvia and then forced them to work as strip dancers in Chicago, the Sun Times reported. Alex Mishulovich, a Russian-born man with alleged ties to the Chechen mafia, was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison for his role in what prosecutors likened to a slavery ring.
In addressing U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall during his sentencing, Mishulovich called the 1997 scheme “horrible, disgusting, stupid.” But Mishulovich, 41, insisted he was not the mastermind, as prosecutors alleged. “There’s no question that I’m guilty,” Mishulovich said in a 15- minute address to the judge. “But in retrospect I still believe, I will always believe, that I was not the mind behind this operation.”
Prosecutors said Mishulovich went to Latvia in 1996 under the guise of a successful Chicago nightclub owner and recruited five women to work as dancers. He promised they would not be dancing nude and would earn 60,000 dollars a year. But once the women arrived—using fake visas he had prepared—they were forced to dance in strip clubs and were threatened and beaten by Mishulovich, prosecutors said. They stayed in a suburban apartment provided by Mishulovich, prosecutors said. He kept their passports, tracked their movements and threatened them with his mafia ties. In all, Mishulovich victimized more than a dozen women from two countries, prosecutors said. “This was an extensive international operation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Kinney said.
Their earnings were split between Mishulovich and his associate, Vadim Gorokhovski, of Lake Zurich, prosecutors said. A third man, Serguie Tcharouchine, now a fugitive, allegedly also was involved. Mishulovich, who is married, pleaded guilty in December 1999 to visa fraud and forced servitude. He testified against Gorokhovski in 1999 as part of a plea agreement. A jury acquitted Gorokhovski of involuntary servitude. But last December, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison for fraud.

Tuesday—February 19, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A small explosive device went off in front of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Department in Riga at around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday, BNS reported. There were no injuries and only minor damage was done to the building. Officials declined to speculate about motives of the attack or even about who was might have been the intended target; there are other small agencies and small businesses in the same building. Police told BNS that the force of the blast was equivalent to 200 grams of TNT, saying the explosion blew out several windows but caused no major structural damage. Latvia’s citizenship rules, including Latvian language requirements for naturalization, have angered some members of the country’s large Russian-speaking community. Police said they had no suspects.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) A second hockey-stick factory has been founded in Estonia, potentially putting the county on the map as as one of the world’s leading hockey-stick makers, BNS reported.
Imre Taveter, a head of the new Frontier Hockey company, said the firm will employ 10 people and produce some 30,000 sticks a year; he said sales should approach 200,000 dollars the first year, enough to break even. His main local competitor is Viisnurk, where Taveter recently worked as a top executive.

Monday—February 18, 2002
Quotable of the Week—”It’s not the reporters, the ministers or the holy spirit who discovers bribery cases amongst police, it’s policemen themselves.”—Latvia’s Interior Minister Mareks Seglins praising local police for cracking down on corrupt officers within their ranks; in the past few weeks, several policemen have been detained for alleged bribe taking.

Weather Forecast—The weather during the week will continue to be indecisive: with a little snow, a little rain, some days just above zero, some days just below. Winter feels like it’s on its way out—though you can expect a last hurrah within the next few weeks.

Upcoming Events for the Week—BBC’s Radio 2 features Baltic music and special reports all week…see here.

Other News Below—Estonia’s multi-million-kroon outhouse…. ex-hijacker Lithuanian in court for murder…. Estonians wins Olympic gold and bronze…. Latvian castle threatened by mudslide, and more.

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Friday—February 15, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A compact outdoor toilet in a tourist hotspot might sound like a very good idea—less so, perhaps, when it costs 130,000 dollars in an economically vibrant but still cash-strapped country like Estonia, where the average monthly salary is around 300 dollars. But the city of Tallinn last month installed just such a toilet, prompting outrage, disbelief and at least some laughter. Prosecutors say they are now investigating whether city funds were misused in purchasing the car-sized, Swedish-made unit—complete with electronic doors, a polished-stone exterior and chrome door handles.
Like in Estonia, a scarcity of public toilets has also been a problem in Latvia and Lithuania. That was illustrated last week in Lithuania when a British policeman on a European Union-funded program was fined for urinating on a city-center building. It was the Lithuanian president’s office.
The idea of using Swedish luxury toilets to fill the gap, however, hasn’t exactly enamored Estonian taxpayers. They have welcomed increased links with their Nordic cousins, but this was taking Estonia’s scandinavianization a bit too far.
Estonia’s Ohtuleht daily, citing local builders, said 200 toilets could have been constructed for the price of the single Swedish one, which had a retail value of 60,000 dollars. Costs of shipping it to Estonia and other expenses added 70,000 dollars to the tab. They noted that the sole bathroom was by far the most expensive real estate in the capital, more valuable per square meter than a plush Tallinn palace built by Peter the Great.
The daily said that the bathroom was ordered last year from a Stockholm-based manufacturer called Danfo AB, apparently without first accepting public bids for the contract. Current city leaders, who came to power after the deal was made, said no more of the Nordic bathrooms would ever go up. “But it makes no sense to demolish this outhouse of gold now. Too much money’s already been sunk into it,” said Deputy Mayor Vladimir Panov. He said problems with vandals also may require a 24-hour-a-day security patrol for the facility.
The toilet, in the heavily visited old town near parliament and in the shadow of the Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral, is reportedly prone to breaking down, adding to the indignation about its cost. An “Out of Order!” sign was taped to its door on one recent evening—and someone could be seen urinating in a nearby park.
(You can see a photo of the infamous toilet here)

RIGA (BNS) Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga warned of dire consequences should the country for any reason not win membership in the NATO military alliance, BNS reported. Speaking at a conference of Latvian intellectuals in Riga, she also again urged parliament to drop a controversial Latvian-language rule for candidates to public office; NATO countries have also hinted that Latvia could be passed over for a membership invitation this year if it doesn’t amend the law, which some say discriminates against Latvia’s Russian population. “The year 2002 is a historic year when we will either advance or doom ourselves to backwardness,” she told her audience. She said that NATO “is not forcing anything on us” but that upon accession to NATO Latvia will have to abide by its standards. “We will undertake obligations in order to get the rights that come with the alliance.” All three Baltic states say they hope to win invitations to join during NATO’s summit in Prague at the end of the year.

Thursday—February 14, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) A new Lithuanian website that explains how to make explosive devices has quickly become one of the most visited sites in the country, BNS reported Thursday. The Respublika daily said the website, produced by students from the Kaunas Technological University and launched last week, has jumped to No. 7 on a local chart of the most popular Lithuanian-based homepages. The site provides detailed descriptions about where to buy and how to use explosive materials—like ammonium nitrate, hexogen and TNT. A note on the homepage says its purpose is to help civilians defend themselves if ever “Lithuania is in a war.” Military officials have reportedly expressed concern about the website, saying unstable people or radicals could use the information to carry out acts of terrorism. Providing advice on making bombs or, for that matter, on how to carry out any variety of illegal activities, is not prohibited under Lithuanian law, BNS said.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvia will host a major conference later this year to explore how to better promote the country abroad, BNS reported. The gathering, slated for November 14-15, will be organized jointly by the Birojs 2000 management company, the Latvian Institute and Latvian Development Agency. One of the organizers said the forum will bring top government officials, businessmen, diplomats, marketing experts and others from around the world to discuss strategies for developing a strong Latvian image and then marketing it. Estonia has already launched a similar campaign, though a new Estonian government has signaled that it doesn’t think major state funding for the so called branding project is warranted.
(Also on this theme, see Pegging Latvia and Selling Estonia.)

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Wednesday—February 13, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia scored one of its single biggest ever sporting triumphs when Estonians took the Olympic gold and bronze in the same cross country race on Tuesday. Andrus Veerpalu, 31, took first in the 15 km classical competition and a fellow countryman, 29-year-old Jaak Mae, came in third. They were the first medals in a Winter Olympics for Estonia since it regained independence in 1991. Journalists called the victory historic, while the AFP news agency added that Veerpalu and Mae had put other skiing nations on notice: “Watch out Norway, the Estonians are coming!” said the agency’s lead sentence about the Estonian victory.

RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia’s hockey team lost to Germany 4-1 in a crucial match to determine who would go through to the final medal round at the Salt Lake City Games. Latvia, the smallest nation to participate at such a top level in international hockey, had played well in earlier matches, coming back from four goals down to tie the always impressive Slovakians. But conflicting schedules with the NHL meant the Latvians had to do without one of their best scorers against the Germans, Florida Pathers defensiveman Sandis Ozolins. He had scored four of the six goals a few nights before against Slovakia. Latvia made a name for itself in world hockey last year by beating both the United States and Russia.

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Tuesday—February 12, 2002
LOS ANGELES (BNS) Algirdas Brazinskas pleaded not guilty to charges in a California court that he had killed his father, with whom he famously helped hijack a Soviet passenger plane in the 1970s, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Brazinskas, a 46-year-old resident of Santa Monica, California known by the name Albert Victor White in the United States, was charged by prosecutors of beating his 77-year-old father Pranas Brazinskas to death in the apartment they shared on February 5. Police came to the Brazinskas’ residence after the son phoned for help. Paramedics found the body of the elder Brazinskas with injuries to the head. The Los Angeles coroner is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Police believed the son and father had gotten into a fight, and that the suspect had killed his father. Algirdas Brazinskas is being held in a Santa Monica jail without bail.
The father and son pair flew to worldwide notoriety on October 15, 1970, when they hijacked an Aeroflot passenger jet flying from Batu to Sukhumi and redirected it to a Turkish airport.
In an interview a decade later, the elder Brazinskas said he and his then teenage son used an old hunting rifle and a pistol they snuck aboard the flight, and that he was forced to take drastic action because he faced the death penalty in the Soviet Union for his activity as part of a Lithuanian guerilla organization fighting the Soviet occupation. The now deceased hijacker recalled how two armed guards opened fire on the flight deck, killing 24-year-old stewardess Nadezhda Kurchenko and injuring three of the flight crew.
The two Lithuanian refugees from the Soviet Union sought political asylum in Turkey. Instead, Ankara refused to hand them back to the USSR, but convicted the elder Brazinskas of murdering the stewardess to 8 years in prison. His minor son received a 2 year sentence for his part in the hijacking. During a general amnesty in 1974 the two family members were released from prison to serve their sentences under home arrest. Father and son ran two years later, but didn’t receive political asylum at the US embassy in Ankara, and gave themselves up to Turkish police.
Two weeks after release in 1976 the pair ended up in Venezuela, where they booked air passage to Canada. When the plane stopped over in New York, the pair disappeared, only to be detained two weeks later by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Immigration judge Robert T. Griffin allowed the father-son duo to request political asylum in the US under newer and more liberal political asylum legislation adopted in 1980. Immigration and Naturalization appealed the decision, asking for the two hijackers to be deported. Lithuanian Americans expressed outrage at the INS appeal at the time. Although the Lithuanian skyjackers weren’t given official political asylum, they were allowed to stay in the US. The two moved to Santa Monica and began a house painting business.
The hijacking has continued to spark debate among Lithuanians at home and living abroad. Many compare it to the Simas Kudirka case, when an American citizen of Lithuanian origin was handed over to Soviet authorities by the US military, and to Jonas Pleksys, the USSR submarine captain from Lithuania who was allegedly the basis for the book and film The Hunt for Red October.

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Monday—February 11, 2002
Quotable of the Week—“They score points with an effective campaign to appear on television during this opening ceremony after years of being relegated to commercial oblivion.”
—Bob Costas of NBC about the Latvian national team finally being shown live as they marched into the Olympic stadium in Salt Lake City Friday. Since it regained independence in 1991, Latvia’s Olympic team had never been shown on national TV in the United States during an opening ceremony parade; stations had always cut away for a commercial just before the Latvians marched on. Latvian-Americans staged an evidently successful letter-writing campaign for years to persuade TV executives to show the Latvian team.

Weather Forecast—Temperatures in all three Baltic states should hover above freezing for the first half of the week, dipping just below freezing on Wednesday. Occasional rain, sleet—and possible snow in Estonia.

SIGULDA (BNS-CITY PAPER) One of Latvia’s best-known castles and a main tourist site is reportedly threatened by rain-driven erosion of the hill on which it sits, BNS reported. The 13th century Turaida Castle, some 50 kilometers east of Riga in Sigulda, has been closed to tourists after two major mudslides around the structure last week. BNS said rescue teams were studying how to stem the erosion and ensure that no part of the castle collapses. Emergeny measures included boring holes into the hillside to pump water out; experts were also considering covering the most vulnerable slope with a polythene sheet so that more rainwater can’t soak in. The Latvian prime minister visited the scene Friday.
Construction of the castle began in 1214 by German Crusaders, who used the imposing fortresses as a staging post for attacks on nearby pagan tribes; Swedish conquerors used it several centuries later. The red-bricked Turaida, or “God’s garden,” attracts nearly 150,000 tourists a year and is a favorite venue for folk festivals and assorted outdoor concerts.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) An Estonian security company over the weekend tracked down a stolen car that had earlier been fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitter; it is the first time such a system has led to the recovery of a stolen car, BNS reported. Auto theft has been a serious problem in Estonia over the past decade, with thieves appearing to have the edge; the ESS security company that got the stolen car back Saturday said that the use of GPS in more car security devices could turn the tide in their favor again. While the Toyota Land Cruiser was found, the thief reportedly got away—jumping out of the car and fleeing into the night as the security patrols approached.

