Monday—December 22, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Some 3,000 backers of embattled President Rolandas Paksas demonstrated over the weekend in support of the Lithuanian leader, who, by most accounts, is destined to be impeached within the next half year. Paksas, accused of having ties to Russian organized crime, has lost support across the country, with most top political leaders calling on him to resign and spare the country a drawn-out impeachment process. (See details on the initiation of impeachment proceedings in last week’s reports.) The Saturday protesters said that the allegations against Paksas were contrived and that “dark forces were plotting” against him. Overall support for Paksas has plummeted since the scandal broke almost two months ago, but he maintains backing in some rural areas.

Friday—December 19, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) It will take the Baltic states years, if not decades, to catch up to living standards in the European Union as a whole, according to a newly released EU study. Latvia’s per capita GDP is a mere 35 percent of the current EU average, while Lithuania’s is 39 and Estonia’s 40 percent, according to the so called Eurostat figures, based on 2002 growth rates. On the bright side, the Baltic states have boosted their standards of living much faster than anyone expected they would ten years ago, and they stand out far above the likes of neighboring Russia and Belarus. The Baltics, with economic policies emphasizing dynamic growth, also appear to be catching up faster with the EU than any other future EU states—with annual growth rates of 5 percent or more. Among the group of 10 countries that will join the EU this coming May, including the Baltics, Cyrpus and Slovenia have per capita GDPs closest to the EU average—of 76 and 69 percent, respectively.
(Also see CITY PAPER’s EU page, here.)

Thursday—December 18, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Formal impeachment proceedings against Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas began Thursday, as expected. The process, initiated amid charges Paksas has links to organized crime, is almost certain to lead to his dismissal from office in a matter of several months. At least two-thirds of the 141-seat parliament are thought to back the impeachment of Paksas, more than enough to dismiss him.
(See reports below for more details.)

Wednesday—December 17, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Moscow for the first time has handed details to Estonia on the whereabouts of Soviet sea mines laid during World War II, information that will be used to clear the weapons from the Baltic Sea coast as a safety precaution, Estonian officials said Wednesday. A total of 100,000 such mines were believed to have been deployed by Nazi and Soviet forces in the Baltic Sea during the war, with 50,000 laid near Estonia and the other Baltic states. Shipping lanes have long since been demined and most of the leftover explosives, numbering over 10,000, have rusted and become duds; they are not thought to pose a major threat. “The existing danger is maybe one in a million,” said Estonian Defense Ministry spokesman Madis Mikko. He added, however, that Estonians have carried out intensive demining operations since it regained independence “just to be safe.”
Repeated Estonian requests over the years for details on the sea mines had always been turned down by the Kremlin and Russia’s delivery of the long-sought papers Tuesday came out of the blue. “Their initiative was a nice surprise,” he said. “Germany opened all its documents a long time ago. Now Russians are a part of that process. We welcome that.” The documents include precise coordinates of hundreds of sea mines placed along 3,794 kilometers of Estonia’s winding coastline. It would take time for the Estonians to determine whether the Russian information is accurate and complete, Mikko said.
After World War II ended, Western powers carried out massive operations to clear their waters of mines and most on the western side of the Baltic Sea were disposed of by the mid-1950s. But in the Soviet-occupied Baltic states, post-war mine clearing was haphazard and eventually abandoned altogether. In the 1990s, the Swedish Navy’s 21st and 41st Mine Clearance Flotilla was responsible for finding the vast majority of sea mines. Their operations, working with local Baltic navies, focused on major Baltic ports, like Riga, Tallinn, Klaipeda, Ventspils and Liepaja.

Friday—December 12, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Some key figures in the Baltic states are calling on Washington to reverse a decision to halt Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcasts to their countries—insisting the station, initially set up during the Cold War, still provided a valuable service. American officials said last month that the U.S.-financed corporation will stop broadcasting to the three Baltics, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia on Dec. 31, arguing the United States now needed to focus resources on troubled regions, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
But some in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said Friday that, even though they long since cast off communism and established stable democracies, RFE/RL still had a vital role, including by providing high-quality foreign news that most local media can’t afford to compile.
Baltic governments themselves, however, appeared to have accepted the U.S. decision—even though many officials had hoped it could have been put off for one or two years; their appears to be no push by any Baltic government leaders for Washington to change its mind. “Sure, we’ll miss the international news of RFE,” said Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Estonian parliament’s foreign affairs committee. “But it had to happen sooner or later. It’s understood RFE’s meant for countries that have problems with freedom of speech. Ours doesn’t.”
But Mari-Ann Kelam, a recent Estonian parliamentarian, said she was lobbying for RFE’s Estonian-service to stay on the air; the annual cost of operating that service was under 1 million dollars, she said. “U.S. international broadcasting as a public diplomacy tool is cost-effective and cheap, by U.S. budgetary standards,” she said. “There is growing anti-Americanism throughout Europe which is expanding, unfortunately, to the Baltic States as well.”
The six of the post-communist nations set to be struck off the station’s list of broadcast targets, except Croatia, are slated to join the U.S.-lead NATO alliance in 2004. It will continue to broadcast in Europe to Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia-Montenegro and Ukraine.
For decades, thousands of Balts saw RFE as their most important source of information about what was happening, not only in the rest of the world, but also inside the Soviet Union itself. Soviet jamming stations frequently tried to disrupt the broadcasts. Since the Baltics regained independence during the 1991 Soviet collapse, RFE has focused on providing world news in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian. It has been broadcast on shortwave but also via local radio stations. Many local newspapers have also used RFE staffers as their official foreign correspondents, and those publications will now be forced to look for alternatives.

Wednesday—December 10, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Four Latvians died after apparently plummeting several hundred meters down the side of a mountain in New Zealand early this week, police in the island nation said. It wasn’t clear whether the well-known Latvian climbers, including Teodors Kirsis, were heading up the nearly 4,000-meter Mount Cook or whether they had just started down from its summit. Their bodies were found Wednesday. Kirsis was one of the best known and most experienced mountain climbers in Latvia; his daughter was one of the four who died.

Tuesday—December 9, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Most Baltic observers appeared to take the success of a pro-Vladimir Putin party and several nationalist groups in stride, saying the results weren’t unexpected and shouldn’t dramatically affect Baltic-Russian relations, as lukewarm as they are.
United Russia, a coalition of parties that strongly backs Putin, won nearly 40 percent of Sunday’s vote and will now control nearly two-thirds of the Russian Duma; the Communist Party was in second place with 13 percent and the far-right Liberal Democratic Party, led by virulent nationalist Vladimir Zhironovsky, came in third with 12 percent.
All the pro-West parties, many of which have urged an improvement of relations with the Baltic states, failed to cross the five-percent threshold required to win seats.
Baltic-Russian relations haven’t been cozy or close since the Soviet collapse. But Baltic leaders have expressed hoped that there could be a normalization of bilateral relations in the coming yeas, especially after the Baltics enter the European Union and NATO. “Once we are in NATO and the EU, Russia will have to see that their Baltic policy, always accusing the Baltics of being troublemakers, has been a failure,” said Marko Mihkleson, chairman of the Estonian parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
Mihkelson agreed the election results would not have a dramatic impact on the Baltics, since relations were already what he described as “pre-normal.”) But he added that a more nationalist Duma could delay the process of fully normalizing bilateral relations. “This (improving of relations with Russia) will take a long time anyway,” he said. “But with these nationalists in there it might take a little longer… But the Duma has always been more decorative. It has always coming down to the will in the Kremlin.”
Winners in the Russian election also included nationalist journalist Alexander Nevzorov, notorious for his reports about the 1991 Soviet crackdown in Vilnius; he alleged at the time that the 13 Lithuanian demonstrators killed by Soviet troops had actually died in traffic accidents and of heart attacks.
(Also see Zhironovskyisms for past comments by the Russian nationalist about the Baltic states.)

Thursday—December 4, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas on Thursday canceled a planned meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in the White House next week—in another sign that his presidency may be fatally damaged over allegations he has organized crime links. He had earlier rejected calls for him to cancel the Dec. 8 meeting, but some media reports said Washington itself sent signals that it did not want Paksas to show up—forcing the Lithuanian president’s hand.
(See reports from earlier this week for more details.)

Wednesday—December 3, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) A Latvian man has been charged with killing 30 elderly women over the past couple years, posing as a gas-meter worker, then strangling and robbing his victims. Prosecutors announced the indictments Wednesday, saying it was the single largest murder case ever in the country. They declined to release the name of the 25-year-old, but he is thought to be a long-time resident of Latvia. Few other details were immediately available.

Tuesday—December 2, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Parliament began live televised debate Tuesday that could lead to impeachment proceedings against President Rolandas Paksas. Discussions about his alleged mob links were expected to continue for several days, after which a vote on starting the impeachment process is expected to pass.
(See details in Monday report below.)

Thursday—November 27, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia’s coalition government Thursday stepped back from the brink of collapse by settling bitter differences over tax-reduction plans, Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts said. One of the three ruling parties, the left-leaning People’s Union, triggered the crisis 10 days ago when it suddenly declared opposition to government proposals to lower the personal income tax rate next year to 24 from 26 percent—already one of the lowest rates in Europe. Parts said then he viewed the dissent as ending the People’s Union’s participation in the coalition, which includes his center-right Res Publica and the Reform Party. The eight-month-old government came close to falling, but never did.
The ruling parties agreed after three hours of talks Thursday to a coalition-saving compromise, which included staggering tax reductions over the next four years. There will be no tax cut in 2004, but the rate will be slashed to just 20 percent in 2007. “Peace has been restored within the government,” Parts declared to journalists after the negotiations concluded, parties leaders smiling and backslapping each other as they emerged from a conference room in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital.
The ruling parties control 60 seats in 101-seat Riigikogu parliament—with 28 for Res Publica, 19 for the Reform Party and 13 for the People’s Union. The government has already fulfilled its No. 1 goal during its short reign—passing a referendum on European Union entry in September with a 67 percent yes vote. The country, which regained independence from Moscow in 1991, formally joins the EU in May.
Until disagreements over taxes, there were few signs of overt division in the coalition, but debate about the 2004 draft budget brought underlying philosophical differences to the fore. Res Publica, or Republican Party, and the Reform Party have drawn support by calling for lower taxes, while the People’s Union has stressed the need for more state aid to the poor. Gross domestic product growth for 2003 is expected to approach a respectable 5 percent—though the government remains strapped for funds.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The Baltic states said Thursday they intend to draft a joint condemnation of communism, saying they want to go on the historical record denouncing the ideology before they enter the European Union in May next year. “This is a point of principle,” said Ave Mellik, spokeswoman for the Estonian Justice Ministry, which has taken the lead on the declaration. “We want to send a clear message about communist crimes that occurred here. EU countries need to understand what happened as well.” Mellik said the declaration was also meant to signal backing for the idea of paying compensation to surviving victims; all three Baltics have said Moscow should help foot that bill, which could run into billions of dollars, though Russians have balked at the suggestion.
Communist systems were imposed on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania after the Red Army invaded in 1940. Tens of thousands of purported opponents of the new regime were executed or deported in the years that followed.
Baltic justice ministers meeting in Tallinn were to begin drafting the communiqué, though it wasn’t expected to be completed for several weeks, Mellik said.
Leaders here have long complained that Western Europeans never fully appreciated the scale of oppression in the ex-Soviet Union and Eastern Europe—and have expressed dismay at Communist Parties in Italy and France that sometimes appear to romanticize Soviet rule. “But this declaration is not directed at them and they shouldn’t be offended,” said the justice ministry official. “How can they object to us condemning crimes against human beings?”

Wednesday—November 26, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) The HIV virus that causes AIDS is spreading fast in the Baltic states, as it is throughout Eastern Europe and across the former Soviet Union, a UN report released this week said. The study singled out Estonia and Latvia as among the worst affected nations in Eastern Europe, where, according to its figures, a high 1 percent of the populations injected drugs—putting the countries at especially high risk. Infection rates were more than tripling in the Baltics each year, the report said. The UN said increased heroin and other intravenous drug use, coupled with unprotected sex, were primarily responsible for the rapid spread of the deadly disease.
Overall in countries that once made up the Soviet-bloc states, some 230,000 people were newly infected this year alone—bringing the total tally of people with the HIV virus or AIDS itself to 1.5 million; nearly 30,000 people have died. It said the fact that HIV is being spread by younger people did not bode well, saying that made it all the more likely that it would spread more quickly into the general population.
(You can read the entire report here.)