Upcoming Events for the Week—Latvia faces Germany in a key Olympic hockey match to see which team goes on to the championship round; the German foreign minister is currently in Riga.

Other News Below—Jailed Stalinist-era agent dies while serving humanity-crimes sentence in Estonia…. British policeman fined for urinating on Lithuanian presidential palace…. Growth to remain robust in Baltics…. Powel predicts NATO expansion, and more.

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Friday—February 8, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lubov Rebel, 81, was scanning the obituaries in a local Latvian newspaper this past Monday when she came across one of particular interest: It was her own, announcing her unfortunate passing away. Police said that her 48-year-old son, Vladimir, had fraudulently procured a death certificate for her the week before in order to collect a 60-dollar state subsidy that is paid to relatives of deceased family members to help them offset high funeral costs. Police said he’d acted alone. BNS reported that he claimed to an incredulous Latvian television audience later that he really, honestly! thought his mother was dead when he checked her pulse while she was lying in bed, and found none. Police said they considered charging the man with fraud but that they would—given that he’d returned the money—probably spare him an indictment. He may be off the hook with police, but the state of relations with dear old Mom from here on out is less clear.

VILNIUS (BS-CITY PAPER) A senior British policeman tendered his resignation Friday after being fined for urinating on the Lithuanian presidential palace earlier this week, BNS reported. The agency, citing the BBC, said that Kevin Williams Pytt resigned after 30 years of service, calling his decision the “only honorable option.”
“It was a grave error of judgment which has caused embarrassment to me, my family and the Cleveland (England) police,” the 49-year-old was quoted as saying. “Throughout more than 30 years of police service my yardsticks have been honesty and integrity. As a result of this isolated incident, I feel I have no choice but to offer my resignation with immediate effect and apologize to all for the embarrassment I have caused.” He was in Vilnius on an European Union-funded program to consult a Lithuanian anti-corruption agency.
(See Wednesday report below for full details of the incident.)

Thursday—February 7, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Karl-Leonhard Paulov, one of the rare individuals ever jailed for Stalinist-era crimes, has died in Estonia while serving an eight-year sentence for crimes against humanity; he was 77. Officials announced Paulov’s death Thursday, saying he had died the day before of natural causes. He said in a rare interview inside Tallinn Central Prison last year that he had bladder cancer and liver disease. “I’ll never last the eight years. I’ll surely die here,” he had said while fumbling with a cane, metallic cell doors slamming shut down a hall. “What they’re doing to me, it’s a sin. It’s unfair!”
All three Baltic states have pledged to prosecute anyone who participated, even in a minor role, in Stalinist abuses. Most people have backed the prosecutions, saying the aim is to shed light on the dark Stalinist era. “This process helps bring closure to the nation and to individuals who suffered,” said Mari-Ann Kelam, a member of Estonia’s parliament. Prosecutors said Paulov was one of hundreds of young agents who helped the Soviet Union consolidate power in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Most of his superiors died long ago.
Paulov complained about what he said were miserable conditions in the cavernous penitentiary, saying he kept falling on the damp slab floors of the facility, little changed since it was built in 1842. “It’s depressing. If someone handed me poison right now, I’d take it,” he said.
He was convicted of shooting three anti-Soviet resisters hiding in Estonia’s forests in 1946, just after Red Army troops had occupied the country towards the end of World War II. Prosecutors described Paulov as an eager-to-please agent who shot two of his victims in the back and pried a false tooth from one corpse to prove he had obeyed the execution orders.
Jaan Sibul, 62, son of the man whom Paulov killed and took a tooth from, said Thursday he didn’t want “to speak ill of the dead,” but added that justice was done by sending Paulov to prison. “What I can say is that neither I nor any of my relatives ever heard a single apology from him or any sign of regret,” Sibul said. “But those who do wrong, one way or another, have to answer to a higher judge.”
At least 15 million people were killed and some 40 million deported—including more than 200,000 people from the Baltics—by the vast communist secret police apparatus during Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s iron-fisted rule.
Paulov admitted killing the men but claimed he too was a resister and that he killed the others in self-defense during an argument. He also blamed what he said was the insanity of life in post-war Estonia. “Even cows were going mad,” Paulov, furrowing his bushy black eyebrows, said, speaking in disjointed, rambling sentences.
Of more than a dozen men convicted by Baltic courts, four _ including Paulov were jailed. One died serving his term in 1996. Another was released last year after a judge questioned the evidence against him. Now, 85-year-old Mikhail Farbtukh, serving a term in neighboring Latvia on similar charges, is the only ex-agent known to be in prison. None of the other states that were under Soviet rule, Russia included, has tried ex-agents. Moscow has criticized the Baltic prosecutions, calling them vengeful.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian-Australian businessman Edgars Capus was shot dead Thursday morning in the northeastern Latvian district of Valmiera, where he ran a joint venture called Valpro Corp, according to BNS. He was reportedly on his way to the headquarters of his business, which was involved, among other things, in logging and the sale of a number of industrial goods. He owned some 11 percent of the company, while one Australian firm, Latvia’s Privatization Agency and other Latvians owned the rest. BNS said that company’s so called statutory capital was listed as being around 3 million dollars. No further details were available, including whether there were any suspects in the case.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Tallinn could join forces with the British city of Newcastle-Gateshead in an attempt to win the highly prestigious designation of Cultural Capital of Europe for 2008, BNS reported. The European Union will select its 2008 cultural capital from Great Britain and the winning city traditionally picks a city from a non-EU country to share the title. Liverpool has also reportedly inquired about entering the competition together with Tallinn. No final decisions on whether Tallinn will be part of a British entrant will be made for several more months; the winner of 2008 Cultural Capital competition won’t be announced until 2004. The coveted title is seen as a good opportunity to boost tourism and investment.

Wednesday—February 6, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER-BNS) A Lithuanian administrative court on Wednesday fined a British policeman—here to consult a special anti-corruption force—for urinating on the president’s palace office building, BNS reported. Kevin Williams Pytt, 49, was allegedly caught in the act on a closed-circuit security camera just after midnight the same day and was ticketed for violating public order, a misdemeanor. The affair, heavily covered in the local press, reportedly drew the ire of many Lithuanians. Pytt—ordered to pay a 200 litas (50 dollar) fine—said he would appeal; he said he didn’t know at the time that the old town wall was part of the president’s palace, adding that he had no intention of affronting anyone. A second Briton was with Pytt but, while he was reportedly about to, he hadn’t yet unzipped—so he wasn’t ticketed. Pytt, said to be a chief superintendent in the English town of Billingham, is on a European Union-funded program to consult Lithuania’s Special Investigations Service, a state anti-corruption unit.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Swedes have been the largest investors in the Baltic Sea region over the past several years, according to a survey covering the period between 1996-2000. Germany’s Norddeutsche Landesbank reported that Swedes were the No. 1 investors in most of the Baltic Sea countries: they accounted for 50 percent of all investment in Finland, 37 percent of all investment in Estonia and 12 percent in Latvia. Swedish money is responsible for 17 percent in Lithuania, though that is No. 2 just behind the Danes—who account for 18 percent of investments in the southern-most Baltic state. The German bank said that Germany’s position was strong only in Poland, where it was still only the third largest investor with 13 percent of total investments there. The share of German investment was 11 percent in Latvia, 7 percent in Lithuania, and just 3 percent in Estonia.
While the development gap between the Baltics states and Poland on one hand and Germany and the Nordic countries on the other remains wide, Norddeutsche Landesbank said that ever-closer ties between the Baltic Sea states foretold strong growth in the future.

WASHINGTON (BNS-Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell predicted on Tuesday a large expansion of NATO at the Prague summit in November. Nine European countries have asked NATO to choose them at the summit; diplomats and analysts believe at least four countries, and possibly up to seven, will be invited to join in the second wave of NATO enlargement. Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “I’m not prepared to say today how many of the aspirants will be invited but I think it’s going to be a pretty good sized addition to the membership.” “The standard will be—do they contribute to the alliance? Have they met the standards of the Membership Action Plan?” he added.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are among the leading contenders for membership. Diplomats say the decision on the applications by Bulgaria and Romania could go either way, while membership for Macedonia and Albania is a distant prospect. U.S. officials, however, have said they do not rule out the possibility of accepting all nine.
In the first round of expansion in 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined the originally Western alliance, bringing membership up to 19. At talks with Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga on Tuesday, Powell offered “full U.S. support for Latvia’s ongoing efforts to integrate fully into Euro-Atlantic institutions, including Latvia’s work toward achieving its NATO Membership Action Plan objectives,” the State Department said.

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Tuesday—February 5, 2002
NEW YORK (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvia appeared near the top of a ranking of 142 countries according to their performance in protecting the environment, BNS reported Tuesday. Finland was No. 1 on the list, drawn up by Yale University and the World Economic Forum, with Latvia coming in at an impressive No. 9; Estonia and Lithuania ranked 19th and 28th respectively. All three Baltic states outdid the United States, which was in 51st place. The United Arab Emirates came in last.
The survey looked at some 20 factors, including air and water quality and the effectiveness of environmental regulations. Authors of an accompanying report said that they didn’t find a direct link between economic development and a country’s environmental performance.

BALVI, Latvia (BNS-CITY PAPER) The mayor of this small city in eastern Latvia woke up to find a coffin in his back yard, BNS reported Tuesday. The stunt was apparently a practical if dubious joke: Mayor Janis Trupovnieks’ family name, translated from Russian, roughly means “corpseman,” according to BNS.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Some critics have said that the Eurovision Song Contest is for the birds. This year’s extravaganza really will be—for birds, that is. Environmentalists in Estonia, which hosts the 2002 Song Contest on May 25, said Tuesday that they’ll simultaneously stage a competition to pick Europe’s most beautiful bird song.
Each European country will be asked to nominate one bird song in the form of a 30-second recording. A nation’s entrant must be a bird native to that country or migrate through it to qualify. “The idea’s to increase environmental awareness and appreciation for the beauty and variety of bird songs,” said Urmo Lehtveer, of the non-governmental Estonian Nature Fund that is spearheading the project.
A local communications firm, Tele2, will help foot the 20,000-dollar bill to put on the event. Bird lovers will be able to listen to the bird songs and then vote for their favorite via the Net (at www.birdeurovision.org) . The so called Eurovision Bird Contest hasn’t yet been sanctioned by the organizers of its counterpart for humans. But Lehtveer said he was meeting Eurovision organizers next week to discuss that possibility
Lahtveer said the nightingale was an early front-runner to take the Bird Song title. But he said even birds of pray, such as eagles, were eligible to take part. “As long as they make a noise, they qualify,” he said.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) The government on Tuesday appointed recent President Lennart Meri to represent Estonia at a key convention meant to help map out the future of the European Union, BNS reported. Meri, 72, who is closely associated with the country’s decade-long bid to join the EU, will head an Estonian delegation to the prestigious forum in March. The convention will be comprised of representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament, governments and national parliaments of EU member states and candidate countries. It is chaired by former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing and could lead to an EU constitution within the next three years. The Baltic states are hoping to join the EU by 2004.
(For a related-article about Lennart Meri, see From Boardrooms to Bathrooms.)

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Monday—February 4, 2002
Quotable of the Week—“Coverage of the opening ceremonies in 1992 broke for commercials before the Latvians were introduced and resumed after they had passed by. The same thing happened in 1994. And in 1996. And in 1998. Each year we would tune in, eager to catch a small glimpse of our Olympic heroes, and each year we would get Japan . . . Kenya . . . the Koreas . . . and Kummercials.”
—Latvian-American Gunars Zagars complaining in a Washington Post article that Latvia’s Olympic team has never been shown on national TV in the United States during the opening ceremony parade. Stations have always cut away for a commercial just before the Latvians marched on. He said he and other Latvian-Americans have led a campaign to try and persuade TV executives to show the Latvian team and flag—at long last.

Weather Forecast—The first few days of the week will be unseasonably warm in all three Baltic states after a new front moved in over the weekend, melting most of the snow across the region. Temperatures should go as high as 7 C (45 F) early in the week, but then slip down closer to freezing later. Cloudy, and occasional sleet and rain.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvians have been reassured that a widely displayed Paris subway advertisement featuring a supposed Latvian shepherd wasn’t meant to be derogatory, BNS reported on Monday. A Paris Public Transport System ad campaign, in addition to the Latvian, also features a gladiator and a Plutonian—all of whom are depicted as negotiating their way effortlessly through the underground system.
The text on the poster with the sheepherder says: “Even Latvian Shepherds Know Paris Inside Out.” A representative for the Paris subway authority was quoted as telling BNS’ Latvian office that the shepherd was a generic image meant to symbolize someone who was far removed from France—but who could still find their way around the French capital’s underground without trouble. The spokesman reportedly conceded, though, that “our advertising agency told us that your country (Latvia) does have shepherds.”

Upcoming Events for the Week—The Olympics open in Salt Lake City on Friday, February 8; Latvia’s hockey team faces Austria in a preliminary round on February 9.

Other News Below—Baltics criticize the European Union’s farm subsidy plan. Torah scrolls handed over by Lithuania to Israel. The saga of an Estonian skier threatened with a doping ban then cleared…. and more.

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Friday—February 1, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Special Report—When teary-eyed Estonian ski star Kristina Smigun said she was sure a follow-up doping test would prove an initial test wrong, few believed her. Secondary tests, experts forewarned, virtually always confirm the first. So when news broke Thursday that the second test had come up negative, it thrilled this close-knit that its top winter sports hero had been vindicated—but also prompted sharp criticism of the dope-testing process.
The 24-year-old, who faced an immediate two-year ban from competition, is now cleared to take part in the Salt Lake City Olympics that begin on Feb. 8. A leading medal prospect, she’s expected to leave for the United States this weekend. “This hasn’t damaged the credibility of Estonian sports but of dope testing,” said Mart Siimann, head of the local Olympic Committee. Speaking to Estonian TV, he added that all Estonians, not least of all Smigun, had been unduly traumatized.
Smigun, who said she had spoken out repeatedly against doping over the years, said her confidence in dope-screening had also been shattered. “I’d also made quick judgments and condemned people for doping,” said Smigun, a rising force in world cross-country skiing. “But this has made me better…. Before condemning someone, you have to listen to them first.”
Ski officials here accused the German-based lab that did the tests of appearing to treat Smigun’s first or two samples as a man’s—corrupting the result. The maximum permitted level of the anabolic steroid 19-norandrosteron found in Smigun’s urine is 2 nanograms per milliliter for men and 5 ng/ml for women. Smigun showed a level of 6.4 ng/ml in the “A” sample, which probably would have been dismissed as too close to the limit for a woman and marked as negative, agreed the International Olympic Committee’s medical director Patrick Schamasch. The decisive test on the “B” sample—taken at the same time on Dec. 12 after a race in Italy—showed Smigun below the limit, with 4.2 ng/ml.
Estonians said limits for women should be raised. “Maybe what happened to Kristina will trigger that change,” said Mihkel Mardna, head of Estonia’s Anti-Doping Center, arguing that levels of naturally occurring 19-norandrosteron fluctuated more wildly in women.
Experts outside Estonia also raised concerns, saying the minute measurements were subject to mistakes and that the first result, especially since it was so near the borderline, should never have been released until it was confirmed. Others said they’d never before heard of there being a negative “B” test, and that it was clear there had been errors in the testing process.
An emotional, tired-looking Smigun—who passionately protested her innocence after the initial test was made public last week—said Thursday that “when I heard the negative result, I felt that there was still justice in the world.”
Nordic women’s skier Bente Skari—who just beat Smigun into second place in the 1999-2000 World Cup—was apologetic about publicly questioning Smigun’s honesty before the second test result was in. At least some in the sport, though, weren’t convinced. Beckie Scott, a World Cup medallist from Canada, said the exoneration of Smigun was suspicious and she called for the World Anti-Doping Agency to investigate.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s national currency will be pegged to the euro starting Saturday, shifting from a seven-year peg to the dollar, BNS reported. The exchange rate for the litas will be fixed to the euro at 3.4528 to 1, it said. The signals the country’s determination to eventually join the EU, but also should help make Lithuanian exports more competitive—since the dollar link sometimes made the exports more costly. Lithuania’s currency board will be retained but the litas will now fluctuate against the dollar and, by law, hold firm at the same rate against the euro. Two out of three Baltic states will have pegged their national currencies to the euro, Estonia being the other.
Most Lithuanians appeared to back the change, though some industries wondered if they might end up having similar problems of pricey exports should the euro start to climb against the dollar.
Such fears appeared to be eased by expectations that the exchange rate of the euro against the dollar should remain stable for the near future. Many experts predicted that the new euro peg won’t have a drastic affect one way or the other on the economy.

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Thursday—January 31, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian ski officials announced Thursday that cross-country star Kristina Smigun tested negative in a second doping test, dramatically restoring the fortunes of one of Estonia’s foremost sports heroes. Doping authorities said such negative results on a follow-up sample were extremely rare and most Estonians had been warned in advance that the chance of such an outcome was small to non-existent. Smigun, a rising force in cross-country skiing, finished second to Norway’s Bente Skarito in the 1999-2000 World Cup—just missing out on first by falling in the season’s last race. She’s fifth in the current standings.
The 24-year-old, Estonia’s best hope for a medal at the upcoming Winter Olympics, showed traces of a substance called 19-norandrosteron in a test of an “A” urine sample taken on Dec. 12 at a competition in Italy. That finding, which shocked many Estonians, threatened Smigun with a two-year competition ban and also would have barred her from the Salt Lake City Games that start next week.
But officials from the Estonian Ski Association said at a packed news conference in Tallinn, that they were informed that the second sample was negative and that she can now compete. Many in the crowd broke out in applause. “I want to thank God. I want to thank everyone who didn’t abandon me in these difficult times, who believed me,” an emotional Smigun, also in attendance, said minutes after the announcement. “And I’ll put my hand over a Bible again and say: I am absolutely clean,” she said firmly, flanked by the president of the nation’s ski association, Parliament Speaker Toomas Savi.
The tests were ordered by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and done by a lab near Dresden, Germany accredited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The FIS faxed the results to the Estonian association Thursday.
A sometimes tearful Smigun vehemently defended her innocence after the first test last week showed traces of the anabolic steroid 19-norandrosteron. But said repeatedly during the week that she was sure she would be cleared, and she continued her pre-Olympics training regime.
Raul Kinks, of the Estonian Ski Association, said the tests on the first sample showed 6.4 ng/ml of 19-norandrosteron in her urine. The test on the “B” sample showed 4.2 ng/ml, below the 5 ng/ml maximum set by the IOC. “We think that there were some errors in the procedure in how the samples were handled,” Kinks said. “But we have to investigate further.” The urine samples were both taken from Smigun on Dec. 12 after a race in Brusson, Italy in which she came third.
Kinks said the affair had been traumatic for Smigun, for his association and for the entire country, and that it could badly affect her bid to win an Olympic medal. “On the other hand, maybe it will make her stronger,” he added. “She will be determined to show the world what she can do.” Estonians reeled when news broke that a top sports figure tested positive for doping, and the scandal dominated the national media for days. Callers to radio talk shows after the negative result was announced Thursday said they were thrilled, with many saying they never believed Smigun was guilty.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) This Baltic region will retain its position as one of the fastest growing in the world despite recent global downturns, BNS quoted analysts from Sweden’s leading Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) as saying. They said the negative impact of the worldwide slowdown on the three Baltic states would be relatively small, adding that steadily increasing private consumption and investment will sustain growth levels—even while exports weaken somewhat. The SEB bank predicted that the Latvian economy would grow by 5 percent this year and by 5.5 percent in 2003. It said Lithuania’s economy would expand by 4.5 percent this year and 5 percent next; Estonia’s should grow by 4 percent in 2002 and 5 percent the following year.

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Wednesday—January 30, 2002
BRUSSELS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Baltic farmers and officials have expressed anger at a European Union proposal that would prevent new EU members from receiving full agricultural subsidies right away, BNS reported. The plan, reported Wednesday, would foresee a transition period in which EU farm subsidies would be phased in gradually and only paid in full to new members after ten years; during their first few years in the EU—which the Baltics hope to join in 2004—countries would get just 25 percent of the EU subsidy payments. Many Baltic officials said the proposal was unacceptable and that their negotiators would not sign on to it. They said the plan would put local farmers at a competitive disadvantage to Western European farmers—who would receive subsidies two or three times higher for several years but who would still be able to market their goods anywhere in the EU. Latvian Agricultural Minister Aris Slakteris called on his Baltic counterparts to develop a common stand against the farm-subsidy proposal. Estonia’s Postimees daily said support for EU membership, already considered thin, could fall further if the transition periods were adopted: “If new members are left out of the common agricultural policy, that begs the question: Why should they join such a union at all?” it wrote. “There’s no doubt that after such a plan, Estonian support for the EU would go down the drain.”

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania handed over hundreds of Torah scrolls that survived the Holocaust to Israelis in a ceremony Wednesday in Vilnius, BNS reported. Some 300 of the manuscripts were given to Israeli religious leaders at the National Library, where they’d been kept. A chartered plane carried them to Israel later the same day. “I believe this historic act will open a new chapter in Lithuanian-Israeli relations, based on decency and democracy, which will serve for our good and the good of our children,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior was quoted as saying at the ceremony. The scrolls, containing texts from the Old Testament and other teachings of Judaism, were central to the religious lives of Lithuania’s 240,000 pre-war Jews—most of whom were killed during the 1941-44 Nazi occupation. Over 100 Israelis traveled to Vilnius to take part in the ceremony—which was also attended by Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Arturas Paulauskas. Lithuania decided to keep 58 scrolls because they were of particular importance to the heritage of the country—where Jews began living more than 500 years ago.

Tuesday—January 29, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Support for European Union membership in Lithuania appears to be on the rise, according to an opinion survey conducted by the Vilmorus polling agency. It found that the number of respondents who would vote “yes” in a referendum on EU membership rose to 57 percent, up from 46 percent late last year; just 17 percent of Lithuanians asked said they were sure they would vote “no”, while the rest said they were undecided. Analysts said that high-profile campaigns by pro-EU forces in recent months may explain the growing support.
Estonia and Latvia have been dubbed the most EU-skeptical nations of all the candidate states. A December poll conducted by the EU itself indicated that just 33 percent of Estonians and Latvians asked said they thought membership would be a “good thing” for them; that compared to an 80 percent figure in Romania.
Leaders in all three Baltic countries say they would like to conclude talks with the EU by the end of this year, hold referendums next year and then join the powerful European bloc by as soon as 2004.

Monday—January 28, 2002
Quotable of the Week—“I am enthusiastic about building a large and strong Europe, not only reaching 25 or 27 members but also incorporating, when we can, Russia.” Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in an interview this week with the Spanish newspaper ABC; Russia, so far, is seen as being far from qualified to join the EU and many people in the Baltic states would be anxious about their erstwhile rulers getting membership.

Weather Forecast—This week should be colder than last, with occasional snow in all three Baltic countries. Average temperatures are expected to be several degrees below freezing in Latvia and Estonia—and only slightly warmer in Lithuania.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) A new Estonian coalition government, combining two parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum, was sworn in Monday before the country’s Riigikogu parliament. The Cabinet is led by Prime Minister Siim Kallas, 53. He’s joined by the country’s first ever woman foreign minister, 35-year-old Kristiina Ojuland. Estonia also continues a tradition of appointing young ministers; New Defense Minister Sven Mikser is 28, and Education Minister Mailis Rand is 27.
The 101-seat legislature voted 62-31 last week to give the mustachioed Kallas a mandate to put together a new Cabinet; eight deputies either weren’t present or didn’t vote. Parliament isn’t required to approve his choice of ministers.
Kallas heads the pro-business, center-right Reform Party and is seen as a staunch fiscal conservative. His coalition partners are from the more populist, center-left Center Party—which has earlier advocated raising taxes. Because of differences over economics, the new ruling coalition says it’ll serve more as a caretaker than policy-making administration leading up to 2003 elections. It says it’ll keep pushing hard for European Union and NATO entry.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) A bike ride in the winter may not seem that outlandish, unless, as in the case of several Lithuanians this weekend, it’s taken on the bottom of a frozen lake. BNS reported that the four divers cut a hole in the ice on Galve Lake, near Vilnius, then dropped their bikes in and peddled around for twenty minutes. One of the divers, Yuri Zavadski, said the stunt was the first of its kind in the world and that a film of the event could be aired on several TV stations worldwide. It’s not the first time Zavadsky and his cohorts have from the Amfibija Diving Club have engaged in such underwater silliness; on December 31, they submerged a Christmas tree at the bottom of Trakai Lake, donned suits and ties, and celebrated New Year’s under the ice.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) A Swedish singer was chosen to represent Estonia at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, which Tallinn is hosting this year after Estonia’s entrant won the hugely popular event in 2001. The jury, made up of non-Estonians watching from abroad on Saturday, picked the 25-year-old Anna Sahlin over 9 other, mostly Estonian contestants. The Swede, whose stage name is Sahlene, is a well-known pop star in Sweden and was drafted to perform the song “Runaway” by its Estonian composers.
Eurovision permits non-citizens to represent a country. One of the two winners of last year’s contest, watching by nearly 300 million TV viewers around the world, was also a non-Estonian, Dave Benton, a native of the Caribbean island of Aruba; his co-singer was an Estonian, Tanel Padar, and the song was written by Estonians.
Some Estonians did grumble about the fact that a non-Estonian soloist had been chosen to represent the country this year. But others said that hers was the best song among what was widely seen as an otherwise mediocre sampling.
Sahlene was a warm-up singer for the former Led Zepplin’s Robert Plant when he was on tour in Sweden last year.
You can see the Swede’s official website, here.

Upcoming Events for the Week—Lithuanian to hand over Torah scrolls to religious leaders from Israel. Doping results from a crucial follow-up test on Kristina Smigun, the Estonian Winter Olympic hopeful accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs. New Estonian Cabinet to be sworn in.

Other News Below—U.S. urges Latvia to change a controversial election law. Top Estonian sportswoman faces competition ban. Internet banking up in Lithuania. Latvian minister to carry e-briefcase. Siim Kallas gets legislative nod in Estonia… and more.