Monday—November 24, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) A short excerpt from an editorial in Monday’s Wall Street Journal by Latvian Foreign Minister Sandra Kalniete. The article, which expressed Latvian support for U.S. policy in Iraq, was entitled Freedom Cannot Be Taken For Granted:
Latvia lost its independence in 1940 because its proclaimed neutrality was not effective and Western countries were not able to take a common line against two evil empires…. This is why Latvia decided to support coalition forces in Iraq. We were driven by conviction that it is our responsibility and moral obligation to share our experience and knowledge of successful transformation and transition process from a totalitarian regime to a democratic society with other countries, especially those that have suffered from a plight similar to ours.
During my recent visit to Iraq, I had the opportunity to look into the faces of the Iraqi people and get a glimpse of the situation on the ground. In the eyes of Iraqis I saw freedom, as well as intelligence, pride and courage. I also saw a mix of hope, doubt and uncertainty. These were the same feelings the people of Latvia experienced when we regained independence. Speaking with Iraqi ministers and senior staff, I thought I was going back in time. We faced the same challenges of monetary and economic reform, building state institutions—including raising administrative capacity….
Every totalitarian regime leaves deep wounds in the memory of the people. Such a society cannot develop in a normal and robust way, because it is divided between victims and those who committed crimes. We certainly know the value of reconciliation, because it is essential for dealing with all the sorrow and resentment of the past and moving on to building a cohesive and harmonious society in the future. Submitting to fair justice, those accused of committing crimes will help to heal the wounds….
(Also see a recent CITY PAPER interview with Kalniete… here.)

VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Up to 5,000 demonstrators in Lithuania called on President Rolandas Paksas to resign over charges that his office has links to organized crime in Russia. The Saturday protest was one of the largest such political gatherings since the country regained independence. Many Lithuanians say they are concerned about the influence that underworld figures may have in the corridors of presidential power and that the scandal that has been swirling around Paksas since early this month threatens to damage the country’s reputation. The president has denied any wrongdoing.
(See previous weeks reports for more details about the scandal.)

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The Estonian government crisis has not been resolved, even though government parties sent signals over the weekend that they are willing to consider compromises over divisive tax policy. Prime Minister Juhan Parts will be abroad until Thursday, so a final resolution is unlikely until at least then.
(See reports from last week for more details.)

Friday—November 21, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvian soccer coach Aleksandrs Starkovs put European soccer giants on notice Friday that his team won’t be a pushover in the championship finals next year in Portugal. He was speaking two days after his squad sent shock waves across Europe Wednesday by dramatically knocking out perennial powerhouse Turkey in a championship playoff. “This was a tremendous achievement for Latvian soccer. It was a sensation not only in Europe. In particular, it was a celebratory moment for our country,” he was quoted as telling the AFP news agency. “We aspire for new achievements. We have nothing to lose. All teams in Portugal will be favorites. But we recently faced this situation in matches against Sweden and Turkey, and we were able to (beat) them. The Euro championships will offer another chance to make little known Latvia’s name heard around the world.” Rob Hughes, a sports writer for the Straights Times, added in a column the same day that “with the Dutch and Spaniards in Portugal, and the fairy story from Latvia, it will be a better tournament.”
(For details on the stunning Latvian victory over Turkey and their unlikely qualification together with the likes of England, Holland and Germany, see Thursday report below.)

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The Estonian government Friday was still trying to stem coalition infighting over tax policy and prevent what, a few days earlier, seemed to be the impending collapse of the eight-month administration. Party meetings over this weekend were expected to come to some resolution—with the three ruling parties either agreeing to split, or finding a compromise and staying together.
(See reports below from earlier this week for details.)

Thursday—November 20, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia entered the annals of European sports history by tying Turkey 2-2 in the second and final leg of a European Championship playoff Wednesday night—thereby going through to the finals. The Latvian underdogs shocked the soccer-crazed continent Saturday by defeating the highly touted Turks 1-0 in the first-leg match in Riga, and then did it again by coming back from 2-0 down to dramatically tie Turkey late in the game in Istanbul Wednesday. Latvia won the series 3-2 on aggregate, prompting Britain’s Evening Times to write the headline—Turkey Roasted by Fighting Latvia.
Many European media portrayed the apparent mismatch as a battle between a David and Goliath; most assumed the affair would be a cake walk for Turkey. Latvia is rated 56th in the world by the international football governing body, FIFA; Turkey is No. 8. According to the two-match calculations, Turkey had to beat Latvia by at least two points to win the playoff, and they attacked hard and fast, scoring the first two goals Wednesday.
Turkey rolled out its big gun, the country’s all-time leading scorer Hakan Sukur, who didn’t play Saturday; and it looked like he might well pull the rabbit out of the hat and secure a Turkish place in the championship finals in Portugal next year. Both he and Nihat Kahveci scored to give Turkey a 2-0 lead before the 64th minute, appearing to present Latvia an insurmountable challenge. But Latvian Jurijs Laizans scored minutes later and rising star striker Maris Verpakovskis added one for good measure in the 77th minute.
Soccer Age magazine wrote before the game that Verpakovskis “is already the most popular man in Latvia after having scored three match winners in a row. But another goal in Turkey will elevate him to the status of living legend.” The same magazine had earlier described the Latvians as “Baltic nobodies” and said a Turkish loss “with what is essentially the same squad that finished third in the World Cup, would be an unmitigated disaster and probably would result in rioting in the streets in Istanbul.” But the Latvians have now earned the respect of observers across Europe, with many newspapers praising the way they played against the Turks.
In the end, there were no reports of rioting in Turkey. But in Riga, thousands of people streamed out from homes and bars after watching the victory, cheering and waving flags. Drivers around the city honked their car horns in celebration. The surprise Latvian win was one of the biggest sports stories of the week in Europe. “Sad Turks Stuffed by Latvia,” read a headline in Britain’s Daily Mirror; “Latvia Enjoys Finest Hour at Expense of Turkey” said The Times of London. The front pages of dailies across Latvia published photos of the national team and hailed the players as heroes.
The triumph was a decisive declaration that Latvia, whose national team was created a mere decade ago, is now a force to be reckoned with in European football; it was doubly meaningful coming the week of the Baltic state’s Independence Day holiday.
(See a picture of Verpakovskis from Wednesday night here.)

Wednesday—November 19, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The Estonian coalition government was widely expected to fall Wednesday or Thursday—though talks were still continuing among the various legislative players well into Wednesday night.
(See previous days’ reports for additional details about the crisis.).

Tuesday—November 18, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Hitchhiking, as Maris Bergholds will tell you, can be a risky business. The Latvian student is currently being held in a U.S. jail in Iraq after an ill-fated attempt to hitchhike through the war-torn country last month, according to Latvian media reports. Officials said they were hopeful he would be released soon after he was cleared of suspicion of being a foreign fighter. Bergholds was on a school project to the Middle East when he decided to head to Iraq, against what his mother agreed was his better judgment. After being arrested and languishing in prison for several weeks, a letter sent to his mother finally got through and she alerted authorities.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A junior coalition partner, the center-left People’s Union, is expected to decide Wednesday whether to stay in Estonia’s three-party ruling government. If if chooses to leave, that would collapse the eight-month-old administration. The two larger parties, the center-right Res Publica and Reform Party, are expected to form a new government if the People’s Union goes—most likely with a new coalition partner, the center-right Pro Patria (Isamaa.)
(See full report below for more about the government crisis.)

Monday—November 17, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia’s government slipped unexpectedly into crisis Monday and seemed on the verge of collapse after one ruling coalition party declared it opposed plans to lower the Baltic state’s personal income tax rate. The left-leaning People’s Union, the smallest party in the three-party bloc, took observers by surprise by announcing that it wanted to delay any such policy changes for Estonia, which already boasts some of the lowest tax rates in Europe.
But Prime Minister Juhan Parts, who heads the largest party in the coalition, the center-right Res Publica, said in a statement after meeting coalition leaders that he viewed the dissent as effectively ending the participation of the People’s Union in the government. His spokeswoman, Hanna Hinrikus, quoted Parts as calling the declaration by the People’s Union “irresponsible” and “unstatesmanlike,” adding that he had already begun the search for a new coalition partner to take the party’s place. As of late Monday, she said the coalition hadn’t formally fallen apart, but it seemed doomed
Until Monday, there were few signs of overt division in the coalition, which took power just eight months ago following parliamentary elections. But discussions about a 2004 draft budget appeared to bring underlying philosophical differences to the fore. The staunchly pro-business Res Publica and like-minded Reform Party—the third party in the coalition—made lower taxes cornerstones of their election campaigns. They want to cut Estonia’s flat income tax rate from 26 to 24 percent, saying the People’s Union earlier agreed. The People’s Union, which drew support by calling for more state aid to the poor and countryside, also said Monday that it wanted to ensure there was more money allotted in the budget to raise teachers’ salaries and to increase pensions for the elderly.
The prime minister’s spokeswoman said there was no question of Parts resigning and that he would find another partner in the 101-seat Riigikogu parliament. The current coalition controls 60 seats—with 28 for Res Publica, 19 for the Reform Party and 13 for the People’s Union. With their combined 47 seats, Res Publica and Reform should have little trouble finding a replacement. A likely option would be the small center-right Pro Patria, which has seven seats. Hinrikus said Parts met with Pro Patria leader Tunne Kelam Monday afternoon, though she stopped short of saying the meeting amounted to coalition talks.
Any new government with the same two center-right parties at its core would be expected to stay Estonia’s policy course, including strong backing for U.S. policy in Iraq. The Parts administration has dispatched some 40 Estonian peacekeepers to Iraq. The current government already fulfilled one of its top goals—passing a referendum on European Union membership in September with a 67 percent yes vote.

RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia stunned overwhelming favorites Turkey, a world soccer powerhouse, by winning 1-0 in a European Championship playoff over the weekend—proving that their surprising success over the past year has been no fluke. Saturday’s match was just the first leg of the two-game playoff, though the Latvians now appeared to be in the driver’s seat. Turkey must now win by at least two goals over Latvia Wednesday in Istanbul to knock the Latvians out and reserve their place in the European Championship finals in Portugal next summer.
Latvians have now earned the respect of observers across Europe, with many newspapers praising the way they played against the Turks. Maris Verpakovskis, pegged as a rising star and sought by several teams in England, scored the winning goal in the 29th minute in Riga, deftly stepping by one defender and tapping the ball into the net. He came close to scoring several minutes earlier. “This was a historic win for the Latvian team,” coach Aleksander Starkovs was quoted as saying after the game by Reuters.
Turkish coach Senoi Gunes put part of the blame on the wintry conditions in Latvia Saturday, saying his normally sun-drenched players had a hard time coping. Reuters quoted him as saying that “the weather clearly affected the way we played. We’re not used to this kind of weather.”
Good or bad weather, no one—this time—is likely to discount Latvia’s chances in Istanbul Wednesday night. If they win or hold Turkey to a draw, they will advance to the finals. Latvia’s coach said his team would go for the win, attacking as they did frequently on Saturday.
(Latvia, until recently, has been better known for its basketball and hockey teams. On this site, see Hockey Mad, about Latvia’s world-class squad.)

Friday—November 14, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The Lithuanian presidency of Rolandas Paksas was in dire straights by the end of the week after a spate of his top aides resigned following charges that officials at his headquarters, and possibly even Paksas himself, had connections with organized crime. Among those who stepped down—none of whom had themselves been accused of wrongdoing—were his foreign and economic advisers, as well as his press secretary.
A parliamentary commission is investigating the affair and was slated to interrogate President Paksas next week; if they find that the charges that first appeared in an official security department report are true, Paksas could be impeached. New elections would have to be held, less than a year after Paksas defeated incumbent Valdas Adamkus.
While attention is still focused on the current investigations and on the crippled presidency, some speculation has already arisen about who could take over. Some have suggested that Adamkus, a former American citizen who still rates among the country’s most popular figures, could be the front-runner if a new election is held.
(For further details on the scandal, see reports from the previous weeks below. Also, from the City Paper archives, see the article about Valdas Adamkus—Mr. President.)

Thursday—November 13, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia’s Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland has said that neighboring Russia remained a potential future threat—but that Estonia’s entry into the NATO military alliance next year would lessen dangers from any quarter. Speaking in an interview in the Postimees daily, she harkened back to the history of the Baltic states, occupied by Red Army troops in 1940. “We cannot forget or undervalue what has happened in history, and it is absolutely irresponsible to say the Russian danger is now over for all time—that it can never recur,” she said. But she was quick to add that the threat posed by Russia shouldn’t be exaggerated, that “the actual risks now come from elsewhere,” from international terrorism.
Once it is in the alliance, anyone who tried to attack Estonia “will be attacking a NATO country and countermeasures by the alliance will follow,” she said. “This is what NATO’s security umbrella is all about.” But Estonians must get used to the notion that, as members, they will be obliged to come to the aid of NATO states thousands of kilometers away, she added. “If someone were to attack (current NATO-member) Turkey,” she said, “it would immediately be our war too.”
(See related new article on this site, The Gift—about the new Occupation Museum in Tallinn.)

Wednesday—November 12, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The powerful American basketball team and the mighty Lithuanians, the reigning European champions, will be in the same Group B qualifying round robin at the Athens Olympics next year, according to a draw held over the weekend. That’ll lessen the chances the Lithuanians can win their group of six teams, which also includes Australia, Angola, Puerto Rico and the home side, Greece. Group A includes Spain, China, New Zealand, Argentina, Serbia-Montenegro and Italy. The top four teams from each of the two groups advance to the final tournament round, with their seeding determined by how well they do in the qualifier.
Lithuania picked up a bronze medal in basketball at the last three Olympics; it also came within seconds of a shock upset of the Americans in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

RIGA (CITY PAPER) Laila Freivalds, the new Riga-born Swedish Foreign Minister, arrived in her Latvian homeland Wednesday at the start of a two-day tour of the Baltic states. She was expected to focus on issues of European Union expansion, which Sweden has strongly backed—lobbying with particular passion on behalf of the Baltics. Freivalds, appointed after her predecessor Anna Lindh was murdered in Stockholm recently, fled Latvia as a small girl with her family when Soviet troops invaded at the end of World War II. Thousands of people from the Baltic states, mainly from Estonia and Latvia, escaped to Sweden in the 1940s.