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Friday—January 25, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania says it will hand over hundreds of Torah scrolls that survived the Holocaust to Israel—following several years of discussion about just what to do with the texts that Jews consider sacred. The some 300 scrolls once played a central role in the religious life of Lithuania’s 240,000 pre-war Jews, most of whom perished during the Nazi occupation. They are currently housed at the National Library in Vilnius and will be presented to Israeli religious leaders at a ceremony in the capital this coming Wednesday, then flown to Israel. Ten years ago, the Torahs were registered as official cultural objects, which authorities said complicated plans to give them to groups outside the country. Parliament changed the heritage law in 2000, but some Lithuanians still argued that the Torahs were key cultural artifacts and should be kept here. The library also said it needed time to make copies of the texts. Officials said Lithuania decided to keep 58 scrolls because they were of particular importance to the heritage of country where Jews began living more than 500 years ago.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The United States has urged Latvia to drop a Latvian-language requirement for candidates to public office—coming several days after Latvian’s own president said that failure to do so could seriously risk the country’s bid for NATO membership, BNS reported. In a letter released by the Latvian foreign ministry, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Washington backed the recent closure of the OSCE office in Riga, seen as a mark that Latvia had overwhelmingly complied with human rights norms. But he said he hoped parliament would back President Vaira Vike-Freiberga’s call to change the language provision, seen by some as discriminatory against local Russians. “The OSCE mission to Latvia mandate has expired; this was the outcome strongly and actively supported by the US,” the letter said. “But now we expect your government and parliament to amend the election laws as courageously promised by your president.” Many Latvian parties have appeared unwilling to amend the law, which they say is necessary to protect Latvian from being drowned out by Russian, spoken by over a third of the population. But those backing the legal changes say the law as it stands is undemocratic, setting preemptive limits on whom voters may seek to represent them. Estonians late last year changed a similar law on their books after criticism from the OSCE.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) A new candidate for finance minister has been named in Estonia after the qualifications of the preivious candidate were widely questioned. The center-left Center Party, which is forming a new government with the center-right Reform Party, named 55-year-old Harri Ounapuu to replace their earlier nominee, 34-year-old Meelis Polda, a largely unknown figure who has been working at a bank on the Estonian island of Saaremaa; many observers said Polda had virtually no experience that could qualify him to manage the nation’s finances. Ounapuu is a member of parliament and has sat for several years on its finance committee; he also worked as a director in Hoiu Bank in the mid-’90s. (For details about the new Cabinet see reports from previous days below.)

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Thursday—January 24, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian ski officials said Thursday that cross-country star Kristina Smigun tested positive for an anabolic steroid—as this nation reeled at news that one of its top sports heroes faces a competition ban. The 24-year-old Smigun, Estonia’s best hope for a medal at the upcoming Winter Olympics, was told she showed traces of a substance called 19-norandrosteron in an initial test, according to the Estonian Ski Association. Raul Kinks, it’s secretary-general, said Smigun denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs and he echoed her calls that results on a second “B” sample be released as soon as possible. “She’s very upset,” he said. “But we’re standing by her. We believe her.”
Kinks said doctors told him a false-positive could have occurred because Smigun was menstruating when the samples were taken last Dec. 12 after a race in Italy. He declined to speculate further.
Smigun finished the 1999-2000 World Cup season a close second to Norway’s Bente Skari. She’s currently fifth in the World Cup overall standings. If the second test confirms the first, he said she faces a likely two-year ban, knocking her out of the Salt Lake City Games.
Estonians, who had pinned so many hopes on Smigun, said they ardently hoped the allegations weren’t true. “This news has shocked the entire nation,” said journalist Ano Tamberg on a KUKU radio talk show. Most callers said Smigun should be given the benefit of the doubt until results of the follow-up test are known.
The Postimees daily, which devoted its first two pages solely to the allegations, quoted Smigun as saying she too was “in shock,” insisting that the results, faxed to her Thursday from the International Ski Federation, were wrong. Her manager, Kristjan Thor-Vahi, said he was sure of that. “I’ll bet a million dollars it,” Postimees quoted him as saying.
The daily reported Smigun risks losing lucrative sponsorships from some of Estonia’s top firms. It said Smigun signed contracts with her sponsors in which she pledged to stay drug-free and that she could even be forced to return sponsorship money she’s already received. No figures were given.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Former Lithuanian Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius has released a book detailing a legal odyssey that took him all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, which sided with him against the Lithuanian state, BNS reported. Slezevicius was charged in 1996 with alleging using inside information to withdraw his personal deposits when he was prime minister—just days before his bank was shut down by authorities. But a pending trial was delayed for four years, when the charges were finally dropped by a higher court. The European Court agreed with his claims that his trial had been put off for too long and thereby infringed on his right to a speedy justice; it awarded him some 25,000 dollars. The 530-page book, “European Justice vs. Lithuanian Blind Justice,” isn’t likely to be a No. 1 seller, including, as it does, only legal documents and no commentary. He told journalists that he hoped it would become a practical handbook for Lithuanian courts about how to try—or not to try—such cases in the future.

RIGA (CITY PAPER-BNS) German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will visit Riga on February 11 to discuss NATO and European Union enlargement with his counterparts from the Baltic states, BNS reported, referring to the AFP news agency. Fischer will meet with Latvian Foreign Minister Indulis Berzins, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis and the new foreign minister of Estonia, who has yet to be formally appointed due to a change in government in Tallinn. “Regional questions will also be discussed, in particular relations with Russia,” said Vilmars Henins, spokesman for the Latvian foreign ministry.
The three states hope to complete negotiations this year and join the EU by 2004; they hope to be invited to join NATO at the alliance’s summit in Prague in November.

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Wednesday—January 23, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian Finance Minister Gundars Berzins said he will begin carrying around a so called e-portfolio, including online links to a detailed national budget which he can update and alter as he sees fit, BNS reported. The move is seen as one of the first steps in a drive to implement a Latvian e-government, where more Cabinet business is done online. In addition to himself, just four people will have access to the finance minister’s special portal containing his notes and official documents—his top advisor, the state secretary, a deputy and a technical staffer. Berzins told journalists that he will carry his laptop to meetings and then log onto his site to download necessary protocols. He said the State Chancellery was working on a system to link all Cabinet ministers into a common network. “This is the 21st century and we should stop this archaic carrying around of documents,” he said.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Several parties have criticized the candidate for finance minister in the would-be Estonian government of Siim Kallas, whose nomination as prime minister was approved by parliament the day before, BNS reported. The Pro Patria and Moderate parties said that Meelis Polda, who has recently worked in finance on the island of Saaremaa, was virtually unknown in financial circles here and didn’t appear to have the required experience. Polda, 34, is a member of the center-left Center Party, which will share power with Kallas’ center-right Reform Party. Kallas, finance minister in the outgoing government, himself said that he never heard of Polda prior to his nomination but indicated that he saw no reason not to give him the benefit of the doubt. Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar said the criticism of Polda was unwarranted and that it could be motivated by interest groups who want their own man or woman in the post. (See below for further details about the new government.)

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The number of people banking online in Lithuania (pop. 3.5 million) has risen fourfold since 2001, jumping from 15,000 to 63,000 today, according to BNS. Analysts say that figure should soar to 200,000 by the end of this year and keep growing by leaps and bounds for the next few years. Vilniaus Bankas is the leader in Lithuania’s online banking market, with some 50,000 Internet customers. Hansa-LTB, which entered the market later, has some 9,000 online accounts but says that number should rise to 75,000 by late 2002. Among the Baltic states, Estonia (pop. 1.4 million), got the earliest start in developing e-banking, with nearly 500,000 people now using the Internet to do most of their financial transactions.

Briefly: NATO General Secretary Lord Robertson will visit Lithuania on February 22, BNS reported. It’s expected to be his last visit before the alliance’s summit in Prague late this year that will issue invitations to NATO-candidate countries.

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Tuesday—January 22, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) As many as 30 troops from the Baltic states may be sent to the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyztan to lend support to international security operations in Afghanistan, BNS reported Tuesday. BNS said that NATO allies had inquired about a joint Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian military unit going to the central Asian nation and that Baltic defense ministries were now discussing the proposal; other reports said that it was a Danish initiative and that the Baltic unit could be part of a Danish-led force already on the ground in the region. Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius was quoted as telling BNS that it wasn’t yet clear what specific role the Baltic soldiers would play. The Baltic states are vying to join NATO and their participation in other NATO-related operations in the past has been seen as a way to demonstrate their military readiness to join.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Parliament Tuesday approved the nomination of outgoing Finance Minister and center-right Reform Party leader Siim Kallas to be the new Estonian prime minister. The 101-seat Riigikogu voted 62-31 to give the mustachioed, 53-year-old a mandate to form a government to replace one that collapsed after coalition infighting; eight deputies either weren’t present or didn’t vote. He won more votes than was earlier anticipated, with at least 12 deputies who are not a part of his would-be coalition voting for him. Addressing legislators before the vote, Kallas said continuing membership talks with the EU will be tough but that “we’ll see negotiations through to the end no matter what.” Kallas, a devotee of laissez-faire market economics, said that economic growth was the key to raising living standards for larger numbers of Estonians. He added that too many people have not benefited from post-Soviet reforms. “Every second Estonian now has a mobile phone in his pocket, but there are also more and more people who have not experienced the same level of success.”
Kallas has a maximum of two weeks to pick a Cabinet and must win final parliamentary approval before he can take power—though he hinted he would like to have his government approved as soon as Monday. A caretaker administration, headed by outgoing Prime Minister Mart Laar, remains in place until then. (Below see additional news reports on the new ruling coalition, and an analysis on the potential pitfalls facing the would-be government.)

The following are expected to be named as ministers in Kallas’ administration, which will include the center-left Center Party:
Reform Party Ministers
Prime Minister: Siim Kallas, 53.
Foreign Minister: Kristiina Ojuland, 35.
Justice Minister: Mart Rask, 51.
Culture Minister: Signe Kivi, 44.
Environment Minister: Heiki Kranich, 40.
Regional Affairs Minister: Toivo Asmer, 55.

Center Party Ministers
Finance Minister: Meelis Polda, 34.
Defense Minister: Sven Mikser, 28.
Economics Minister: Liina Tonisson, 61.
Agriculture Minister: Jaanus Marrandi, 38.
Social Affairs Minister: Siiri Oviir, 54.
Internal Affairs Minister: Ain Seppik, 49.
Education Minister: Mailis Rand, 27.
Population Minister: Eldar Efendiyev, 47.

Other News Below—Quotable of the week, weather forecast, Baltic mobile phone use way up, and more.

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Monday—January 21, 2002
Quotable of the Week—“All those who would like to join the expansion of NATO should actually be ready for it, there should be no exceptions made, no privileges given to anybody. That message should be conveyed through me to other participating nations.” Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus to reporters after a meeting with U.S. President George Bush at the White House last Thursday; Bush, while strongly backing the expansion process, urged NATO candidate nations not to be overly confident about getting invitations this year and to make sure they’ve met the alliance’s criteria.

Weather Forecast—Temperatures will be at or just above freezing in all three Baltic countries for most of the week; occasional rain in Latvia and possible snow in Estonia.

BERLIN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Up to seven new countries, including the Baltic states, could be invited to join NATO at its Prague summit in November, BNS reported, sourcing Germany’s Berliner Zeitung and the AFP news agency. Quoting “informed sources in Brussels,” the German newspaper said that no decision had yet been taken by NATO diplomats regarding a major enlargement of the organization, but it is “practically certain” that Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will be invited to join the alliance. These five countries would “probably” be joined by Romania and Bulgaria, whose candidacy is supported by Turkey and France, the paper added. “Opinions at the heart of the alliance are evolving more and more towards a grand enlargement,” the paper quoted one of its sources as saying. The paper also quoted a high-ranking NATO diplomat who said that the only question for the United States is whether five or seven countries will be accepted. The diplomat said that such a wide enlargement of the alliance had been facilitated by the recent close relationship between Washington and Moscow following the attacks on the United States on September 11.

VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Rates of mobile phone use are set to go through the roof in all three Baltic countries, according to Newsbytes, a cyber-based technology news service. It said a recent IDC communication study showed that Estonia was still ahead of Latvia and Lithuania—with nearly 50 percent of Estonians using mobile phones—but that the other two Baltics were gaining ground fast. It said mobile phone use should reach 65 percent of the population in Lithuania by 2003, and 50 percent in Latvia by the same year; Estonia’s rate should be some 70 percent by then. Newsbytes said such rates were at or beyond Western European and U.S. levels, attributing the impressive figures to strong competition among cellular phone carriers in the region.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) A leading Lithuanian telecommunications’ company has sparked an outcry among women’s groups with a new advertisement that poses the question: “which is man’s better friend: a book or a blond?” The bright red advertisement for Omnitel, which appears to play off the saying that “a dog is man’s best friend,” urges passers-by to text-message an answer and qualify to win a wristwatch. BNS reported that one female member of parliament, Birute Vesaite, filed a complaint last week with Lithuania’s equal opportunities’ ombudsmen office asking it to rule on whether the ad violated Lithuanian law; she argued that the ad clearly tried to imply that women were inferior to “a mere thing.” Omnitel, which is majority owned by Scandinavian and U.S. investors, denied that the advertisements degrade women. If the state-sanctioned ombudsmen’s office rules the advertisements are offensive to women, it could order they be taken down. The same office ruled recently that a requirement that women take a gynecological tests to qualify for a Lithuanian driver’s license was discriminatory.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Analysis—Would-be Prime Minister Siim Kallas, nominated by Estonia’s president on January 18, should have his government up and running within a week. With an awkward ruling alliance of his center-right Reform Party and the center-left Center Party, he has said that his primary goal will be to maintain the pro-reform, pro-West status quo and to ensure Estonia stays on the fast track to joining the European Union and NATO. That pledge comes as some comfort to those who remain deeply suspicious of the populist Center Party, led by its highly controversial chairman, Edgar Savisaar. But among the questions on the minds of many: Will Kallas be able to keep the notoriously irascible and (some would say) duplicitous Savisaar in line? How much will the prime minister have to concede on policy to keep the Center Party happy? In the face of unexpected crises, political or otherwise, could the ruling alliance unravel? And who gains or loses popularity by the creation of this unorthodox government in the lead up to March, 2002 elections? The Center Party, once seen as too discredited to ever rule, seems to have gained new credibility by dramatically assuming the reins of national power; the pro-business Reform Party, on the other hand, appears to have lost credibility in the eyes of its traditional supporters by cutting a deal with the leftists. The outgoing coalition groups, the center-right Pro Patria (Isamaa) and the centrist Moderates, are hoping they can sit back and watch the new government parties fall at each other’s throats and self-destruct. (See additional background in previous reports below.)