Tuesday—November 11, 2003
HELSINKI (CITY PAPER) The seal population in and around the Baltic Sea has rebounded over the past three decades, the AFP news agency quoted researchers in Finland as saying. They said protection measures, including a 1970s hunting ban, as well as the cleanup of the Baltic Sea in recent years accounted for the increase of seal stocks to about 20,000—up from 15,000 in the late ’70s. Hunting advocacy groups are now calling for permission to hunt more seals, with some officials apparently inclined to heed those calls.
Estonia’s coastline is a favorite habitat for gray seals, and many go to tiny Estonian islets to give birth. Finland has the Baltic Sea region’s largest seal population.
(You can see a picture of a Baltic gray seal…here.)

Friday—November 7, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Giant choral festivals held regularly in the Baltic states for more than a century were among the cultural practices singled out by UNESCO as “masterpieces of humanity,” the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The Paris-based body chose 28 out of 56 proposed traditions from around the world for the prestigious designation, meant to raise public awareness of the unique cultural phenomena and help ensure they don’t die out, said UNESCO official Yoshihiro Higuchi. The tradition of public storytelling in Turkey, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia and Mexico’s colorful Day of the Dead celebration were among the others picked for the UNESCO title of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” An 18-member jury announced its selections Friday in Paris, only the second time UNESCO has added new entries since the UN organization created the designation in 1998; it brings the total number to 47. The next time entries will be added will be in 2005, according to Higuchi.
The Baltic song festivals, held every couple of years in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania since the late 1800s, feature as many as 20,000 singers in folk dress singing on stage at the same time. They draw several hundred thousand of spectators. “All the jury members were very impressed with the magnitude of these song festivals. They’re extraordinary,” said Higuchi, who worked with the UNESCO jurors as they assessed the various proposals—including by watching video films of performances. The main criteria were that the traditions “had to have outstanding value and that there was some risk of them disappearing or degrading,” he added.
The Baltic festivals, as the others named last week, will now be eligible for limited UNESCO funds, though Higuchi said it wasn’t yet clear how much they would receive. He said between 100,000-200,000 dollars was given to individual cultural protection programs in past years. He said the onus was also the home countries that nominated the practices. “UNESCO will help each state implement their action plans,” he said. “But UNESCO is not a rich agency. Our support is meant to supplement the efforts of the proper governments.”
UNESCO also has an older program to protect what it calls “tangible” objects of global importance. It has named over 700 physical objects, towns and buildings as so called World Heritage Sites, including the Egyptian pyramids and India’s Taj Mahal.
(To see the full list of UNESCO selections see here.)

STRASBOURG (CITY PAPER) The European Court for Human Rights has agreed to consider a petition from two former KGB staffers in Lithuania who said their rights were violated when they were fired from state jobs because of their past links to the Soviet secret police. Kestutis Dziautas was dismissed from his job as a Lithuanian prosecutor and Juozas Sidabras as a tax official after a law banning ex-KGB staffers from such high positions was adopted in 1999.
The case at the Strasbourg-based court, which could begin early next year, could produce a landmark decision—one that is likely to impact all three Baltic states, all of which have laws placing restrictions on ex-KGB. If judges rule against Lithuania, the Baltics could be forced to amend their anti-KGB legislation.
After Lithuania regained independence, it severely restricted the activities of former KGB staffers—arguing they couldn’t be trusted, weren’t loyal to Lithuania and posed a potential threat to national security. They were barred from holding elected office, and all top government leaders and parliamentarians were required to take an oath swearing they never worked for or cooperated with the KGB.
In 1999, the new law banned ex-KGB officials from holding virtually all state jobs, and even barred them from working in private security firms, as well as in banks and insurance companies. (These more recent restrictions do not apply to lower-level KGB workers, like support staff or paid informers.) The ban applied to hundreds of former KGB staffers in Lithuania.
The legacy of the once-feared KGB secret police has been hotly debated in Lithuania. Most Lithuanians seem to back the restrictions, but some say they’re too stringent, are unfair and impractical. Part of the problem has been identifying ex-agents. The KGB shredded and burned many documents as Soviet rule in Lithuania unraveled, and other sensitive files were shipped hastily back to Moscow for safekeeping.
(See related story, Stalin’s Agents.)

Wednesday—November 5, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) A powerful new Latvian radar is able to look far into Russian airspace, raising the ire of Moscow; the multi-million-dollar Lockheed-Martin radar was switched on last week in the Latvian town of Audrini, near the Russian border. It has a range of some 400 kilometers and becomes part of the existing pan-Baltic radar network, called BaltNet, which was constructed to meet requirements for NATO membership. When the Baltics join the alliance next year, BaltNet will be hooked into NATO’s European-wide radar system.
In the years immediately proceeding Baltic independence, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had virtually no radar surveillance—and any planes could enter the region undetected simply by turning off their on-board transponders. But Moscow has said the modern new network, partly funded by NATO-member states, will inevitably spy on Russia’s military—and so pose a threat. Latvians, as the other Baltics, have adamantly denied the radars are directly against Russia; they point out that parts of the system will also be used to monitor commercial air traffic.
(For a related story on the BaltNet system from the CITY PAPER archives, see Alliance Bound.)

Monday—November 3, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania has been gripped by scandal after a leaked report accused high officials in the president’s office of having close ties to Russian-based organized crime. While President Rolandas Paksas has said he did nothing wrong, he is expected to face growing calls for his resignation as long as a cloud of suspicion hangs over him.
The allegations focusing on Presidential Security Adviser Remigijus Acas and several Russian businessmen remain murky, but suggest that Paksas may have received campaign donations earlier this year in exchange for promises to hand out political favors and appointments. The official report, written by the country’s nominally independent national security department, includes transcripts of conversations between presidential staff and figures said to belong to Russian organized crime.
But it wasn’t clear just how the groups might have used their connections to the president’s office to boost their criminal activities; a special session of parliament Monday did not immediately confirm some media reports that the underworld organizations were able to facilitate illicit trade, including of arms, through Lithuania. Several investigations, including one by parliament, are now underway and more titillating revelations are expected in the days and weeks to come.
Paksas, 48, defeated the heavily favored incumbent Valdas Adamkas in a presidential runoff earlier this year, surprising most analysts who saw Adamkus as a shoe-in for victory. Paksas, according to the report, received at least 400,000 dollars in donations from several businessmen believed to have ties to the so called Russian mafia.
Observers in Lithuania expressed concern about the country’s international reputation and standing should the allegations prove true.

Friday—Friday 31, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The European Union has pegged the Baltic states for strong economic growth for the next several years, with Lithuania assuming the star role in the pack. Lithuania should see GDP growth of 6.6 percent this year, followed by 5.7 and 6 percent in the proceeding two years, according to a report released this week by the European Commission. It said growth numbers for Latvia and Estonia would be only slightly less impressive: Latvia was expected to hit 6 percent in 2003, followed by 5.2 and 5.7 percent in 2004 and 2005; for the same three-year period, Estonia was looking at 4.4, 5.6 and 5.1 percent growth. EU analysts said conservative budgetary policies in all three Baltics underpinned the strong performances; Lithuania benefited from new tax breaks for reinvested profits as well as from a push to privatize the last large Soviet-era companies.
(You can read the entire EU report in PDF format… here.)

Tuesday—October 28, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian Neeme Järvi has been named the new music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. The appointment adds to his long list of musical duties, including director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and first principal guest conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. With over 350 records and CDs to his name, the 66-year-old Järvi is widely considered the most recorded conductor in history.
(Also on this site, see Bravo Paavo, a recent interview with Neeme Järvi’s conductor-son.)

Friday—October 24, 2003
MOSCOW (CITY PAPER) Russia’s giant Lukoil conglomerate will begin drilling for oil near Lithuania’s pristine Curonian Spit by the end of this year, despite objections from environmentalists that doing so could endanger this strip of land that has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, The St. Petersburg Times reported Friday.
The so called D-6 field is on the Baltic Sea shelf in Russian territorial waters, but just 20 kilometers from the Lithuanian side of the Curonian Spit—part of which is in Russia. Lukoil estimates that it could produce as much as 700,000 tons of crude from the site each year.
Lithuanian environmental groups have called on their government to protest the drilling plans, though Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas was quoted as saying in Moscow this week that Lithuania had no grounds to object—since the drilling is to be done in Russian waters, according to The St. Petersburg Times. He said he had been assured that the project would follow EU environmental-protection norms.
The sword-shaped Curonian peninsula, 350 kilometers from Vilnius, runs for some 100 kilometers parallel to the coast. Sometimes called the Baltic Sahara, it was a favorite summer retreat of Nobel Laureate Thomas Mann, who wrote about “the fantastic world of traveling dunes, pine forests filled with moose and birch between the bay and the Baltic Sea.”
(For an account of the popular tourist area on this site, see The Magic Spit.)

Thursday—October 23, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The European Union says it expects Russia to drop what are seen as punitively high trade tariffs on Estonian goods as soon as this Baltic state joins the EU on May 1, 2004—though Moscow has so far given no indication it intends to heed that call. “We very much hope they will eliminate (the tariffs),” Arancha Gonzalez, spokeswoman for EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. “It would be discriminatory treatment against Estonia if they aren’t.”
The tariffs, which double the standard trade duties on all Estonian products, have severely hampered Estonian access to the next-door Russian market and have been a major bilateral irritant since the Kremlin imposed them in 1995. Many Estonians said the tariffs were politically motivated, with Moscow at the time expressing displeasure with Estonia’s pro-West, pro-NATO bent and with what it alleged were citizenship policies that discriminated against Estonia’s large Russian minority. This Baltic Sea nation is one of just a handful of countries globally that must pay the double tariffs. Russia has granted all other ex-Soviet states, including Estonia’s two Baltic neighbors, Latvia and Lithuania, most-favored-trading status.
Before Estonia’s successful EU referendum last month, leaders here said Russia would have no choice but to drop the barriers when Estonia joins the bloc. The tariffs will violate a 1994 EU-Russian accord obliging Moscow to grant all EU states favored-trade status, they argued. Gonzalez said that was also the EU’s position. “We have drawn (Russia’s) attention to the fact that Estonia will have to be treated like any other EU member state when it joins,” she said, speaking by telephone from Brussels. “We have discussed this with Russia. If it doesn’t happen, we will take it from there.”
Many Estonian business leaders say they aren’t convinced Russia will abolish the tariffs, saying they expect Moscow to dig in its heels and demand negotiations on the issue. “Nothing will change,” Raivo Vare, who heads Estonia’s Pakterminal oil-transit company, was quoted as saying in Estonia’s Paevaleht daily Thursday. “They (Russian authorities) will find 110 ways how to avoid doing it.” “Our members are very interested in Russian trade, but nobody thinks the barriers will be dropped in May (when Estonia becomes an EU member),” agreed Kairi Kurm, a spokeswoman for the non-governmental Estonian Trade Council.
Russia hasn’t declared its official stand. “It’s a rather difficult question,” Dmitri Ivanov, press spokesman for the Russian embassy in Estonia. “It is still under discussion.” He declined to elaborate.
Before the Soviet Union unraveled in 1991, a majority of Estonian exports went to Russia. Today, less than 10 percent do, with the EU by far the largest trading partner now. Tariffs weren’t the only reason many Estonian producers gave up on Russia. Many concluded in the 1990s that Russian markets were too unstable and chose instead to forge trade links with much richer countries, like nearby Sweden and Finland; Estonian politicians after independence also wanted to reduce economic dependence on Russia, saying the close links put economic stability at the mercy of Russian reforms and also gave the Kremlin leverage should it ever hope to exert economic pressure to achieve political ends. But Estonian business associations say that even doubling Estonia’s now modest trade with their giant neighbor could prove a boon to this small but already economically dynamic nation.

Wednesday—October 22, 2003
HELSINKI The following is a brief excerpt from an editorial in Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat, by columnist Erkki Pennanen. The Tuesday article looked at Nordic-Baltic relations in the context of Baltic European Union membership next year:

…In all Nordic Countries there is extensive consensus on the sustainability of the key principles of the Nordic welfare state. As Estonia and the other Baltic States were being pulled into Nordic cooperation, the thinking was that they would feel a natural attraction toward the Nordic Countries, and that they would want to build their societies on the basis of the Nordic model. As EU members their citizens seeking work abroad would gravitate primarily toward the Nordic Countries. This belief has proven at least partly misplaced.
A recent opinion survey by the Center for Finnish Business and Policy Studies confirms previous studies, according to which the Nordic Countries are in an important position for the Estonians only in the development of cultural ties…. In Estonia the governments of the time of the country’s independence have followed models from Britain and the United States, and not those of the Nordic Countries.
The Nordic welfare states are considered too expensive and utopian as goals. The tendency is to promote economic growth by focusing on enterprise through increased competitiveness, and by creating conditions similar to those of tax havens for foreign capital. The aim is also to keep income taxes at a very low level.
At a discussion of three prime ministers held in Helsinki’s Finlandia Hall last Friday, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson openly warned Estonia that over time it would lead to an impossible situation in the EU: “We net payers in the EU do not want to finance the low taxes of other countries.”
In Persson’s view Estonia should start raising taxes instead of reducing them. It certainly is not acceptable in the EU that while the Nordic Countries levy income taxes of between 40 and 50 percent, the Estonian neighbors are only charging between 22 and 24 percent, and then want support from EU funds to fix their fiscal problems….

Monday—October 20, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Donn Nelson, the American who helped coach the Lithuanian basketball team that recently won the European Championships, will reportedly be granted Lithuanian citizenship, a Texas newspaper reported. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram said Nelson, the Dallas Mavericks’ president of basketball operations, was told about the government’s surprise decision by the Lithuanian ambassador to the United States. The 41-year-old Nelson, who is said to speak passable Lithuanian, was also Lithuania’s assistant coach when it won bronze medals at the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Lithuania won the European Championships for the first time since 1939 in September, beating favored Spain 93-84.

Friday—October 17, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A major movie based on the sinking of the MS Estonia and staring Donald Sutherland opened across Germany this week; it is expected to be distributed worldwide in coming months. The film plays fast and loose with the known facts, depicting the Estonia as having been sunk by an explosion set by Russian agents who wanted to foil a weapons-smuggling operation.
The Estonia sank in stormy seas en route from Tallinn to Stockholm in September, 1994. Over 800 of 1000 passengers perished in the accident, considered Europe’s worst maritime disaster after World War II. Investigators blamed the tragedy on poorly built bow door locks that gave way under the strain of powerful waves.
Some conspiracy theorists have long suggested that someone, possibly organized crime gangs, may have purposely sunk the Estonia in order to conceal contraband smuggling across the Baltic Sea.
Other theories include one that the Estonia hit a Russian submarine or that secret Swedish military weapons exploded on board. Some have suggested a massive conspiracy by the U.S. and Swedish governments to cover up the true cause of the shipwreck.
Investigators, however, have scoffed at the alternative accident theories; they say no single survivor, for instance, has ever reported hearing an explosion on board the Estonia the night it sank. “The only theory left is that it was sunk by a UFO,” said Uno Laur, an Estonian investigator.
(For a detailed, dramatic account of the sinking of the MS Estonia, see here.)

Tuesday—October 14, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A highly decorated Soviet war veteran has been named as a suspect in the deportation of Estonians to Siberia in the 1940s—one of the highest profile figures ever targeted in Estonia’s decade-long quest to bring Stalinist-era agents to trial. Arnold Meri, 84, is suspected of helping to deport over 260 purported opponents of the Soviet regime from Estonia’s Hiiumaa Island in 1949. He is thought to have played a role in organizing and overseeing the deportations on Hiiumaa, seen at the time as a bastion of anti-communist sentiment. Meri has strongly denied the accusations.
Estonia has convicted over half a dozen ex-officials, though most were low-level agents, carrying out the orders of those farther up the chain. Meri, however, was a well-known figure in Soviet Estonia, having once received the Order of Lenin—the Soviet Union’s highest national award—for fighting in the Red Army during World War II. He also held several top posts in government, including as chief adviser to the Soviet Estonian Minister of Education.
He is the cousin of recent Estonian President Lennart Meri, who was deported himself when he was just 12—with his mother and father. The ex-president is an outspoken supporter of the proceedings against ex-agents, saying the main aim is to shed light on the dark Stalinist era.
If he is eventually charged and convicted of crimes against humanity, Arnold Meri would face a maximum sentence of life in prison—though most convicted officials have received suspended sentences.
Several Kremlin officials have already sharply criticized the legal moves against Meri.
(See related story, Train No. 293.)

Friday—October 10, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Judges convicted two former Stalinist agents in Estonia Friday, handing them eight-year suspended sentences for taking part in the deportation of hundreds of men, women and children to Siberia over five decades ago. Judges said August Kolk, 78, and Pyotr Kislyi, 82, helped round up the purported opponents of the new communist regime on Estonia’s island of Saaremaa in March 1949, several years after the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic Sea nation. The victims were loaded onto ferries and then cattle trains for the 2,000-kilometer journey to northern Russia. In total, some 20,000 Estonians were forcibly exiled that same month to Siberia, where many perished in the harsh conditions.
The trial at the island’s Saar County Court in Kuressaare was watched closely by the island’s close-knit, 40,000 residents, many of whom had relatives who were deported or were deported themselves. The proceedings started last year as one of the biggest trials of its kind, with eight suspects facing the court together. But the number of accused dwindled after six of the men, all in their 70s and 80s, were deemed too ill to stand trial.
Kolk and Kislyi, who maintain their innocence, said they would appeal Friday’s verdict. Both argued that, while they may have been involved in carrying out deportations, they did not break any laws in effect in the Soviet Union at the time.
Over half a dozen former Soviet agents have been convicted in Estonia, where officials say the main aim is to shed light on the Stalinist period—not to mete out stiff punishments. Only one convicted agent, Karl-Leonhard Paulov, was ever jailed; the 77-year-old died in 2002 after serving a year of an eight-year term.
Moscow, however, has consistently denounced the trials as revenge against ailing old men, some of whom, Russia alleges, are Soviet war heroes.

Wednesday—October 8, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Estonia and Lithuania fared comparatively well in an annual index released this week that ranks countries from the least to most corrupt, though Latvia came through with less than flying colors. The Transparency International index put Estonia 33rd and Lithuania 41st out of 133 nations ranked—while Latvia showed up in relatively embarrassing 57th place, behind the likes of even Belarus and Bulgaria.
The respected anti-corruption watch-dog talked to business people, analysts and members of the general public in the nations surveyed to come up with their rankings. In its points system, a score of 10 is considered “highly clean” and 0 is considered “highly corrupt.”
Estonia received 5.5 points, Lithuania 4.7 and Latvia 3.8.
“All the Baltic countries—Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, although Latvia is still facing severe problems—are getting somewhat better,” Miklos Marschall, Transparency International’s executive director for eastern Europe, told Radio Free Europe. “Very slowly, but there is definitely an improvement.”
Finland, Estonia’s neighbor to the north, topped the list as the least corrupt country in the world; all the Nordic nations were ranked in the top ten. Bangladesh appeared at the bottom of the list.
The focus was on perceptions of how corrupt countries are, not on actual incidents of corruption. Spokesmen for the company have said that any score under 6.0 should be cause for concern in a country.
(For information about the survey and to see the full corruption index, see Transparency International’s website at www.transparency.org.)

Monday—October 6, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) French rock star Bertrand Cantat, who allegedly beat his actress-girlfriend Marie Trintignant to death this summer in Vilnius, is seeking to have the distribution of a new book that calls him a murderer withdrawn from circulation. The book, by Trintignant’s mother Nadine, does not refer directly to Cantat anywhere—it simply refers to “the murderer” throughout, according to France’s AFP news agency. The death of Trintignant was headline news in France for weeks and the drama has since remained the focus of public attention; Cantant’s home was even burned down in France, apparently as an act of retribution by fans of the actress. Cantat, who claims her death was an accident, is in a Lithuanian prison awaiting trial. His lawyers were expected to file suit against the new book, called My Daughter Marie, within the next several days.
(For a full account of Trintignant’s death, see Tragedy in Vilnius on this site.)

Friday—October 3, 2003
STOCKHOLM (CITY PAPER) Laila Freivalds, appointed as the new Swedish Foreign Minister Friday, is a Swedish-Latvian who fled her homeland along with her family as Soviet troops invaded the country at the end of World War II. She replaces Anna Lindh, who was killed while shopping in Stockholm a month ago. Freivalds was a justice minister in previous Social Democratic governments. Thousands of people from the Baltic states, mainly from Estonia and Latvia, escaped to Sweden in the 1940s.

VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) European Commission President Romano Prodi has reportedly backed a plan to build a major railway service running from Tallinn, through Riga and Vilnius to Berlin—in a bid to provide an efficient land-link from the Baltics to the EU. The Baltic states, which are slated to join the EU in May, currently have no single train connection from Europe—or, for that matter, one that runs regularly between the three Baltic capitals. “The construction of this railway branch will become an accomplishment for the entire Baltic Sea region and will help reduce the gap in the region’s economic development,” Lithuania’s President Rolandas Paksas was quoted as saying after speaking with Prodi by phone this week.
Earlier, the long-dreamed-about line, dubbed Rail Baltica, was not on the EU list of priority transportation projects, and Prodi reportedly said he will now lobby for its inclusion. The EU is expected to make a final decision around the end of this year.
The plan, which Baltic leaders have widely signed on to, involves replacing Soviet-era tracks, then installing modern electric trains that can travel 200 kilometers per hour from Estonia’s capital to Berlin in just seven hours.
While these sea-coast nations have all now approved referendums on joining the EU, traveling from what will be the outer northeastern edge of the European bloc to the center of business and cultural life on the continent remains cumbersome, time consuming and costly—leading many people here feeling isolated. Advocates say the new line could foster EU goals of bringing Europe together—economically and culturally.
There is no regular passenger or freight train traffic from the Baltic countries to Western Europe, and car or bus travel from Tallinn to Berlin via the mostly single-lane, poorly lit Baltic highways can take 20 hours or more. Many locals also consider flights prohibitively expensive. A plane from Tallinn to Berlin can cost over 500 dollars—more than average monthly wages here. Officials said tickets on the new train would cost half that.
Rail Baltica would run some 1,500 kilometers from Tallinn to Berlin. The project—five years in the planning by Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians—has also been introduced to officials in Poland, through which the train would also have to run. Poland reportedly reacted favorably. (Finland, which could also put the new route to good use, has also been involved in talks.)
Officials say they hope the project could be completed in 12 years. It would take a decade to lay the EU-standard, 1435-millimeter-wide track—which would replace the wider, 1520-millimeter track favored by Soviet engineers.
Proponents say the potential economic benefits are clear, arguing that it would increase cargo traffic and tourism. Tourism officials, especially in Latvia and Lithuania, have complained for years that there were not enough cost-effective ways for tourists to get here; the vast majority of visitors to Estonia arrive by ferry from Finland.
Most Baltic trade with Western Europe—including of Russian oil en route through the Baltic states to Western markets—is done through seaports. Because of a lack of lines, there is little trade with the West by rail. (A large amount of Baltic trade with Russia is conducted by rail, thanks to the Soviet-built networks that run east.)
The price tag, a whopping 1 million dollars per kilometer of track, would be beyond the means of Baltic governments. Without the EU’s help in constructing the 1-billion-euro plus line, it will almost certainly not be completed.

Thursday—October 2, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania has registered the highest half-year GDP growth figure in the Baltics states, of nearly 8 percent. It seems on track for annual growth of around 8 percent, or possibly higher, which would give it one of the highest GDP rates of any country in Europe. Latvia and Estonia, which have grown faster in previous years, are looking at growth figures of closer to 5 percent.