Upcoming Events for the Week—Latvian President Vike-Freiberga meets with legislators about her call to drop the Latvian-language requirement for candidates to elected office. Estonia’s parliament to vote on Siim Kallas as prime minister Tuesday. Lithuanian Parliamentary Speaker Arturas Paulauskas speaks at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg.

Other News Below—Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus meets George Bush in Washington, Baltic summit in Riga, new Stockholm-Riga ferry, ruling coalition deal in Estonia, and more.

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Saturday—January 19, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A new company in Riga is trying to revive the city’s only major ferry route—to and from Stockholm—which had earlier been plagued by financial problems and later went bankrupt, BNS reported. The local city government may take a 26 percent stake in Riga Maritime Lines to facilitate its operations, which could start later this year. A lack of ferry lines servicing Riga, the Baltic region’s largest city, has been cited by businessmen as a major impediment to increasing the number of tourists visiting the coastal capital. Most analysts point to government red tape and poor to non-existent passenger infrastructure in Riga as the main reasons for the surprising absence of ferries; Tallinn, just to the north, has dozens of ferries serving it daily, providing a major shot in the arm to the tourism industry. The Riga company has reportedly inquired about purchasing and refurbishing the Georg Ots, the famed Estonian ship that plied the Tallinn-Helsinki route during the Soviet era; reconstructing the liner could cost as much as 2 million dollars.

Friday—January 18, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia’s president nominated outgoing Finance Minister Siim Kallas Friday to be the new prime minister and to steer the country into the European Union and NATO. Kallas, who had been expected to get the nod from President Arnold Ruutel, should win easy approval in the Riigikogu parliament as soon as next week.
The mustachioed, 53-year-old played a key role in rescuing Estonia’s moribund financial system after communism collapsed here. He’s seen as a staunch fiscal conservative and enthusiastic backer of European integration. The one-time Central Bank president is known as “the father of the kroon,” the national currency, for overseeing its introduction to replace the Soviet ruble in 1992.
He succeeds his boss Mart Laar, who resigned on Jan. 8 after infighting in his coalition, which included Kallas’ pro-business, center-right Reform Party.
Kallas said earlier that his goal as government leader would be to ensure nothing’s done to run the ship of state, which he said is on the right course, onto the rocks. That mission could prove tricky with his center-left Center Party partners sometimes advocating populist policies in the past, such as restricting the sale of land to foreigners and raising taxes on wealthier Estonians. Some Center Party leaders have also occasionally sounded skeptical about aspects of EU membership, though they signed a coalition accord with the Reform Party earlier Friday listing EU and NATO entry as top policy priorities. In the accord, the parties agreed not to change current economic policy, saying theirs would be more of a caretaker than policy-making administration leading up to parliamentary elections next year. The agreement sidesteps virtually all divisive issues, focusing instead on less-than-weighty questions, including whether Estonians should switch their clocks back an hour during the summer. It says Estonia should.
Kallas was forced into the awkward alliance with the Center Party after falling out with other center-right parties making up Laar’s government. They accused Reform of betraying them by forming a new Tallinn city government with the Center Party. The new government would consummate the comeback of Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar, who resigned as Interior Minister in 1995 amid charges he secretly tape-recorded rivals in a scandal dubbed the Estonian Watergate. While Savisaar won’t take a Cabinet seat, he would, as a ruling party leader, play a dominant role behind the scenes. Members of his party will control eight ministries and Reform six, according to their coalition accord.
The post of foreign minister is slated to go to Reform’s Kristiina Oluland, 35, who would be Estonia’s first female in the post.

Thursday—January 17, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Two Estonian parties from opposite sides of the political divide said Thursday they have agreed to form a government to replace the outgoing administration of Prime Minister Mart Laar. The pro-business, center-right Reform Party and populist, center-left Center Party admitted that theirs was an unlikely partnership, but they insisted there were no alternatives after Reform fell out with fellow center-right parties that made up the Laar government. Combined, the Reform Party and Center Party have just 46 seats in the 101-seat Riigikogu but they should win legislative approval without much difficulty with support from several small parties and independents.
Their would-be government will serve more as a caretaker than policy-making administration leading up to parliamentary elections next year, party members said. “We agreed we won’t make changes in economic policy,” said Reform Party spokeswoman Triinu Rajasalu. “Economic differences are too great, especially on taxes. We want to lower rates, they want to introduce new progressive taxes.” Both parties back the bids to join the European Union and NATO, though some Center Party leaders in the past have complained that too much time and money is devoted to European integration; ensuring that Estonia stays on course towards membership in both bodies would be a top government priority, Rajasalu said. She said essentials of a coalition deal have been hammered out and that the agreement will be signed Friday.
The parties proposed Siim Kallas, Reform’s leader and outgoing Finance Minister, as premier. President Arnold Ruutel must nominate a new government leader by Saturday and it’s widely believed he’ll name Kallas. The mustachioed, 53-year-old Kallas has a reputation as an uncompromising fiscal conservative. He was charged in the mid-90s with misappropriating 10 million dollars when he was Central Bank president, but was later acquitted. A Reform-Center Party government also would consummate the comeback in recent years of Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar, forced to resign as Interior Minister in 1995 amid charges he secretly tape recorded political rivals. The scandal, dubbed the Estonian Watergate, appeared to have ruined his political career. While Savisaar isn’t expected to take a Cabinet seat in the new government, he would, as a ruling party leader, having a commanding role behind the scenes.

Wednesday—January 16, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus was scheduled to leave for Washington Wednesday to meet with George Bush, a meeting which will be filmed by NBC television as part of a prime-time program about a day in the life of the U.S. president, BNS reported. The Washington Post wrote that the Thursday meeting with Adamkus was moved up a week after NBC expressed concern that its camera crews wouldn’t have a chance to film Bush greeting another state leader. “Next thing you know, the White House last weekend was calling the Lithuanians…Would President Adamkus like to change the date of his visit to, say, Thursday? But of course, the Lithuanians said,” according to The Washington Post. In Vilnius, U.S. embassy official William Davnie told BNS that the White House felt the NBC coverage would give Bush a chance to highlight his support for the Baltic state—including its bid to join NATO. Unnamed Lithuanian officials confirmed that the trip was altered in order to feature Adamkus in the television show.
Bush had originally been scheduled to be filmed in September but that it was delayed because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Ironically, Adamkus had also planned to meet Bush on Sept. 11, but that meeting was called off and rescheduled for this January.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The Baltic presidents have rejected demands by Russian officials to link their NATO membership bids to joining a key European arms treaty limiting conventional weapons, BNS reported, referring to the AFP news agency. “I don’t connect these two issues. If Russia has its own position, we have to argue,” Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said after a Tuesday meeting with his counterparts Arnold Ruutel of Estonia and Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia.
Russian military sources cited by Russian news agencies last week claimed that Moscow had finally met its obligations under the Treaty for Conventional Arms Reduction in Europe (CFE). But other Russian officials warned Moscow would no longer feel obligated to honor the treaty limiting conventional weapons on the continent if the Baltic states joined NATO and not the treaty, claiming NATO could then station large amounts of weapons in those states.
Russia has sternly opposed the Baltic states joining NATO.
The CFE treaty was originally agreed in 1990, before the Baltic states regained independence from Moscow, and the Russians claim that until an updated version negotiated in 1998 is ratified there is no mechanism for the three states to accede to the treaty.
The meeting of the three Baltic presidents came before a trip by Adamkus to the United States to meet President George W. Bush on Thursday. Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said Adamkus’ visit was crucial to driving home the need for the Baltic states to join NATO ahead of this November’s NATO summit in Prague where enlargement is slated to be discussed.

Tuesday—January 15, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) You’re likely to pay more for a bag of groceries in Latvia than for an equivalent bag in the other two Baltic states, BNS quoted the Latvian statistics department as saying Tuesday. The agency didn’t provide exact figures but did say that Latvia had the highest priced beef, chicken, butter, eggs, potatoes and spirits; Lithuania reportedly had the costliest pork and sugar, while bread and milk was most expensive in Estonia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, prices of most consumer goods in the Baltics rose sharply—but are still slightly below Western European levels.

CHICAGO-VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The U.S. Justice Department has initiated proceedings to revoke the citizenship of a Lockport, Illinois man based on his participation in the persecution and murder of Jews and other civilians during the Nazi occupation in Lithuania during World War II, BNS reported. Peter John Bernes, alias Petras Bernotavicius, 79, allegedly worked during the summer of 1941 as the deputy to Werner Loew, a Nazi-appointed mayor and police commander assigned to Kupiskis, Lithuania. He allegedly helped remove condemned prisoners from jail so they could be taken to nearby killing sites. According to the U.S. Justice Department, more than 1,000 Jewish men, women and children—about one-fourth of Kupiskis’ population—were murdered by men under Loew’s command during the summer of 1941.
Lithuanian prosecutors launched an investigation about Bernes’ war-time activities in 1999, though the case was later put on hold for what prosecutors said was a lack of documentation. Lithuanian officials said they cooperated closely with U.S. Justice Department investigators as they looked into the case.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) It would take serious miscalculations on the part of local officials to mess up Baltic bids to win NATO invitations this year, outgoing Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves wrote in the nation’s Postimees daily. “A senior adviser to the U.S. president then told me that we’d have to do something very foolish not to get into NATO,” BNS quoted Ilves as writing. The Baltics are hoping to secure invitations at the NATO summit in Prague this year and most analysts say their chances are good. But Ilves also suggested that the Baltic states, seen as a bloc by many NATO-member nations, could potentially ruin it for each other. “We’re not the only ones on whom this depends. Maybe somebody else does something very foolish,” he was quoted as saying. “And then there’s Baltic unity, which is a double-edged sword. If one of the three makes a great blunder, we are geographically in the worst fix.”

Monday—January 14, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER-BNS) New car sales are up in Lithuania and beginning to outpace monthly sales in both Latvia and Estonia, indicating growing dynamism in the southern-most Baltic state’s economy, BNS reported. Sales rose by 19 percent, from 7,387 new cars in 2000 to 8,782 in 2001, according to the latest available statistics. The number of car sales in Lithuania (pop. 3.5 million) in December was higher than in both the other Baltic states; sales even in the smallest Baltic state of Estonia (pop. 1.4 million) had earlier been higher than in Lithuania. BNS reported that German Opels were the top-selling car in Lithuania last year.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Two Estonian parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum met for talks Monday to form a new government. See details here.

Also see the new feature article: Defector’s Daughter —about a Latvian woman torn from her homeland during the Cold War as her double-agent father defected to the United States.