Tuesday—September 30, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Patriarch Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, ended his first visit to Estonia in ten years Tuesday—a five-day trip that appeared to signal a thaw in sometimes frosty relations between Russia and Estonia. The visit of the 74-year-old Russian spiritual leader, however, did not appear to resolve all the outstanding issues surrounding the status of Orthodox faithful in Estonia, a dispute that once threatened to split Orthodox Christians worldwide. Just hours before leaving Estonia, however, Alexy did meet with a representative from the Turkey-based Patriarchate in Istanbul—which has sparred with the Moscow Patriarchate over who has rightful jurisdiction here—an unscheduled encounter that was a rare conciliatory gesture.
While Estonians viewed him as an emissary of the Russian government, Alexy mostly avoided overt politics—billing his visit as a homecoming. He was born and raised in Estonia during its first period of independence, when religion in Russia was suppressed by dictator Josef Stalin. “I feel Estonia’s my homeland and these days here were very happy ones,” Alexy, in flowing black robes and gripping a gold-handled staff, told journalists after meeting Estonian President Arnold Ruutel Monday. He spoke in Estonian, a vowel-rich language he learned as a child; Estonians also hailed both his appeal for Russians living in Estonia to all learn the national language and his call for them to be loyal to Estonia. Earlier, he said prayers over the graves of his mother and father in a cemetery in Tallinn and also held services at the hilltop, onion-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral—where 1,000 devotees squeezed into the 100-year-old church to hear the Patriarch say liturgy.
Estonia’s government rolled out the red carpet for Alexy, eager to signal to the Kremlin that any desire for better relations was mutual. By all accounts, Russian President Vladimir Putin also gave his blessing to the trip, even calling the Patriarch while he was still in Estonia to wish him well, Estonia’s Postimees reported. Estonia in the past has accused Moscow of trying to bully it, while Russia has alleged that Estonia discriminates against its Russian minority. Ruutel held a lavish state dinner in the Patriarch’s honor and even presented him with Estonia’s Maarjamaa Cross, a high national award granted to just a handful of foreigners since the country regained independence during the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The visit wasn’t tension-free, however.
Some Estonians politicians blasted the decision to bestow the Maarjamaa Cross on Alexy, citing allegations that he once had close links to the Soviet secret police, the KGB; others expressed deep suspicion about his motivations, implying that he was acting in the interest of Russians bent on restoring control over the Baltics. Conspicuously absent from his own itinerary were services with thousands of Orthodox here, mostly ethnic Estonians, who a decade ago switched allegiance to the Turkey-based Patriarchate in Istanbul, formerly the Byzantine capital Constantinople—headed by Patriarch Bartholomew. Ethnic Russians stayed loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate—headed by Alexy. In a strongly worded statement in 1996, Alexy decried what he said was the “tragic division of Orthodoxy” caused Bartholomew accepting the Estonians under his wing. Many Estonians believers had argued that Alexy was too close to the Kremlin and that they didn’t trust him. That year, Alexy went so far as to prohibit Russian clergy from holding services anywhere in the world with clergy subordinate to Bartholomew _ though within several weeks he rescinded what at the time came close to prompting a full-blown Orthodox schism.
As he arrived in Estonia last week, Alexy reportedly rejected suggestions that he preside over a joint service for all Orthodox—as a way to help heal lingering bitterness between the two Orthodox branches here—and between the Moscow- and Turkey-based Patriarchate’s. But in a surprise move, Alexy did accept in invitation to sit down with the head of the Estonian-dominated Orthodox Church in Estonia, Metropolitan Stephanos. “I invited him and there was no answer at first, but at least, at least at the last moment, he came to see me,” Stephanos said. “It was very positive that we had contact _ and for a full hour. We could explain our difficulties.” “I said to the Patriarch that, in the future, I hope we find a solution to our problems,” he added.
Tempers had already eased—even before Alexy’s visit to Estonia. The two branches of the Orthodox church in Estonia last year took steps to address disputes over rights to scores of churches and hundreds of acres of land—though Alexy said more needed to be done to resolve the complex, historically based disagreements over property.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) An International Monetary Fund official is the prime suspect in the theft of a 200-year-old Chinese porcelain exhibit from a museum in Estonia over the weekend. The woman, whose name was not released, was arrested just hours after the reported theft of the intricately painted, red- and blue-colored dish—valued at around 1000 dollars—as her plane from Tallinn, landed in Denmark Saturday, according to Estonian police spokeswoman Kadri Palta. The IMF confirmed the woman worked for the organization, though it declined to comment on whether she had been in Estonia on official IMF business.
Surveillance photos published in Estonian newspapers Wednesday showed a neatly dressed woman with short black hair walking into an exhibit room at Tallinn’s Mikkel Museum, reaching up, unhooking the frisbee-sized plate from a wall and slipping it under her coat. Museum workers noticed the item was missing only 30 minutes later, after the suspect called and then left in a taxi. Security located the taxi company she used and traced her to a local hotel—though she’d already checked out and boarded a Copenhagen-bound plane.
The Estonians quickly alerted Danish customs, who searched the IMF employee’s bags upon her arrival and found the museum piece. She reportedly denied knowing it was stolen, claiming she purchased it at an outdoor flee market in Tallinn, according to Estonia’s Postimees daily.
Estonian police said they would soon request the suspect’s extradition from Denmark to stand trial here. If convicted of theft, she faces a maximum three-year jail sentence, Palta said. The plate was expected to be returned to Estonia within several days, the spokeswoman said.

Tuesday—September 23, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian opposition leader Edgar Savisaar has reportedly suffered a heart attack, though his condition at a Tallinn hospital wasn’t clear. The 53-year-old, Tallinn’s mayor and leader of the center-left Center Party, fell ill Monday night after returning from a trip to Germany, Estonian media said.

Monday—September 22, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia on September 20 followed Estonia by decisively approving a referendum on European Union membership. But a major government crisis followed on the tail of that triumph, with three of four ruling parties set to bolt Prime Minister Einars Repse’s center-right administration.
The margin of victory for the yes-camp in the referendum was virtually identical to that in Estonia six days earlier—with 67 percent of Latvian voters saying yes. Latvia, like Estonia, was seen as having at least an outside chance of spoiling the EU’s expansion party by snubbing the powerful bloc. But in the end, the battle with EU skeptics was barely a contest at all. Some 70 percent of eligible Latvian voters turned out to cast ballots, one of the highest figures for an election or referendum since the early 1990s.
Most of the arguments for and against the EU in Latvia were also similar to those made in Estonia, with supporters saying membership would boost living standards and security, and opponents contending that price rises and a loss of national sovereignty would be a consequence of entry.
The pre-referendum campaign in Latvia was much lower key than in either Estonia or Lithuania (which approved its referendum by 91 percent margin in May), with few EU ads visible on the streets around the country. Leaders, however, did conduct a TV blitz in the days and weeks before the vote, warning that Latvia risked economic and political isolation in Europe if it did not join the bloc. Estonians were also anxious about the possibility of Latvia saying out of the EU, something that would have effectively made the northern Baltic state an EU island next year—surrounded by non-EU states and, blocked by Latvia, with no direct access by land to borderless EU markets.
On the home front in Latvia, however, politics interfered to somewhat sour the EU victory celebrations. Three of four of the coalition partners in Repse’s government called on him to resign Monday, two days after the referendum, angrily criticizing him for what they said was his odd, uncommunicative, sometimes pushy management style. There have been signs of strain in the year-old coalition for months, though the partners decided to stick together until the referendum, so as not to jeopardize a yes vote.
The formation of any new government, following what now seems almost certain to be Repse’s impending resignation, will be extremely difficult. There are eight parties in the 100-seat parliament and none has even close to a majority. Deep personal animosity between party leaders, even among those on the same side of the political fence, will also make a new coalition deal painful to hammer out.

Wednesday—September 17, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuanian basketball is back on top of the world, well, at least of Europe—after winning the European Championships for the first time since the then-dominant Lithuanians won in 1939 and 1937. The Sunday victory over favored Spain by a comfortable 93-84 margin prompted displays of euphoria in the streets of basketball-crazed Lithuania, which has long been to European basketball what Indiana is to the United States. Along the way, Lithuania beat the likes of France and also Latvia—by just one point.
By making it to the finals, Lithuania automatically qualified for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where they will be favorites for a medal. They had only one NBA player at the European championships in Sweden, but could have as many a three in Athens—should twin towers Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who plays for Cleveland, and Robertas Javtokas, who plays for San Antonio, be fully fit to play by then.
One ESPN analysts waxed poetically about what he described as the Lithuanians’ “Princeton-style basketball,” who are “loaded with sharp-shooters who need just a little bit of daylight to knock down a 3-pointer” and “who rarely make mistakes.” And Lithuanian fans, he went on, “are the rowdiest fans in the world. They blow ear piercing whistles that sound like a massive swarm of killer bees from the jump ball to the final buzzer—but only when the opponents are on offense.”
Since independence, Lithuania has won a clutch of bronze medals at the Olympics. During Communist rule, Lithuanians made up the bulk of the gold-medal-winning Soviet teams, and they also comprised the core of the Soviet teams that won the European Championships eight straight times starting in 1957. Many considered Lithuania one of the chief pioneers of European basketball before the war—at a time when few of the large countries on the continent paid the sport much heed.

Monday—September 15, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia today is more firmly rooted in the West than ever after decisively approving a referendum on European Union membership Sunday—fulfilling what, barely a decade ago, seemed like an impossible dream. One word, “Yes!”, filled the entire front page of Monday’s Postimees newspaper. In an editorial, the Estonian daily said the result would be particularly gratifying for the many Estonians who knew the “the atrocities of war and the hell of totalitarianism” in the 20th century. The Paevaleht daily published a drawing of a sun, dotted with stars from the EU’s flag: “The EU sun, shining on us now,” read the caption beneath.
Delighted Estonian leaders said the 67 percent yes vote marked the dawn of a new age for the country, which, for most of the past 800 years, has been sucked by force into one power bloc after another. “Estonia has returned, for good, to Europe,” Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts told a news conference Sunday night—after cheering in the result at a party at the Scotland Yard pub in Tallinn. “Spring has arrived in Estonia.” “This decision will guarantee the future of Estonia,” a smiling Kristiina Ojuland, the country’s Foreign Minister, concurred as the victory for EU proponents became clear. “In the dark days of its history, Estonia experienced first-hand what the Iron Curtain did to Europe,” said the head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, in a statement congratulating the Baltic Sea nation. “Now it can harvest the fruits of a united Europe.”
Some commentators sounded a sober note Monday, saying EU-bound Estonia still faced a host of social and economic problems, including a growing gap between rich and poor. One cartoon showed a man staring bewilderedly into his wallet a day after voting yes to the EU. “That’s funny,” he says, “it’s just as empty today as it was yesterday.”
Estonia is now slated to enter the EU as a full member next year—along with 9 other candidates; it is also scheduled to join the U.S.-led NATO alliance around the same time. Parts added that Estonia must now learn how to make a positive contribution to mighty power blocs, that, for the first time in its history, it has chosen to join voluntarily. “Estonia will have to become an active, small nation—one that also knows how to stand up for its own interests,” he said. Parts also said Estonia should not shrink from making its mark in the bloc—despite being one of the smallest new members. “Estonia can come out with initiatives to reduce red tape and to liberalize the economy and so on,” he was quoted as telling Postimees. Others said Estonia, in the EU, would be more ideally positioned than ever to serve as a trade-transit zone between the West and Russia.
Some 33 percent voted no to the EU Sunday, the Central Election Commission reported with 100 percent of the vote counted. Some 63 percent of 865,000 eligible voters cast ballots, though there was no minimum turnout requirement.
Twelve years ago, it looked like it would take decades for Estonia to meet EU requirements. The economy was in free-fall—with annual inflation topping 1000 percent, and Russian troops, remnants of a 50-year Soviet occupation force, still at hundreds of bases here. But radical open-market reforms were implemented immediately after communism unraveled, and Estonia quickly gained the reputation as the most successful of the 15 former Soviet republics. Growth boomed and inflation was slashed, standing now at just under 5 percent.
At times in recent months, Estonian opinion polls suggested lukewarm support for membership—raising at least the possibility that Estonians could snub the powerful European club. The government and businesses, spooked by the prospect of missing out on seamless access to lucrative EU markets, pulled out the stops—and campaign cash—to ensure victory. Pro-EU forces argued passionately that EU entry would boost living standards for most and, in the case of the elderly, at least for their children and grandchildren.
Both sides sometimes resorted to scare tactics.
Many pro-EU ads raised the specter that Estonia’s erstwhile ruler Russia could re-exert its influence if the nation stayed out of mainstream Europe. One refrain from EU backers was that “a no to the EU is a yes to Russia.” Opponents warned the EU will force Estonia to abandon it low-tariff, low-tax system that has helped it achieve years of impressive economic growth, at or above 5 percent. At an anti-membership rally before the vote, one protester said Estonians were about to lose their identity within the bloc; he held aloft a placard decrying the birth of the “Euro-Stonian.”
One key figure in the no camp, Igor Grazin, said he was convinced that any celebrations would eventually give way to deep regret. “EU membership may not be an immediate disaster, but the realization will come later—when people begin to realize that they’ve bought a ticket on the Titanic,” he said. “Even the Titanic set sail, at first, with lots of dancing and merry making.”

Wednesday—September 10, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Baltic entry into the European Union, planned for next year, could improve what have often been severely strained diplomatic and trade relations with neighboring Russia, officials in the Baltic states say. Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts said Wednesday, just days before a Sept. 14 referendum on EU membership, that his country’s entry into the mighty European bloc could help consign historical anxieties—dating back centuries—to the past. “It’ll make us feel more secure, and it’ll give us more stature,” said Part, speaking at his office in Tallinn, near a large orthodox cathedral that once symbolized Russian power here. “And Russia will see we’re not a bad country—just a normal European state.”
Upcoming, EU referendums in Estonia and Latvia—on Sept. 20—should pass, though not by nearly the 90-percent-yes margin of the May referendum in the third Baltic state, Lithuania. The Baltics, along with seven other candidate, are slated to enter the EU in May, 2004. Since the Soviet collapse restored their independence in 1991, all Baltics have complained at times about what they’ve described as Russian bullying. Moscow, in turn, has often accused Estonia and Latvia of discriminating against their large Russian-speaking minorities.
Recent Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Ilves said Russia won’t want to jeopardize its all-important trade and diplomatic relationship with the EU—and so could be expected to avoid direct confrontations with the Baltic states in the future. “For 12 years, Russia has constantly exerted political and economic pressure on the Baltic states, especially Latvia,” he was quoted as telling Estonia’s Postimees daily. “I presume that after Estonia joins the EU, Russia will abandon its harsh, arrogant policies … it will soften.”
Age-old trepidation about Russia among Balts is also likely to wane. Lingering fears is illustrated by one pro-membership advertisement in Estonia, trying to convey that EU accession will offer protection from Russia: It lists the half-dozen times neighboring Russia has waged war on Estonia, starting with Ivan the Terrible’s invasion in 1558. “Before, we were too weak to deal with Russia directly on our own,” said Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Estonian parliament’s foreign affairs committee. “In EU and NATO, we’re not alone anymore. That’ll make our politicians less emotional in dealing with Russia. That helps.”
Changing mindsets could also boost trade. Before the Soviet Union unraveled, the vast majority of Baltic exports went to Russia. Today, less than 10 percent do, with EU states now accounting for over 80 percent of Baltic trade. Legislators have complained for years about double tariffs imposed by Moscow on Estonian exports to Russia, saying they’ve stifled trade. Mihkelson said they’d be dropped automatically when Estonia enters the EU—according to EU-Russian trade pacts. Even doubling the Baltics’ now relatively modest trade with their giant neighbor could prove a boon to the small but already economically dynamic Baltic states _ who saw growth near or above 5 percent for several years straight and who have aspirations to become so called Baltic Tigers.
The Russian bear could also profit. “I recently talked to Russian officials in towns near Estonia,” said Mihkelson. “They’re definitely eager to see Estonia in the EU, to see the EU border so close. They know this will create great business opportunities for them.” Russian investors, already present here, are likely to be further enticed by the prospect that the nearby Baltics can provide seamless, duty-free access to the whole EU.
Ilves said EU membership for the Baltics, with their long if troubled history with Russia, would also mean displacing a nearby Nordic nation as the acknowledged authority on the East. “Finland,” after the Baltic states join the bloc, said Ilves, “will no longer be the Russian expert to which the EU turns.”

Friday—September 5, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) An Estonian journalist has been blacklisted by the country’s media after admitting he fabricated whole interviews with stars of world literature, film and business for three years, including most recently with billionaire businessman George Soros. The bogus interviews by 21-year-old Argo Riistan also included ones with Czech writer Milan Kundera, English playwright Tom Stoppard and Hollywood director Milos Forman, all of which appeared in leading publications here.
The affair echoes the scandal that rocked the The New York Times this year following accusations that one of its reporters, Jayson Blair, frequently quoted people he never talked to and wrote stories from places he never visited.
Suspicions were first raised after the freelance reporter offered the Soros interview to the local Sirp weekly. Its editors checked with Soros’ office after wondering how the youth managed to get access to such a prominent person: they were told the interview never took place. Sirp broke the story about the phony Soros interview in its new edition this week, after which Riistan was widely quoted as admitting a string of fabrications—including one-on-one discussions with English novelists Ian McEwan, Alex Garland and Martin Amis that never happened. “When my fear receded, I understood that the only option was to fess up,” Thursday’s Postimees newspaper, which itself had published some of the interviews, quoted him as saying.
The editor of the Eesti Ekspress weekly, in which several of Riistan’s interviews ran, apologized to readers for unwittingly playing a part in the deception. Tiina Kaalep said her paper had been “naive” and that “the written word had been devalued” by Riistan’s actions. Both Postimees and Eesti Ekspress said Riistan had apologized to them.
Riistan penned answers to his own questions or copied them from actual interviews he found on the Internet. Introductions to the pieces sometimes included colorful descriptions about pubs or offices where Riistan supposedly spoke with his VIP interviewees. He told Postimees he tried to arrange celebrity interviews, but invariably failed—then struck on the idea of making them all up by drawing on his own knowledge of art and business.
Expressions of alarm were also mixed with grudging admiration for Riistan, who, though he never went to college, became well-versed in world literature—reading original works in English, German, Russian and French. He also claimed to be able to read in Italian and Dutch. The Eesti Ekspress editor said flags were never raised because the involved, cogent questions and answers gave the interviews a strong sense of legitimacy. Kaaplep quoted some of her own staff as describing Riistan as “a genius.” She said her newspaper had the option of suing Riistan for damages, but she didn’t indicate whether Eesti Ekspress would actually take legal action.

Monday—August 11, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia’s main opposition party has come out against entry into the European Union—a dramatic decision that is expected to greatly intensify debate here in the run-up to next month’s closely contested referendum on EU membership. The other leading parties in Estonia, including the three ruling parties, all argue that entering the European bloc will improve the nation’s economic prospects and make the small, historically vulnerable country more secure.
But the left-leaning Center Party, which controls 28 seats in Estonia’s 101-seat parliament, became the first mainstream Estonian party to ever openly oppose the EU after delegates at its annual party congress voted over the weekend to adopt an anti-EU platform. Many delegates at Saturday’s gathering, including several Center Party leaders, spoke passionately in favor of EU entry. But others argued Estonia would be dictated to by larger nations within the bloc and that membership would mean sharply higher food prices, hurting the poor. One EU skeptic held a placard outside party’s meeting hall in Tartu that read, “EU entry is a project of the business and political elite.” Another said, “No to EU price rises and bureaucracy.”
Center Party chairman Edgar Savisaar appeared to waver about whether or not he personally opposed EU membership, saying he would have preferred a party platform that remained neutral. But in a speech before delegates voted, he had harsh words for the EU, saying he saw parallels between it and the centralized Soviet Union. Out 803 Center Party delegates who cast ballots, 341 favored the anti-EU line, 235 wanted the party to support membership and 227 called for the party to take no stand at all. Estonia’s referendum is on Sept. 14—followed by Latvia’s six days later. The two Baltic states are widely pegged as the most EU skeptical of the 10 nations scheduled to join in 2004. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta have already approved EU referendums—most by wide margins. Cyprus is leaving its decision to lawmakers. Opinion poll figures have bounced up and down for months in Estonia and Latvia, with the percentage of EU backers sometimes edging over 60 percent, then dipping close to 50 percent—depending on the question asked. Most polls show at least 10 percent of voters are undecided.
“A politician who compares the EU with the Soviet Union simply doesn’t know what the EU is,” pro-EU Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts was quoted as telling Monday’s Eesti Paevaleht daily when asked about Savisaar’s comments; he said he was still confident Estonia’s referendum would pass. The Postimees newspaper said in a Monday commentary that the Center Party’s anti-EU stance “could force the pro-EU camp to consolidate,” boosting the EU side’s prospects; it also said the move could lead to the Center Party’s political isolation—especially if Estonia does enter the EU next year.

Friday—August 8, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania seems set to follow Latvia and Estonia in launching an image campaign, or developing a so called country brand, to boost its profile in the rest of the world. The three Baltic states, sensitive about being misunderstood outside the region or not being known at all, have said that PR campaigns could help improve awareness of their countries, increasing investment and tourism. Lithuania’s Respublika daily reported Friday that officials want to stress the country’s modern, education-based economy rather than, as some suggest, spinning off a simpler, more specific item associated with Lithuania, like amber.
Lithuania’s economic development agency will take the lead in the image campaign, which is in its earliest stages. The foreign, cultural and defense ministries, as well as the tourism department, will also be involved.
Estonia, the first to launch a fully funded image campaign several years ago, decided to focus on two main slogans—”Welcome to Estonia!” and “Estonia: Positively Transforming.” Latvia held a major conference last year designed to help it formulate themes for its campaign, thought it hasn’t yet launched the project in earnest.
Some critics say such marketing campaigns don’t work, that they are mainly an indulgence of national governments—and have little impact on the rest of the world.
(For related features on this site, see Latvian Identity and Selling Estonia. )

Wednesday—August 7, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Some people, it seems, will do almost anything for a cheap drink. Latvian police said this week that they discovered a kilometer-long plastic pipe running from Russia to Latvia that was funneling illegally brewed spirits. Such moonshine, which is commonly purchased in the countryside across the Baltic states, is much less expensive than anything sold in stores. It is also far cheaper to make in Russia then in Latvia, so the black-marketeers involved stood to make a hefty profit, according to police.
The meticulously laid tubing was first spotted by Russian soldiers, who then tippled off their counterparts across the border; the Latvians then traced the makeshift pipeline to a faucet behind a cottage woodpile near Vilaka, in the northwest corner of Latvia. One Latvian resident was arrested Sunday, though it wasn’t clear if Russian officials also detained and charged anyone. Other spirit-carrying pipes have been found around the Baltics in the past, but never one so long. European Union officials fear that similar kinds of smuggling from Russia could increase after the Baltics, as expected, join the EU next year.
Illegally distilled liquor is seen as a major health hazard in the region. Not only is the purely distilled substance extremely potent in its own right, but producers sometimes mix potentially lethal methanol into the brew either by mistake or to give the alcohol more kick. In 2001, 68 people died in a matter of a few weeks in Estonia after drinking black-market alcohol that was heavily laden with methanol.

Friday—August 1, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Actress Marie Trintignant died Friday a day after being airlifted to her French homeland from Lithuania. Meanwhile, in the tragic drama that has made front-page news for days across France, a Lithuanian court extended the detention of leading French rock star Bertrand Cantat, Trintignant’s boyfriend, as the prime suspect in the fatal beating.
The 41-year-old actress was carried aboard a French private jet that earlier in the day flew from France to Vilnius, with her family saying they wanted her to die in her home country. The family was granted permission to repatriate her to France, though Lithuanian doctors steadfastly opposed the transfer, saying just moving her out of the intensive care unit could kill her. As they loaded Trintignant into the ambulance at the main hospital entrance to take her to the airport, photographers jockeyed for position around the stretcher—while her mother, appearing distressed, tried to shield her daughter from the cameras, hugging close to her body.
A Lithuanian judge Thursday ordered that Cantat, the 39-year-old lead singer of Noir Desir, or Black Desire, France’s most popular rock band, be held in the high-security Lukiskes Prison in Vilnius until August 14 to allow prosecutors more time to conduct their investigation. The dreary, high-walled Lukiskes Prison, in city-center Vilnius near parliament, appears to have changed little since it was built in the 1870s during Czarist rule. Many Lithuanian jails, like Lukiskes, are poorly kept, overcrowded and, in summer, simmering hot.
Cantat was moved to a hospital wing Friday after his mental health appeared to deteriorate and there were fears he might try to kill himself. Cantat appeared in the Vilnius District Court in handcuffs the day before, looking pale and dejected. He was unshaven, his head drooping forward, his eyes down. The actress’s mother, Nadine Trintignant, who had been directing a film in Lithuania starring her daughter, also appeared in court to address the presiding judge. In an emotional statement she said Cantat should remain in custody because he was a threat to other women. “Hatred is a negative feeling,” she said, speaking in French. “But I cannot help feeling it after these terrible deeds Cantat did to my daughter.” She also claimed that Cantat was known to have assaulted other women in the past.
Cantat told the court later that he was sorry about what had happened—but that it had been an accident; he also asked the Trintignant family for forgiveness. Cantat was first
detained Tuesday on “suspicion of causing bodily injury.” To hold him for longer than 48 hours, prosecutors needed a warrant from the court. Police identified Cantat as a suspect shortly after the alleged assault Sunday in the hotel in Vilnius where Trintignant was staying with her mother, son and Cantat. Cantat had been admitted to the same hospital
Sunday after drinking “dangerously high” amounts of alcohol. He was discharged Tuesday, then detained by police for questioning.
Local media have quoted doctors as saying Cantat’s fist showed signs of bruising and that broken vases and chairs were strewn about the hotel room where the attack supposedly took place. The hotel’s clients reportedly complained about shouting from the room Sunday and that a receptionist went to tell the couple to keep quiet; Cantat apparently apologized and said he would keep it down. France’s Le Monde newspaper quoted Cantat’s lawyer, Virginijus Papirtis, as saying Cantat slapped the actress after drinking heavily and that she lost consciousness and fell. She said Cantat believed she fell asleep, not realizing the gravity of her injuries for several hours. Doctors had said the actress was in a coma for at least two hours before an ambulance was called. Nadine Trintignant says if Cantat had brought her immediately to the hospital after hitting her, she would have survived. Investigators Wednesday brought Cantat to the scene of the alleged crime, where he gave the his account. Lithuanian newspapers ran pictures of life-sized mannequins used in the reenactment.
Authorities could take days or weeks before they decide whether to formally charge him or whether he could now be indicted for murder. Legal experts said that now seems likely.
Trintignant, daughter of French film star Jean-Louis Trintignant, never emerged from a deep coma pressure built on her brain from hemorrhaging. She has been Lithuania since June playing the lead role in a joint French-Lithuanian television movie called “Colette,” about a French female writer. The film, also starring Lambert Wilson, was directed by Trintignant’s mother.
Noir Desir, for which Cantat also plays guitar, has been a top-selling French group for many years. Their latest album, “Des visages, des figures” (Faces), was released in 2001 and has sold nearly a million copies. The three other members of Noir Desir have also flown to Vilnius.

Friday—July 25, 2003
TALLINN-HELSINKI (CITY PAPER) Estonian researchers say they’ve located the Russian naval ship Russalka—one of the earliest armored vessels of the age—that sank in the Baltic Sea 110 years ago killing 177 sailors. A 1902 Estonian monument to the Russalka, a bronze angel holding aloft a crucifix and tilting it toward the ship’s watery grave, is a popular tourist sight in Tallinn; some Estonian newly weds leave bouquets at its granite base to honor the sailors who died.
Built in 1868, the Russalka, or Mermaid in Russian, was one of the first so called iron-clads in the navy of the Russian Empire, to which Estonia belonged in the 19th century. It is said to have taken part in several key Russian naval battles. One of its last ports of call before it perished was Tallinn, though it was never determined just why or how it sank.
Divers this week videotaped the wreckage 25 kilometers from Helsinki and were later able to positively identify it as the Russalka; it lay some 75 meters below the surface. “We can say with 100 percent certainty that the shipwreck we found is the Russalka,” the head of the Estonian- and Finnish- funded expedition, captain Vello Mass, was quoted as saying in Friday’s edition of Postimees. He said the Estonians and Finns would first notify Russian authorities about the discovery before deciding whether to carry out salvage operations.
The Estonians, along with several Finnish researchers, spent over a month trying to locate the wreck. Early expeditions by other scientific teams failed to find it.