Friday—January 11, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Demand for real estate across the Baltic states is picking up thanks to the availability of lower interest loans and growing investments in business properties, BNS quoted the Ober-Haus real estate company as saying. Hindrek Leppsalu, of Ober-Haus, said many Scandinavian and Central-European firms were showing serious interest in transferring their production units to the Baltic countries, where wages were more competitive—and that this was adding life to the market. “The Hilton hotel chain, which recently transferred a part of its international call center to Tallinn, is a good example. Silja Line and Viking Line (ferry companies) also own such centers in Tallinn,” he said.
Here is a survey of average real estate prices in the Baltic countries, in U.S. dollars, according to BNS:

In Latvia—

Average price of apartments (dlrs per sq m):
1 room 2 rooms 3 rooms 4 rooms
Central Riga:
wooden houses 180 180 170 170
stone houses
non-renovated 450-500 425-510 380-500 320-480
stone houses
renovated 700-1,300 700-1,300 600-1,300 600-1,300
new houses 1,100-1,600 1,100-1,600 1,000-1,600 1,000-1,600

Rent of apartments (dlrs per month):
1 room 2 rooms 3 rooms 4 rooms houses
Central Riga 300-400 500-800 800-1,300 1,000-1,800 1,500-2000
Riga outskirts. 250-350 350-550 800 800-1,200 1,500-2000
Jurmala 300-400 400-600 500-700 1,500-3,500

Average rent of business premises (dlrs per sq m per month):
Offices Shops Warehouses
Central Riga 8-25 20-50
Riga outskirts 3-15 1-4

In Lithuania—

Average price of apartments (dlrs per sq m):
1 room 2 rooms 3 rooms 4 & more
Central Vilnius:
new apartments 900-1,200 900-1,200 900-1,200 900-1,200
renovated apartments 800-900 800-900 750-900 750-900
non-renovated
apartments 500-600 500-600 450-600 400-500
Vilnius outskirts 300-600 300-600 300-600 300-550

Average rent of business premises (dlrs per sq m per month):
Offices Shops Industrial
Central Vilnius 9-20 10-50 2-3
Vilnius outskirts 3-10 5-12 1-3
Central Kaunas
ground floor 4-30 5-30
first floor 1-16

Price of business premises (dlrs per square meter):
Offices Shops Warehouses
Central Vilnius 500-1,200 800-6,000
Vilnius outskirts 300-700 400-900 50-250

Average rent of apartments (dlrs per month):
1 room 2 rooms 3 rooms 4 rooms houses
Central Vilnius 200-300 300-850 550-1500 600-3000 1250-4000
Vilnius outskirts 80-130 100-180 120-200 150-200 1000-3000
Central Kaunas 200-1000 250-1500 300-2500 250-3000 1000-1500
Kaunas outskirts 50-200 50-400 250-300 250-300

In Estonia—

Average price of apartments (dlrs per sq m):
Rooms in apartment 1 room 2 rooms 3 rooms 4 rooms
Central Tallinn:
wooden houses 350-570 350-570 350-570 350-570
stone houses
not renovated 450-570 450-570 450-570 450-570
stone houses
renovated 570-900 570-900 570-900 570-900
new houses 740-1,420 740-1,420 740-1,420 740-1,420
Tallinn outskirts 255-440 255-370 255-350 290-310

Rent of apartments and houses (dlrs per month):
1 room 2 rooms 3 rooms 4 rooms houses
Central Tallinn 350 350-450 700 1,000 1,130
Tallinn
outskirts 115-140 115-200 170-280 170-450 850-1,700

Rental price of business premises (dlrs per sq m per month)
office shop warehouse industrial
Central Tallinn 5-16 8-45 2-4
Tallinn outskirts 3-10 4-16 3-4 1-3

Thursday—January 10, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvia should see the highest annual GDP growth among the three Baltic states in 2002, according to the pan-Baltic Hansabank Markets, BNS reported Thursday. The investment group predicted that Latvian economic growth would reach 4.2 percent, followed by Lithuania with 4 percent and Estonia with 3.3 percent. But those figures are all lower than numbers posted for 2001; Hansabank Markets said 2001 growth was 7 percent in Latvia, 5 percent in Lithuania and 4.7 percent in Estonia. Analysts have said that economic slowdowns across Europe have begun to affect Baltic economies, though the impact here is expected to be moderate compared to elsewhere in the region.
Annual inflation for 2002 is expected to be 2.8 in Estonia and 1.9 percent in Latvia and Lithuania, Hansabank Markets said.

Wednesday—January 9, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Two women were injured by ice and snow falling from rooftops in Riga, the first such injuries during this winter in what is a perennial hazard in the region. BNS said many snow-capped buildings in the capital have still not been cleared by their owners, potentially threatening passers-by. One of the victims this week was a 64-year-old woman who was hospitalized and later released; another 44-year-old was more seriously hurt with spinal injuries when icicles dislodged in warmer-than-usual weather and plummeted to the ground.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Russia, for the first time in 8 years, has proposed a summit meeting between the Estonian and Russian presidents, BNS reported Wednesday. Russian Ambassador to Estonian Konstantin Provalov allegedly made the proposal the day before in a meeting with Estonian President Arnold Ruutel. Where and when the summit could take place and what might be on the agenda was not discussed at the Tuesday meeting, BNS said. The last meeting of Estonian and Russian presidents was in 1994 in Moscow—where Lennart Meri and Boris Yeltsin signed an accord on the withdrawal of former Soviet troops from Estonia.

Tuesday—January 8, 2002
BERLIN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Celebrated Latvian bobsledder Sandis Prusis will miss the Winter Olympics after being suspended from the sport for failing a drugs test, BNS reported on Tuesday, referring to the AFP news agency. Prusis, 37, who helped his country to fourth place in the four-man bob at the last world championships, was given the ban by the International Bobsleigh Federation (FIBT) and the decision was announced by the secretary-general of the FIBT, Ermanno Gardello. Prusis, who had been considered one of Latvia’s brightest medal hopes, will have to miss the next three rounds of the World Cup including the Olympics in Salt Lake City from February 8-2; he also faces a two-year ban after traces of nandrolone were found in his body.
The sport has been at the center of a drugs controversy in recent years. Former Olympic hurdles champion Ludmila Enqvist of Sweden, who switched to bobsledding after retiring from athletics, admitted to using drugs in November last year as she prepared to represent her country at the Games. American Jeff Laynes was also suspended for two years after testing for stanozolol while countryman John Kasper has also failed a dope test.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Prime Minister Mart Laar—Estonia’s longest serving government leader—resigned Tuesday as expected, following through on a pre-Christmas pledge to step down. The 41-year-old said the three-party coalition led by his center-right Pro Patria party was riven with dissent, making governing impossible and potentially risking the country’s bids to join the European Union and NATO.
The entire Cabinet, which includes the center-right Reform Party and centrist Moderates, also automatically resigned Tuesday. President Arnold Ruutel will now have two weeks to nominate a new prime minister.
Reform and the opposition Center Party are thought to have the best chance of forming a new coalition. Reform Party leader and outgoing Finance Minister Siim Kallas has been widely tipped as the most likely prime ministerial candidate. Kallas has said repeatedly that he would like the current coalition to continue, but his efforts to convince Pro Patria and the Moderates to stick together have been rebuffed.
The Reform Party is said to be uneasy about a coalition with the leftist Center Party, fearing that it will alienate its own supporters prior to 2003 parliamentary elections. But it has signaled that it’s ready to ally with the Center Party. The Center Party has also broached the possibility of a government that would include the most centrist Moderates.
Laar blamed Reform for the friction in his administration, saying it betrayed him by recently joining the opposition Center Party to form a new Tallinn city government. Pro Patria, Reform and the Moderates otherwise agreed on most key policies.
The outgoing ministers, including Laar, will stay on as caretakers until a new Cabinet is approved by the fragmented 101-seat Riigikogu parliament, a process which could take several weeks.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Estonia Tuesday canceled the sale of its state-owned energy plants to the U.S.-based NRG Energy _ which had been the biggest privatization deal in recent Estonian history. Officials said NRG failed to fulfill its obligations to secure a multi-million-dollar loan—to be used to refurbish the aging, Soviet-built electricity generation stations—by a Dec. 31, 2001 deadline. “The deal’s off,” government spokesman Priit Poiklik said. He added that NRG may have had trouble meeting the terms because of economic difficulties in United States, though he declined to elaborate.
NRG, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was to buy 49 percent of two plants that produce over 90 percent of Estonia’s electricity. It was supposed to pay some dlrs 70 million and invest dlrs 300 million more in improving the stations.
The deal, signed in 2000 after five years of talks, sparked fierce debate in this nation of 1.4 million people, with critics saying it was badly thought-out, too shrouded in secrecy and would lead to sharply higher electricity prices. It also briefly strained otherwise good relations with the United States, when opposition deputies in parliament threatened to annul the deal last year.
Officials wouldn’t speculate about what might happen next vis-à-vis the power plants. Poiklik said it would be up to Laar’s successor to decide what to do but that he didn’t think there was any chance talks could be restarted with NRG. There’s broad consensus here that fund must be found to modernize the rundown stations, which are powered by oil shale. Without massive renovations, some experts have said the plants will eventually grind to a halt.
(For an earlier article on this topic, see Power Play.)

Monday—January 7, 2002¶
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Special Report: Estonian Leader Set to Leave Office—Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar bounces off a squash-court wall, doubles back, leaps at a tiny black ball, then slaps it into a corner to win a point—punching his fist through the air in triumph. But the youthful, fiercely competitive Laar—who at just 41 has been Estonia’s longest serving premier—has recently had considerably less success in the corridors of power in Tallinn.
He abruptly announced his resignation before Christmas, saying friction in his center-right coalition made governing impossible. His resignation was slated to take effect January 8, though he remains a caretaker until a new government is formed. The center-right Reform and left-wing Center Party are thought to have the best chance of stitching together a new coalition over the next few weeks.
Since he first became prime minister—at just 32—in 1992, Laar’s been a poster boy for proponents of unfettered capitalism, with policies to slash subsidies and taxes, and his devotion to balanced budgets. In an interview days before he was slated to step down, Laar insisted he’d achieved his main goals since taking office in 1999; he was also premier from 1992-94, when most key post-Soviet reforms were drawn up. “In my first term, the goal was to turn Estonia from the East to the West,” he said, leaning into an office chair and smiling. “This time, it was to make that turn irreversible. We’ve done that.” He said Estonia was now on the verge of entering the European Union and NATO—added that he’d stick to a pledge he made last year to shave his trademark blond beard if Estonia received a NATO invitation.
His playful spontaneity, which included attendance at rock concerts and invitations to journalists to play squash, has been a hallmark of Laar’s rule. It’s also sometimes landed him in hot water. Last year, he was accused of shooting at a picture of leftist opposition leader Edgar Savisaar for target practice. He apologized, but refused calls for him to resign.
Observers abroad are quick to credit Laar with solidifying Estonia’s image as one of the most progressive, Western-oriented ex-communist states. But there’s less adoration for him at home. Critics say the one-time school teacher and Soviet-era dissident is too brash, too arrogant and too dismissive of those, especially the elderly, who haven’t benefited from the fast-paced growth his reforms prompted.
He appears sure about his legacy, however, saying that whoever proceeds him will maintain the pro-market policies he introduced. One guarantee of that, he said, was the conservative state budget for 2002, approved by parliament literally hours before he announced he’d resign. “It’s my budget,” said Laar before donning a pair of shorts and stepping onto the squash court. “Altering it over the next year will be very, very difficult.”
Laar said he would enter parliament after leaving office, and begin to prepare for national elections slated for 2003.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian women won’t have to take gynecological tests to qualify for driver’s licenses after a Lithuanian ombudsman declared the practice discriminatory, BNS reported on Monday. Until now, women have had to present a gynecological health certificate to driving bureaus, while men have not had to present test results from urologists. The ombudsman’s office decided that the procedure violated laws on equal opportunities for men and women.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) A deal to sell a major stake in Estonia’s main power plants to the U.S.-based NRG Energy _ the largest privatization deal in Estonian history _ appears to be in serious jeopardy, according to a BNS report Monday. The agency said that Estonian Economic Minister Henrik Hololei will propose to the government Tuesday that it break off seven-year negotiations with NRG because the Americans have failed to fulfill financial terms. The power plant sell-off has been deeply unpopular, with many Estonians saying that NRG-Estonia agreement will lead to sharply higher energy prices.
(For more background see Power Play.)

Friday—January 4, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian prosecutors have pressed charges against an American citizen for alleged sexually abuse of minors, BNS reported Friday; Thomas Pendelton was also charged with producing pornographic material involving minors, the agency said. If convicted, he faces a maximum five-year jail term. The 59-year-old Pendelton had reportedly been visiting Latvia frequently, claiming he was working on developing bicycle tourism routes. BNS reported that he traveled around the country visiting schools and offering to teach English to children. International bodies, including the UNDP, have highlighted reports of child abuse and prostitution in Latvia in recent years, though quantifying the problem has been difficult.

RIGA (CITY PAPER) Russia opened a new port to handle oil exports at the end of December, facilities which Russian President Vladimir Putin said will help reduce his country’s dependence on ports in the Baltics; the port at Primorsk, near St. Petersburg, is at the end of a pipeline that carries oil from far-flung oil fields in southern Russia.
Russia is the second biggest producer of oil in the world, and a high percentage of its oil exports go through the Baltic states _ providing a boost to their economies, especially Latvia’s. Some Russian analysts say diverting significant amounts of Russian oil from the Baltics could badly damage Baltic economies, though observers outside Russia say the affect won’t be as drastic.
Construction on the Primorsk port began two years ago and is still only partially operational.
While some port officials in the Baltics have expressed fears, other observers have been more optimistic, saying Russian trends towards increasing oil production meant there should be enough transit oil to go around in coming years. “The opening of Russian ports won’t have devastating affect,” according to Maris Lauri, an analyst at Hansa Markets, a leading pan-Baltic investment firm. She added that even in a worst case scenario, which she said would be a 20 percent fall in the amount of Russian oil going through Estonian ports, Estonia’s economic growth would only drop by 1 percent at most.
She said that while the lucrative transit business generated high turnovers, relatively few jobs were tied to the sector, so any impact on employment, at least in Estonia, would be minimal. Lauri said Russian oil exporters also have come to rely on the modernized Baltic ports and that Russian ports won’t be able to take their business for granted. “Bureaucracy is worse in Russia than here,” she said. “Russian businessmen aren’t looking for only the cheapest routes, but they also want to ensure there aren’t delays, that their ships aren’t standing around for weeks.”
Others have been more circumspect, saying they still don’t know how to assess the consequences of the Primorsk port opening but that they were watching anxiously. The port of Ventspils in Latvia, the region’s largest port by far, has said that it could see business fall by as much as 50 percent thanks to competition from Russia.