Wednesday—July 23, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) A blast at a propane exchange outlet killed five people and injured a dozen others in Riga late at night Tuesday. The massive explosion occurred on the edge of the popular Central Market, one of the city center’s most popular shopping venues, though the late hour meant fewer people were in the area.
Police said they were sure the blast was inadvertent, possibly caused by an employee inside the exchange point who may have been smoking as he refilled a propane cylinder after the center closed. The worker was killed inside the destroyed building—as were four farmers selling goods behind a nearby concrete wall that was blown over by the force of the explosion.
You can see the remnants of the building where the blast occurred in this photo.

Monday—July 21, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonians expressed shock and outrage as news spread Monday that cyclist Lauri Aus, a celebrated sportsman here and a respected competitor on the European circuit, died after being hit by a drunk driver as he trained on a country road in Estonia; he was 32. The eight-time Estonian champion and member of France’s AG2R team was cycling Sunday morning in south Estonia when a car traveling at high speeds plowed into him from behind, hurling him 20 meters down the road; he died en route to hospital, police spokeswoman Kadri Palta said. A breathalyzer showed the driver was “highly intoxicated,” said Palta, adding the man was arrested and would remain in custody until at least Tuesday. If convicted of causing a fatality in a road accident, the suspect, whose name was not given, only faces a maximum five years in jail—which critics say is far too little for such a serious offense.
Newspapers here said the cyclist’s death showed more must be done to prevent such tragedies in Estonia, which has one of Europe’s highest road fatality rates per capita; in 2002, some 220 people died and 2,800 were injured in traffic mishaps. Police blame many deaths on people driving drunk but also say a culture of recklessness is also at fault. “We can’t get back Lauri Aus, a top cyclist and a wonderful human being,” wrote Estonia’s top daily newspaper, Postimees, in Monday editorial. “Let’s acknowledge that he was a victim of our society and mentality. How badly we need zero tolerance right now (for drunk driving).” A local cycling club, the Prusakov Bicycle Society, said it would hold a road race in honor of Aus, stopping in front of the main government building in Tallinn to protest what it said in a statement was far too lenient treatment of drunk drivers. Aus remembered with a minute’s silence at the start of the 15th stage of the Tour de France Monday. He never won a major international title, but often placed well, including 5th at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and 7th at the 1997 World Championships in road racing

Friday—July 18, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Officials banned Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas from the sport for one year for a positive drug test during the Giro d’Italia race earlier this year. Rumsas had adamantly denied taking performance-enhancing drugs despite two tests showing traces of erythropoietin, or EPO. The Lithuanian federation could have imposed a maximum four-year ban, but said it took into consideration that this was his first offense and that he is the father of three children and the family’s only wage earner.
Last year, Rumas gained notoriety after his wife was detained for more than two months for carrying suspected drug products the day her husband finished third in the 2002 Tour de France. Rumsas denied taking banned substances at that event, and all his tests came back negative. He said the products in his wife’s car were for his mother-in-law.

Tuesday—July 8, 2003
SONKAJARVI, Finland (CITY PAPER) Estonians are once again savoring victory in wife carrying, an unlikely sport in which they have become acknowledged world masters. Margo Uusorg and Egle Soll, both in their 20s, grabbed the 11th annual World Wife-Carrying Championship title in Sonkajarvi, Finland over the weekend—making it six straight victories for Estonians in the increasingly popular event. The competition, widely covered by international media, involved husbands carrying their wives around a 250-meter course that included hurdles and chest-high water pools. Nearly 10,000 people watched dozens of couples take part in the event in the small Finnish town as the Estonians edged out another set of Estonians into second place; Danes came in third. Contestants came from all across the Nordic region and as far away as Ireland. The most favored style for carrying wives is with the women upside down and her thighs gripping the man’s head and her arms wrapped around his stomach; the technique, developed by previous Estonian champions, has been dubbed “the Estonia Carry.”

Wednesday—July 2, 2003
(CITY PAPER) The three Baltic states, staunch supporters of the United States for years, criticized Washington’s decision this week to cut off U.S. military aid over their failure to sign agreements promising never to hand Americans over to the International Criminal Court. Some Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians said Wednesday that the cutoff could be seen as a slap in the face after they went out on a limb earlier this year to back Washington’s policy on Iraq; all three have also sent peacekeeping troops to the Persian Gulf. “As future NATO members, we expect to be dealt with as allies, not like this,” said Marko Mihkelson, head of the Estonian legislature’s foreign affairs committee.
Baltic hesitation about signing immunity deals stemmed from their plans to also join the European Union, which opposes current or future members signing such agreements. But the Baltics, once extremely nervous about offending one side or another, now seem to have sided firmly with the EU. “Estonia’s position is that we accepted the International Criminal Court and don’t see, as a future EU member, any serious reason to join the U.S. immunity agreement,” Mihkelson said. Latvia and Lithuania also said they will now follow the EU’s lead.
The United States has been among the largest contributors of military aide to the Baltic states, providing tens of millions of dollars over the past several years. U.S. aid to the fledging Baltic armies—which, combined, number less than 20,000 troops—has been key to their efforts to modernize. Estonia, for instance, received 3 million dollars last year, part of which was used to buy 44 helicopters. U.S. aide has also been used to build a pan-Baltic radar network, the absence of which had made the Baltics almost completely vulnerable to airborne attacks. But Estonian Defense Ministry spokesman Madis Mikko said that all 6 million in aid from the United States this year had already been spent, so the aid cut wouldn’t immediately affect Estonia. He said he understood aid would resume after the Baltics enter NATO next year. “So we’ve really lost nothing. It’s not tragic,” he said. “It’s more a political issue.” Lithuania’s 12 million and Latvia’s 10 million has also been allocated before the July 1 cutoff of aid, so it would also not be lost. The fact that the Baltics were able to spend this year’s money in ample time seems to suggest Washington intended, first and foremost, to make a political statement rather than to actually penalize or damage Baltic militaries.
Mihkelson added that he didn’t think the U.S. measure would have long-lasting consequences. “I don’t see this as a disaster,” he said. “The overwhelming feeling here and in Washington is that relations are very good and I don’t think this particular issue will turn that around.”
(For an international press report on the cutoff, see here.)

Monday—June 23, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian officials say that 2 percent of the country remains contaminated by Soviet-era pollution, adding that it will require at least ten more years and the help of European Union money to clean up the worst areas. Estonia’s Environment Ministry said about 900 square kilometers of the country’s of 45,000 square kilometers, or about 2 percent, are thought to have environmental problems that date back to Soviet rule, most from Soviet bases that dotted the nation.
Ministry spokesman Rene Reisner said Estonia will soon apply for a 7-million-dolar grant from the EU to help pay for the clean-up. Estonia, along with Latvia and Lithuania, is slated to join the bloc next year. He said Estonia was bound by EU membership treaties to clean up the pollution. Kertu Kaera, a spokesman for the EU’s office in Tallinn, said the EU was “aware of the environmental problems” and would favorably consider requests for aid.
After the Soviets occupied the Baltics in 1940, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were home to tens of thousands of Red Army troops. Moscow withdrew its last troops from the region in 1994, three years after the Baltics regained independence. More than 1,000 Soviet military installations were located along Estonia’s 3,800 kilometers of winding coasts, in the country’s dense forests or on islands, with dozens of bases and bunkers in and around Tallinn.
The money to be requested from the EU is only a fraction of what officials say they need to fully erase all traces of Soviet abuse of the land. The environment ministry has said the environmental damage caused by the five decades of Soviet occupation was as much as 5 billion dollars, or larger than Estonia’s entire annual budget of about 3 billion dollars. But Reisner said 1.5 billion dollars must be spent over the next ten years to bring the country into compliance with EU regulations by 2013.
Some of the worst damage was in the coastal town of Paldiski, 50 kilometers from the capital, where the Soviets had a nuclear submarine base. The area is still littered with spent shells and some nuclear waste, though the most dangerous residue has been contained. The nearby islands of Pakri were used for target practice by Soviet long-range bombers that flew in, showered explosives onto the islands, then returned to Russia, according to Madis Mikko, a spokesman for Estonia’s Ministry of Defense. Cleanup projects are underway on the islands. At Soviet air bases in Estonia, pilots often dumped tons of airplane fuel to hide evidence from their superiors that they hadn’t flown the required number of training hours, Mikko said. “There was a time when you could dig down to the water table level in some places and find virtually pure fuel oil, take it out and set it alight,” he said. “But a lot of the worst areas were cleaned several years ago.”
Estonian officials have said Moscow should help pay for the clean-up, but said that was unlikely to happen. “The rest of the world is funding the cleanup of Russia’s own environmental problems,” he said. “So I have no hope Russia would pay us. But it would be morally correct.”

Friday—June 20, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, as expected, won an overwhelming victory in the presidential election held by parliament Friday. The 100-seat legislature, in a business-like process that lasted barely an hour, voted to give the incumbent a second term by a vote of 88 to 6.
(See story below for more details.)

Thursday—June 19, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia’s 100-seat parliament votes for president on Friday, though the affair is not expected to involved any suspense—with incumbent Vaira Vike-Freiberga the only candidate as of the eve of the election. Even with a last minute challenger, she is seen as a sure winner in the election, which is likely to take place with little fanfare. Vike-Freiberga, 65, is heralded by many Latvians as one of the country’s brightest, most competent and trustworthy leaders. Despite coming out of nowhere four years ago to win the election in a shock victory, most observers say she went on to display adeptness, especially in foreign affairs and in leading Latvia to the door of NATO and the European Union. Some have said she has been far too close to the United States, though this has not appeared to seriously dent her popularity.
(For more on Vike-Freiberga from the CITY PAPER archives, see Ms. President, Iron Lady and, most recently , Tea With the Iron Lady.)

Wednesday—June 18, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) It will take the Baltic states some 30 to 50 years to catch up to living standards in current European Union states, according to a study released this week by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Among Eastern European countries, it said that Estonia and Slovenia would close the economic gap the fastest, roughly reaching EU living standards in 31 years; it said it would take Lithuania 53 years and Latvia 58. Romania will take the longest time to catch up, some 80 years, the London-based research group estimated.
The calculations were made on the basis of relatively optimistic growth scenarios, with annual GDP growth in the Baltics states staying at or above 4 percent for the next several decades. But the report warned that it could take the countries even longer to match standards of wealth farther West if government leaders make the wrong policy choices.
It add that EU membership, which the Baltics and several other East European countries will win next year, won’t be an automatic economic boost. “The true impact depends not on the mere fact of adding countries to the EU club, but on the interplay between policy and the potential that enlargement creates,” said Daniel Franklin, Editorial Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit. Economic performance will vary, and with it the pattern of growth across the EU, but intensified competition in an enlarged single market generally will encourage policies that make markets more open and flexible, the report said.

Thursday—June 12, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Leading Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas has tested positive for doping during this week’s Giro d’Italia race in Italy. The 31-year-old, who became embroiled in a drug controversy following his surprising third-place finish in the Tour de France last year, has called for a second test. If it proves positive, he could be banned from the popular European sport for up to two years.
His wife was detained last year days after the Tour de France ended when doping products were found in her car by police. She and her husband protested their innocence, saying that the drugs were for her mother. Her detention angered many Lithuanians, some of whom demonstrated in front of the French embassy in Vilnius; some Lithuanian officials even said the affair had threatened to harm bilateral relations.
The case was ultimately dropped against the cyclist and his wife for a lack of evidence, though Rumsas continued to compete under a constant cloud of suspicion.

Monday—June 9, 2003
ATHENS (CITY PAPER) Estonian Markko Martin won the Acropolis Rally in the World Rally Championship series Sunday, sparking celebrations in Estonia—where the victory was seen as one of the country’s biggest sports triumphs in years. Acropolis Rally in the World Rally Championship series Sunday, sparking celebrations in Estonia—where the victory was seen as one of the country’s biggest sports triumphs in years. Martin, at just 28, is seen as a rising star of the popular international sport, which has been dominated by British and Finnish drivers in recent years. Martin drives for Ford and, thanks to his win in Greece, is now fourth in the overall championship—well within striking distance of the leader, Britain’s Richard Burns.
(For more details on rallying and on Martin’s victory, see www.wrc.com.)