Thursday—January 3, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The newly opened Russian port in Primorsk, near St. Petersburg, could drastically reduce the amount of Russian oil exports through Baltic ports, BNS reported, referring to Russian analysts. All three Baltic states have major transit-trade sectors, especially Latvia, where some 15-20 percent of its total economic growth is attributed to the sector; there has been talk for years that Moscow would open up new Russian routes for their oil exports, but many observers didn’t think the Kremlin would be able to afford to build the facilities.
While some port officials in the Baltics have expressed fears, other observers have been more optimistic, saying Russian trends towards increasing oil production meant there should be enough transit oil to go around in coming years. “The opening of Russian ports won’t have devastating affect,” according to Maris Lauri, an analyst at Hansa Markets, a leading pan-Baltic investment firm. She added that even in a worst case scenario, which she said would be a 20 percent fall in the amount of Russian oil going through Estonian ports, Estonia’s economic growth would only drop by 1 percent at most.
She said that while the lucrative transit business generated high turnovers, relatively few jobs were tied to the sector, so any impact on employment, at least in Estonia, would be minimal. Lauri said Russian oil exporters also have come to rely on the modernized Baltic ports and that Russian ports won’t be able to take their business for granted. “Bureaucracy is worse in Russia than here,” she said. “Russian businessmen aren’t looking for only the cheapest routes, but they also want to ensure there aren’t delays, that their ships aren’t standing around for weeks.”
Others have been more circumspect, saying they still don’t know how to assess the consequences of the Primorsk port opening but that they were watching anxiously. The port of Ventspils in Latvia, the region’s largest port by far, has said that it could see business fall by as much as 50 percent thanks to competition from Russia. ¶

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) The number of abortions in Estonia roughly equals the number of births, BNS reported Thursday, referring to data released by the country’s statistical office; during 2000, there were 13,089 births compared to 12,743 abortions. Estonia has seen its population decline steadily over the past ten years, with policy makers trying to find ways to reverse the negative demographic trends. Officials also reported that the average age of new mothers was going up, with most women having their first child at 27; that compares to an average age of 25-years-old six years ago. Estonian women are also getting married later in life than five yeas ago, entering wedlock at around 25 now compared to 23 six years ago.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A total of 16 people died of hypothermia in and around Riga during the month of December, BNS reported Thursday. The fatalities during what has been a colder than average winter in the Baltic states were mostly homeless people, according to officials; 11 of those who froze to death have still not been identified.

Wednesday—January 2, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus has said he’s not opposed to legalizing prostitution or to lifting some restrictions on home distilleries, BNS reported Wednesday. Speaking earlier this week in a televised interview, Adamkus said parliament would have to decide whether to decriminalize prostitution—but that he didn’t personally believe the issue could be addressed with an outright ban. “Prostitution is more a social and moral question. To some, it seems endlessly painful and horrible, while others view the question completely differently. We won’t find one answer that will satisfy everyone,” BNS quoted him as saying. “I know I am speaking daringly.” He responded similarly to a question about locally produced moonshine. “I don’t think our home brew is in any way inferior to what is produced in Ireland, where it’s legal. Maybe ours is even better,” Adamkus was quoted as saying. He said he wouldn’t see a problem with Lithuanians being able to distill small amounts for personal consumption. He added that he’d tried Lithuanian moonshine: “If the law forbids a taste, then yes, I have violated the law.”

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Heavy blizzards disrupted traffic in the Latvian capital Wednesday and also damaged some power lines and forced the main Riga port to close, BNS reported. Latvian Railway also reported disruptions, saying heavy snow blocked some lines. The national weather board reported the thickest snow in eastern Latvia, piling up to 43 centimeters; in Riga, snow had accumulated up to 35 centimeters on average. This winter has been one of the heaviest in several years across the Baltic states.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Ferry passenger traffic to Tallinn declined for the first time in a decade, falling some 4.7 percent in 2001 compared to the year before, BNS reported. Tallinn Port served some 5.7 million passengers throughout the year, down from about 6 million in 2000. Numbers of passengers had risen every year since 1991, when just 1 million passed through Tallinn’s harbor, by far the busiest passenger port in the Baltics; there were just one or two ferries servicing Estonia daily in 1991, compared to over 20 today.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) As of this week, there was still no clear indication about which parties might agree to form a new government. Most bets are that the Reform Party and the Center Party would hammer out a coalition agreement—though any alliance between the center-right and left-wing groups would be an uneasy one. (See below for details about the pre-Christmas announcement by Prime Minister Mart Laar that he would resign.)

Thursday—December 20, 2001
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian politicians who’d been preparing to wind down for the holidays, to kick up their feet by the Christmas tree, began gearing up instead for weeks of nerve-racking talks on forming a new government. The Christmas peace, or joulurahu, traditionally a time when political disputes are laid aside, was shattered Wednesday when Prime Minister Mart Laar announced he’ll resign on Jan. 8; the entire Cabinet will automatically resign with him. “It’s going to be a very messy Christmas,” grumbled Villu Reiljan, of the small People’s Party, which could also be involved in political horse trading to form a new ruling coalition from the fragmented 101-seat Riigikogu parliament.
The blond, boyish-looking Laar, Estonia’s longest serving government leader, played key roles in reviving the post-communist economy and putting the nation on the fast track to European Union and NATO membership. But the 41-year-old told parliament that bickering in the coalition—comprised of his center-right Pro Patria, the center-right Reform Party and centrist Moderates—made the administration’s work impossible and even threatened to undermine Estonia’s bid to join the EU and NATO within the next few years.
The Reform Party, which Laar said was mainly to blame for the infighting, had said it wanted the coalition to stay together. It also complained Laar had rudely spoiled the Christmas spirit. Most guesses were that Laar wouldn’t make a decision about leaving office until after New Year’s; but he was quoted as telling Thursday’s Eesti Paevaleht daily that he wanted to end the speculation. “Clarity’s the main ingredient in feeling peaceful,” he was quoted as saying.
President Arnold Ruutel must nominate a new premier within two weeks of Laar’s formal resignation. Ruutel is closest to the leftist Center Party politically. Some analysts also suggested that he is beholden to the Center Party for helping him win the presidency recently and so will push for at least some Center Party role in any new government. Customarily, however, Estonian presidents give the nod to whomever has clear majority support in parliament.
Laar, apparently trying to put him in the hot seat, to make him squirm, suggested that Finance Minister Siim Kallas, head of the Reform Party, should lead a new government. Laar said early elections, currently slated for 2003, were also a possibility—but added that he thought a government made up of Reform and the Center Party was most likely.
With Pro Patria and the Moderates shunning him, Kallas will have virtually no option but to turn to leftist opposition leader Edgar Savisaar, of the Center Party. Combined, they’d have just 45 legislative seats, but could woo small parties to secure a majority. But any Reform-Center Party coalition would be an uneasy one, with Reform backing fiscally conservative policies and Center calling for more state spending. Savisaar, who resigned as interior minister in 1995 amid charges he secretly tape recorded his rivals, is also bitterly disliked and distrusted by many Estonians, including many rank-and-file Reform Party members.
Clashes between Reform and the other parties in the government intensified last week after Reform joined with the Center Party to form a new Tallinn city government. The three ruling parties otherwise agreed on most major policies.
The Postimees daily said in an editorial Thursday that Estonia’s pro-West, pro-reform bent would change little no matter who succeeds Laar. It said the economy, despite downturns elsewhere in the world, was also relatively sound; GDP growth in 2001 is expected to reach a respectable 5 percent. “The Estonian train is firmly on the rails,” Postimees said.

Wednesday—December 19, 2001
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Prime Minister Mart Laar, Estonia’s longest-serving government leader, said Wednesday he’ll resign, effective Jan. 8; the Cabinet would automatically step down with him. His decision follows weeks of infighting in the three-party, center-right governing coalition, which Laar has led since 1999 elections. He served as premier from 1992-94.
The 41-year-old told parliament that the continuation of his government, with coalition partners openly bickering, could “endanger key goals of Estonia,” notably winning membership in the European Union and the NATO military alliance. “There’s not trust in the coalition anymore,” he told deputies, some of whom later expressed surprise at the announcement. There were rumors Laar would be forced to tender his resignation, but it wasn’t expected to come before Christmas.
Laar, who heads the center-right Pro Patria party, has been a darling of free-market proponents for his no-nonsense reforms in the early ’90s, when he slashed subsidies, reduced tariffs to near zero and implemented a simplified flat tax. He’s also been an outspoken proponent of integrating Estonia as completely and as quickly as possible with the West, saying as recently as last week that he’d shave his trade-mark blond beard if Estonia won an invitation to join NATO.
The fiscal conservative announced he’d resign just after parliament approved the 2002 budget Wednesday, saying he wanted to make sure a balanced budget was enshrined in law before stepping down.
He added that he thought Finance Minister Siim Kallas, the head of the center-right Reform Party, would be the most likely choice to lead a new government. Reform clashed with the other parties in the coalition, Laar’s Pro Patria and the centrist Moderates, after it joined with the leftist opposition Center Party last week to form a new Tallinn city government. Its alliance with the Center Party, an arch rival of Laar’s, infuriated Reform’s partners in the national government.
President Arnold Ruutel is responsible for nominating a new prime minister, who then must be approved by the 101-seat Riigikogu. The president traditionally picks someone who already appears to have sufficient backing in the legislature.
Savisaar, whose Center Party has the largest bloc of seats in parliament with 28, could play a leading role in hammering together a new coalition. He became Tallinn mayor last week with the support of the Reform Party, and he’s now likely to try to cut a deal with Reform to form the national government. Combined, the two parties would have just 45 seats in the fragmented legislature, but they could woo several independents to secure a majority.
Pro Patria, the Moderates and the Reform Party could still try to patch up their differences, but most analysts say that a Kallas-Savisaar national government is a more likely scenario.
During 1999 campaigning, Savisaar was denounced by the center-right parties, including Reform, who said he had authoritarian tendencies. They pointed to a 1995 scandal in which Savisaar was forced to resign as interior minister following allegations he secretly tape recorded rival politicians; the affair was dubbed “Estonia’s Watergate.”
(For more about Laar, see CITY PAPER’s 1999 interview with him, here.)

Tuesday—December 18, 2001
VIENNA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced in Vienna Tuesday that it would close its office in Latvia—a signal from the key European human rights body that its mission in the Baltic state has been successfully fulfilled; the OSCE had already said last month that it would shut its office in Estonia, BNS reported. While the Estonian closure was seen as a fait accompli, there were questions about whether the OSCE would do the same in Latvia. The offices in both countries will be closed by January 1.
The OSCE’s Latvian mission head, Peter Semneby, reportedly praised Latvia for its democracy building and for doing more to integrate its large Russian-speaking population; he singled out parliamentary moves to soften Latvian language and citizenship laws. In advance of the Tuesday decision, Moscow had said it strongly opposed any steps to end the OSCE presence in Riga and Tallinn.
The OCSE offices were set up in 1993, partly as a result of Russian allegations that Latvia and Estonia discriminated against their Russian minorities; some Latvians and Estonians grumbled at the time that the OSCE presence was unnecessary and an affront.
There has been no OSCE office in Lithuania.

Monday—December 17, 2001
Nearly 95 percent of Latvian children have access to computers in their schools, a study by the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science found. BNS said that the school children were also asked about their access to the Internet and that over 60 percent said they had access to the Net at school. Barely ten years ago, virtually no Latvian school had a computer.

Estonia’s eldest resident turned 106 on Saturday, the Postimees newspaper reported. Adele Lettens is reportedly in good health and still reads regularly without glasses; friends described her as good-spirited and talkative. But Lettens, who was born in 1895 and has now lived in three centuries, said she was sorry she no longer has as many friends as she used to. “All my acquaintances have died,” she said. “So sitting around here can be extremely dull.”

Friday—December 14, 2001
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Six people died Friday and at least four others were injured in an explosion at a match factory in Riga, BNS reported; police haven’t yet speculated about possible causes. The blast occurred around 12:30 local time at a packaging division of the sprawling Kometa plant; BNS said that several of those injured were taken to a burn trauma center. Fire fighters brought a subsequent blaze under control within 20 minutes, preventing the rest of the complex from being damaged. Kometa is partly German-owned and is the largest maker of matches in the Baltic states. In addition to matches, Kometa also produces a variety of cork, paper and pulp products, according to BNS; it said the company exports 90 percent of its production to 15 countries.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Estonian Prime Minsiter Mart Laar was named to the World Economic Forum’s symbolic “dream cabinet,” an honor meant to highlight leaders who the group says have consistently carried out sound economic policies. The prestigious forum said that its imaginary administration would be jointly headed by Laar and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson; it said Colin Powell would be foreign minister.
The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based organization funded by more than 1,000 corporations; it holds an annual, high-profile meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
As prime minister, Laar, during two terms, pushed through a series of no-nonsense market reforms, including a flat tax and a zero-tariff policy.

Thursday—December 13, 2001
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar has vowed to shave off his trademark blond beard if Estonia receives a highly coveted invitation to join NATO. The blond-haired Laar, who has sported a stubby beard for most of his 10-year political career, was quoted as telling Thursday’s Eesti Ekspress that shaving would be his form of celebration. “I’ll do it,” the 41-year-old was quoted as saying. “But I’m afraid it will grow back because I’m a lazy prime minister.” Government spokesman Priit Poiklik confirmed the prime minister had made the shaving pledge but said he couldn’t provide details, including whether Laar might wield his razor in public.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Just 6 percent of Latvian residents believe they are in “a good” financial position—with 53 percent saying their situation is “poor”, according an opinion poll conducted by the Latvian-based SKDS, BNS reported. Elderly people were more likely to express displeasure about their economic standing, with nearly 70 percent saying they were badly off. Just 0.7 percent of 1,000 respondents described their financial state as “very good.” Those living in Riga, the largest city in the country by far and the economic hub of the country, were also more likely to say they were doing reasonably well—with people living in rural areas far more likely to describe their situation in negative terms.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) One opposition and one pro-government party joined forces Thursday to form a new city government in Estonia’s capital—delivering a serious blow to the national government. The center-right national government has held power for nearly three years but there has occasionally been bickering between the parties making up the coalition—the center-right Reform Party, Pro Patria and the more centrist Moderates. Infighting intensified last week when Reform withdrew from the Tallinn city administration, comprised of the same parties in the national government and allied with Estonia’s main opposition party, the center-left Center Party.
With Reform’s backing, Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar was expected to be elected the new mayor later in the day; Maret Maripuu, of the Reform Party, was elected the the council chairperson.
In a letter published in local newspapers earlier this week, Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar, of Pro Patria, said Reform’s alliance with an opposition party was “intolerable” and “created a new situation in coalition relations.”
While Laar appeared to stop short of saying that the existing coalition government should now be dissolved, others have said that the government’s collapse could now be a question of time. Some analysts said it probably wouldn’t collapse before Christmas but could shortly afterwards.

Wednesday—December 12, 2001
PARIS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The Baltic states will sign an agreement with France to receive compensation for pre-war embassies that were taken over by the Soviet Union and never returned, BNS reported. No details were immediately available, but the deal is thought to include monetary compensation for the embassies, seized by the Nazis in 1940 and later handed over to the Soviets. BNS said the long-awaited agreement would be signed Thursday in Paris by French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and Baltic officials.
The Baltic states argued that the buildings were legally theirs, but Moscow consistently rejected their demands to turn them over. The issue had been a blot in otherwise good relations between the Baltics and France, which was careful not to offend the Kremlin by asking that the Russians leave the disputed embassies.
The matter was high on the agenda when French President Jacques Chirac’ visited the Baltic states earlier this year—during which the outlines of a deal were drawn up. It reportedly included payments by France of several million dollars—which would likely be used by Baltic governments to build or buy news embassy buildings. Chiras said at the time that the main sticking point was never money but what he said was an understandable point of principle. Then-Estonian President Lennart Meri, who attended primary school in Paris when his father was a diplomat there, said he was relieved a solution was nearly at hand. “This was a problem that touched me in a sentimental way,” he said.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Close-knit corporate clans, or so called old boys’ networks, are undermining Estonia’s development potential, BNS quoted the UNDP’s annual report on the country as saying. The report, which is due to be released later this week, says that distinctions between “us” and “them”—based on membership in a particular political party or club, or based on ethnic background, place of residence, wealth or even according to what university or faculty one has graduated from—was a drag on development. Over the years, businessmen and many average Estonians have bitterly complained that they are frequently locked out of certain economic spheres, not because of a lack of expertise, but because they don’t belong to one local clique or another.

Tuesday—December 11, 2001
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian police have detained a Russian national and former Soviet paratrooper on suspicion that he took part in the bombing of a synagogue in Riga 1998, BNS reported Tuesday. Police said the man, whose name they refused to release, is also suspected of participating in a Soviet crackdown in Riga in 1991. The suspect lives in Russia but was arrested when he recently visited Latvia, police said. The synagogue bombing took place eight days ahead of Jewish Passover, smashing windows in the building and causing other damage; no one was hurt. At the time, Moscow pointed to the attack as proof of what it claimed was anti-Semitism in Latvia.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Two parties in Estonia’s ruling coalition demanded an urgent explanations from the third after it announced it was joining forces with an opposition party to form a new Tallinn city government. Pro Patria and the Moderates accused the Reform Party of disregarding the interests of the center-right national government by allying itself on the municipal level with the center-left Center Party (see previous reports for details about the political maneuvering surrounding the Tallinn administration.) “The Moderates and Pro Patria propose that the Reform Party prove by deed that it is ready to continue as a reliable partner in the ruling coalition,” said a letter to the Reform Party, signed by the Pro Patria chairman, Prime Minister Mart Laar, and Moderates Deputy Chairman Eiki Nestor. It described the Reform Party-Center Party deal as “intolerable to us,” adding it “has created a new situation in relations within the coalition.” The letter stopped just short of threatening to dissolve the ruling government coalition.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The leading ABN Amro financial analyst company said that the share price for the Baltic’s largest bank, Hansapank, is greatly undervalued, BNS reported. It said the correct price should be around 267 kroons (or some 15 dollars); its current price its 110 kroons. The Western European-based ABN Amro said Hansapank , which operates in all three Baltic states, was the most undervalued bank in the region, with the share having a low p/b ratio of 1.3; Hansapank’s return on equity is 23.5 percent, it said. The group praised Hansapank’s high profitability, saying its loan portfolio should grow by at least 20 percent each year for the next several years.

Monday—December 3, 2001
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s top 100 public limited companies have reported a cumulative drop in profits for the first nine months of 2001, BNS reported. Citing the the Lietuvos Rytas newspaper and the Central Securities Depository, it said total profits declined by 34.9 percent year-on-year; the fall in profitability came despite the fact that aggregate sales rose 9.7 percent for the same period. Analysts said the profit figures were distorted by particularly gloomy numbers from a handful of companies, including the giant Mazeikiu Nafta oil concern.
Lietuvos Rytas said the less-than-impressive profit numbers didn’t reflect the relative health of the economy; it said the agriculture sector, for instance, had bounced back following Russia’s financial crisis in 1998. Dairy producers showed strong growth this year, raising their total sales by more than 20 percent and doubling their total profits. Observers say Lithuania’s GDP growth for 2001 should be a respectable 4 percent.

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The Latvian unemployment rate in November has held at around at 7.5 percent, mostly unchanged from the month before, BNS quoted the Latvian employment service as saying; the figure translates to about 94,000 officially registered job-seekers. The largest unemployment level was in the eastern region of Latgale, with a 26.8 percent unemployment rate. The lowest level of unemployment is in the capital Riga, where just 3.6 percent of the workforce is jobless.

Friday—December 7, 2001
The Reform and Center parties signed an agreement Friday to form a new Tallinn city government, BNS reported. On the national level, the center-right Reform Party is a member of the ruling government and the center-left Center Party is in the opposition.
BNS said that the ruling coalition could make Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar the new Tallinn mayor. Savisaar, who once stepped down as Interior Minister after accusations he secretly tape recorded his political rivals, has been widely reviled by most center and center-right parties. His alliance with the Reform Party has angered the other two parties that make up the national government, Pro Patria and the Moderates; they did not immediately suggest, however, that the national government could be threatened by political maneuverings in the capital city government.
(See yesterday’s story below for addition details about the collapse of the outgoing Tallinn city government.)

Thursday—December 6, 2001
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Tallinn’s city government has collapsed after a key coalition partner, the Reform Party, said it was withdrawing its support—a move with implications for the national government, BNS reported. The center-right group cited disputes over spending, with the fiscally conservative Reform Party advocating tough budgetary restraints and opposing moves by the city to secure large construction loans.
The Reform Party was one of three core parties in the city government, which also included Pro Patria and the Moderates; it also relied on the support of several small, Russian-dominated parties. The unlikely coalition of right- and left-wing groups had a razor thin majority on the Tallinn city council, with the opposition Center Party often nipping at its heels, trying to bring it down.
The Reform Party, Pro Patria and the Moderates also make up the national government and the Reform Party’s withdrawal from the Tallinn administration is likely to cause severe strains among the three.
The Reform Party said later Thursday that it would try to form a new city government with the leftist opposition Center Party. Pro Patria and the Moderates have long considered the Center Party their arch political enemy.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott was awarded one of Lithuania’s highest state medals Thursday for making the country’s membership in NATO possible, BNS reported. Critics in Washington had said their membership would spoil U.S.-Russian relations. But Talbott, an adviser to then-President Bill Clinton, was seen as a strong Baltic advocate. President Valdas Adamkus presented Talbott with the Order of Grand Duke Gediminas, handing him the silver medallion at an awards ceremony in Vilnius, the capital. “I thank you on behalf of the entire nation,” BNS quoted Adamkus as saying.
Baltic officials say they’re optimistic about receiving invitations to join the alliance during next year’s NATO summit in Prague, the Czech capital. Talbott said he shared those high hopes. “I am very optimistic about next year,” he said.

Wednesday—December 5, 2001
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has called for direct popular elections of the president, saying that she thought the system where parliament elects the head of state should be abandoned, BNS reported Wednesday. Parliament elects the president in both Latvia and Estonia; Lithuania is the only Baltic state where the president is already popularly elected.
Vike-Freiberga, who was herself elected by parliament several years ago, is up for reelection in 2003. Popular elections would potentially give the president, now a mostly ceremonial figure, a more powerful mandate. Critics say that may be why the current president, Latvia’s most popular politician by far, has become an advocate for change.
“I have questioned the idea (of direct elections) for a long time, wondering if it was really necessary,” the president was quoted as telling Latvia’s Dienas Bizness business daily. “But with time, I am beginning to get the impression that the Latvian Constitution should indeed be changed.” She refused to go into detail about why she now backed the idea.
She also confirmed that she would be interested in a second term. “Seeing how many things still have to be improved upon and done…feeling that I can be a sort of catalyst contributing to faster processes, I believe I could be of use during the next term,” she was quoted as saying. “I would do it with pleasure if I was entrusted with the presidency again.”
(See Ms. President, about Vike-Freiberga unexpected rise to the presidency; also see Latvia’s Iron Lady.)

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Estonian police said Wednesday they have charged two ex-Soviet officials with crimes against humanity for hunting down and executing men who had withdrawn to Estonia’s forests in the 1950s to resist Soviet rule. The indictment says Vladimir Penart, 75, was involved in killing three men; 76-old-old Rudolf Tuvi helped kill one of those three, according to national security police spokesman Henno Kuurmann. They face maximum 15-year jail terms.
The murders allegedly occurred when Penart and Tuvi worked for the Soviet Interior Ministry in 1953 and 1954, a decade after the Red Army occupied Estonia. Kuurmann declined to provide further details before any trial. Murder normally carries a 20-year statute of limitations—though there’s no time limit on crimes against humanity.
After regaining independence, Estonia and the other two Baltic states vowed to prosecute those who took part in such atrocities. They’ve held over a dozen trials so far. No other nations once under Moscow rule have conducted similar proceedings. Baltic authorities say they are securing long-delayed justice for some of the worst abuses of the 20th century; but Moscow has sharply criticized the prosecutions, calling them revenge.
(See related article, Jailed.)

Tuesday—December 4, 2001
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Alleged Lativan organized crime boss Vassily Yeliseyev, 42, was shot dead in Riga on Monday, BNS reported. Yeliseyev, nicknamed Coyote, belong to the so called “Kharitonov brigade,” and was tried several years ago for kidnapping—though he was aquited because judges said there was a lack of evidence. Yeliseyev is the fourth alleged underworld leader murdered in Latvia since last summer, according to BNS.

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Analysts from the influential Brookings Institution in Washington have reportedly thrown their support behind Baltic NATO membership, BNS reported. It said the Baltic states, Slovakia and Slovenia should be invited next year, while Romania and Bulgaria should be told they will be next in line. A paper on the think tank’s web said said the Baltic states should be admitted as a bloc, arguing that the move now had widespread support in the United States and Europe, and that Russian objections were less vehement than earlier. It added that “far from undermining the case for NATO enlargement, the September 11 terrorist attacks make it both more desirable and more feasible.” (You can see the Brookings Institute’s report on NATO expansion, at www.brookings.org)

Monday—December 3, 2001
MOSCOW (BNS-CITY PAPER) Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has sharply criticized moves by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to close down its operations in the Baltic region, BNS reported Monday. The human rights body has had offices in Latvia and Estonia for some eight years, but said recently it intended to end its presence—at least in Estonia. OSCE officials said they believed their mission, mainly to oversee the integration of Baltic Russian speakers and to ensure their rights weren’t violated, had been accomplished. But Ivanov charged that the OSCE had not full-filled its promise to protect local Russian speakers from discrimination. “The issue of citizenship and Russian-language (issues) are still unsolved,” Ivanov was quoted as saying—though he conceded that progress in other areas had been made. The Estonian and Latvian governments have long accused Moscow of manipulating minority rights issues for purely political gain and in an attempt to foil their nations’ bids to join NATO and the EU. (See last week’s Weekly Crier for more details about the OSCE’s plans to shut down its Tallinn office, here.)

Friday—November 30, 2001
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The beating death earlier this week of a Latvian crime reporter was likely connected to his work, his editor said Friday, BNS reported. Kurzemes Vards journalist Gundars Matiss, 35, died Wednesday from head injuries he received in a November 15 attack with a wooden club in the stairwell of his apartment building it the western Latvian city of Liepaja.
“Immediately after the attack on Gundars, the state police formed four working theories for the attack, the top one being that it was connected with his professional activities,” said Kurzemes Vards editor in chief Anzels Remess.
Matiss specialized in investigations of organized crime, and had recently participated in a police-organized discussion with journalists about the trade of contraband alcohol in Liepaja, 200 kilometers southwest of the capital Riga. “If Matiss’ murder is connected with his work, like the recent murder of judge Janis Laukroze, then it is another indication that organized crime has become a real serious threat,” said prominent Latvian journalist Karlis Steips. Laukroze, the chief judge of Riga’s criminal court, was shot dead on October 15 in an apparent contract killing.