Friday—June 6, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Years of Baltic talk about setting up an unfettered, free-economic zone amongst themselves received another blow after Latvia this week imposed a new import tax on pork. The law, which was adopted Thursday, sets up a strict pork quota system for the other Baltic states, Poland and European Union nations. Latvian lawmakers said the move is designed to provide modest protection for economically hard-hit Latvian farmers, who have complained for years about increasing competition from importers, especially from those based in Estonia and Lithuania.
While Latvia would be forced to drop the effective tariffs when it joins the EU in May, 2004, the parliament’s decision to protect pig farmers in the interim has had the immediate effect of severely irritating its neighbors. Estonians and Lithuanians both strongly criticized the measures as a violation of existing Baltic free-trade treaties, not to mention of World Trade Organization rules. Officials in both Baltic nations said they may retaliate by erecting new barriers of their own against Latvia.
Baltic economists have argued for over a decade that setting up a common economic space, with as little inter-Baltic red tape as possible, was the only sound option for such relatively small markets; the combined population of the three Baltic states is under 8 million people. But political urges to appease one constituency or another has often led to protectionist moves; bureaucracy, including at Baltic customs borders, has also hampered cross-Baltic trade.

Thursday—June 5, 2003
MOSCOW (CITY PAPER) The Kremlin continues to press NATO for guarantees that no Alliance bases will be established in the Baltic states—something both NATO and the soon-to-be NATO-member Baltics have said they are not inclined to provide. While there do not appear to be plans to establish NATO outposts in the region, it has also not been completely ruled out. “We intend to put the question firmly of the formulation of precise and unequivocal guarantees that arms and military forces of third countries will not be deployed on the territory of the Baltic countries,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this week. Russia has tied their call on bases to the 1999 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which was meant to limit the concentration of military forces in Europe. Moscow said that the slated entry of the Baltic states into NATO next year could mean that “a gap could appear between geopolitical reality and arms control norms in Europe.”
(From the CITY PAPER archives about Baltic NATO membership, also see NATO Bound, Yes&No and The Line. All these articles appeared before Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were invited to join NATO last year.)

Tuesday—June 3, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Analysis: What Stock Market Crash?—If you’re a distraught investor seeking comfort in shared misery after your stocks tanked amid global downturns last year, you may want to avoid the company of anyone who put their money in markets here in the Baltics. Owners of Baltic shares are likely to be too darn cheerful: they have seen prices on Estonia’s market soar a cool 50 plus percent since early 2002; on the Latvian exchange, shares jumped 27 percent last year and then leapt 40 percent more during the first few months of 2003. The Lithuanian National Stock Exchange did fall 13 percent last year, but has rebounded this year. By comparison, with war fears also casting a pall, New York’s DOW Jones index sank nearly 17 percent last year—its worst showing since 1977. London’s main index plunged 25 percent.
While bad news piled on top of bad news for most countries last year, good followed good here in the Baltics. The countries were buoyed, for starters, by invitations to join the European Union and NATO. Good news on the economic front also spurred investor optimism: annual growth in all three Baltics has been 5 percent or better for two years running and key companies are reporting record profits. Strong consumer demand, underpinned by low interest rates, has also more than compensated for a drop in exports. Expected Baltic membership in the EU next year has also encouraged foreign investors to snap up cheap shares in hopes that they’ll rise after the countries enter the powerful bloc, according to analysts. New state pension funds are beginning to be invested in local stocks—providing a further shot in the arm. One red hot Baltic blue chip is Hansapank, by far the largest bank in the Baltics. Its share price rose a whopping 55 percent last year. (It shot up again the past few weeks, hitting a new high of over 290 kroons this Monday.)
Albin Rosengren, an analyst at the Stockholm-based East Capital, said he remained bullish about the Tallinn Stock Exchange, saying its stellar performance hasn’t been a fluke. “We believe it still has a lot to give,” he said. “It’s not a speculative thing, it’s based purely on fundamentals, including Estonian companies with no debt, good cash flow and still low valuations.” Consumer demand also looks set to stay strong, buttressing Baltic economies even if most of the rest of the world should remain in the doldrums. Loans to consumers account for less than a quarter of Baltic gross domestic product—compared to 50 percent in many Western countries—leaving open the potential for rapid growth, analysts say.
There are downsides, of course. Comparatively tiny turnovers and a thin selection of quality shares is almost certain to limit market potential. A mere 13 companies are listed on Estonia’s exchange, for instance, with Hansapank accounting for a mammoth 63 percent of all trades in 2002. And daily market turnovers can average just 1 million dollars, not even pocket change to most high-flying New York or London-based brokers. Monthly trading in all three Baltic states combined is a mere 100 million dollars, compared to 15 billion on the nearby Helsinki bourse. “If you are a smaller investor, that (Baltic) liquidity is fine,” said Rosengren. “But large funds couldn’t get out of this market as quick as they’d want. Giant funds have not allocated money to this market.” “Most shareholders in Estonia,” added Rosengren, “are strategic investors, mainly from Finland and Sweden, who have long-term business reasons for buying shares in Estonian companies. That’s also given the Estonian market stability, despite its size—since they tend to buy and hold their shares, not speculate.”
Estonia’s market also benefited from its sale two years ago to Finland’s Helsinki Stock Exchange. Helsinki also bought the Riga Stock Exchange last year and the Finns are said to have their sights on Lithuania’s national bourse as well. Tallinn integrated its trading system with Helsinki’s last year, making it easier for foreign investors to buy Estonian stocks; foreign investors now own over 80 percent of Estonian shares. The Riga Stock Exchange should also soon be absorbed into the Finnish trading system. Among the many stock markets that Tallinn and Riga left in the dust last year was their parent company in Helsinki. Prices on the Finnish market, dominated by mobile phone maker Nokia Corporation, plunged 34 percent.
(From the CITY PAPER archives, also see Market Mania and, for a more cautionary tale, see Black November.)

—June 2, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The remains of around 3,000 French soldiers finally received a proper funeral Sunday in a hilltop cemetery in Vilnius—near where most perished in gruesome circumstances as Napoleon withdrew his Grand Army from Russia 200 years ago. Guns from an honor guard echoed through the pines and French flags were raised over the solemn ceremony in Atakalnis Cemetery, a city-center graveyard traditionally reserved for Lithuanian independence heroes, writers and leading politicians. Lithuanian leaders and French diplomats, as other representatives of Lithuania’s diplomatic corps, oversaw the consecration of the remains—discovered two years ago in a nearby mass grave that was seen at the time as a major archaeological find. A granite monument paid for by France and designed by Lithuanians was also unveiled at the site, which was covered in blue, white and red flowers. The actual remains, wrapped in white plastic bags, had been taken from a small chapel nearby and placed in the ground by cemetery workers several days earlier. But organizers said they considered Sunday to be the funeral for the fallen soldiers. Among the 300 attendees were at least 50 French men and women who belong to clubs and societies celebrating the life of Napoleon, who once ruled over most of continental Europe. Since Napoleon’s soldiers came from all over his empire— including Italy, Germany, Poland and Lithuania—there was never a question of returning the remains to France, officials said.
In more festive commemorations the day before, some 1,000 men in period costumes staged reenactments of battles during the ill-fated French attack on the Russian Empire in 1812. Russian Cossacks and French hussars crossed swords and dashed with horses through thick cannon smoke. Afterward, the mock combatants shook hands and hugged—a reconciliation that organizers said was symbolic though far from historically accurate.
(For a full account of Napoleon’s retreat through Vilnius and the discovery of the remains in a mass grave in 2001, see CITY PAPER’s The Napoleon Bones.)

Friday—May 30, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Channel One TV, Russia’s state television, has lodged a formal complaint against the results of the Eurovision Song Contest, Russia’s state television, has lodged a formal complaint against the results of the Eurovision Song Contest—which was held in Riga on May 24—hinting that the event may have been rigged. The Russians said that their entrant in the pop extravaganza, Tatu, had received “improbably low points” from several countries in which the teenage duo already had topped the charts, especially Ireland and Britain; both gave Tatu no points at all. Because of logistical problems, Ireland switched to a jury vote at the last minute, discarding the televoting results; Russian TV officials said those votes alone would likely have thrown the Eurovision crown Tatu’s way. It also said the scandal-seeking twosome, famed for encouraging the perception that they are lesbian lovers, would also have expected to get far more points from Holland, Malta, Norway and Sweden, where the group has also had a string of hits. In the end, Russia lost to Turkey by a mere three points—a razor-thin margin by Eurovision standards. “Taking into account the insignificant difference in the marks between the first and third places, there are grounds to believe the contest results could be much different for Russia,” a Channel One statement read. Ireland has refused to released the results of its national televoting that were set aside, votes that might show the outcome in Riga would have been different.
One Channel One spokesman, Igor Burenkov, went so far as to suggest to Moscow’s Echo radio that the Song Contest was somehow fixed in favor of countries aspiring to join the European Union. “All those who have won in recent years are countries entering the EU: Estonia, Latvia and, this time, Turkey,” he said.
(For a full report on the contest results, see here.)

Wednesday—May 28, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Moscow strongly criticized Latvia Wednesday for the Baltic state’s plans to phase out most Russian-language instruction in all public schools by 2004. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Latvia was discriminating against Russians, who make up over a third of the country’s population and it called on other nations to address the issue. “Let’s hope that the voice of Latvia’s multinational democratic public will be heard both in and outside Riga, first and foremost by international organizations called upon to protect ethnic minorities from attempts to assimilate them by force,” the statement read.
Riga has said that the policy of making schools attended by Russians use more Latvian, a policy already implement in lower-level grades, would help the process of integrating minorities into Latvia society—including by improving their employment prospects. Even after the reform is phased in within several years in all schools, Russian would still be the language of instruction in some 40 percent of classes, including Russian literature.
Latvian officials say the Kremlin has purposefully distorted the aims of the policy for propaganda reasons; Latvians also point out that the policy has received the stamp of approval from the European Union.
Many Russians though, even those who back the plans in principle, say the language changes are being pushed through too quickly—before there are enough Russian teachers fluent enough to teach in Latvian. Still others say they fear their children will lose their Russian cultural identity under the new system.
Last Friday, some 10,000 Russian protested against the changes in central Riga. It was one of the largest demonstrations in Latvia since independence was restored in 1991.

Monday—May 26, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Turkey won the Eurovision Song Contest in Riga Saturday, just edging out the Belgians and the heavy favored Russians—who came in a close second and third, respectively; Norway was fourth. Estonia and Latvia, successive winners of the pan-European event in 2001 and 2002, came in a dismal 21st and 24th. City Paper magazine had named Russia, represented by the teenage duo Tatu, as having the top song, Turkey as the third best and Norway as fourth in its its pre-contest rankings. It also said Estonia was one of the top five songs, but warned that the Brit-pop tune played by the Estonian band Ruffus could bomb from being so far outside the Eurovision norm.
Britain, a traditional Eurovision powerhouse, came in a humiliating last place, with zero points; it was the worst showing by Britain ever. While many British profess to despise Eurovision as a celebration of pop-music mediocrity, even detractors cringed at the last-place finish by the duo Jemini in Riga. “Britain Sulks After Eurovision Flop,” said one British newspaper headline, going on to suggest Britain’s leading role in the Iraq war cost it votes across Europe; “Eurovision Group Brought Down by Baghdad Bounce,” read a Times of London headline. But it went on to say the Britain was “utterly humiliated by a poor song badly performed in a kitsch talent contest.” “We came here expecting to win and to not even get a single point is a shock to the system,” lamented 22-year-old Gemma Abbey, one of the British group’s lead singers. “We were mortified.”
The whipping of Tatu into third place was also seen as an embarrassment for the chart-topping Russians, already widely viewed as a leading pop act in Europe. It was all the more embarrassing since the bad-girl teenage duo, famed for playing roles as lesbians and dressing up in schoolgirl uniforms, declared confidently that they would trounce all comers at Eurovision—none of whom were nearly as well known as Tatu. (The group may have lost the winning edge by singing in Russian; songs sung in English fare much better in Eurovision on average, with the last non-English song winning over a decade ago.) The two 18-yar-olds, Julia Volkova and Lena Katina , were the focus of intense journalistic attention in Riga, with a swarm of reporters trailing them whenever they appeared in public. They also caused a stir by complaining about the stage lighting, and by hinting that they could make out live on stage or even take off their clothes. In the end, they didn’t do either.
While Brits and Russians sank into post-Contest depression, Turks rejoiced at the country’s first ever Eurovision win; the triumph was delivered by Sertab Erener, who sang Every Way That I Can, a tune that blended modern beats and eastern strings. Many hailed the result as a possible turning point in the nation’s bid for greater acceptance as a de facto European state, some going so far as to say the victory could boost the Turkish bid to join the European Union. “This victory is a cornerstone that will set the atmosphere for our entry into the EU—which we deserve,” State Minister Kursat Tuzmen told the Anatolia news agency. “Turkey (by winning Eurovision) has earned a lot of sympathy from the European people.”
Belgium, represented by the neo-Celtic group Urban Trad and singing in a contrived language they dubbed Sanomi, was the biggest surprise of the night. They were the darlings of traditional music aficionados, but had been written off as having almost no chance of making it into the top five. Group member Didier Laloy said the band was glad not to have won, saying they received more than enough publicity to improve their fortunes. He said their high Eurovision profile prompted 3,000 album sales one day after Eurovision—more sales than their entire first album sold in several years. Urban Trad were also seen as the best sports in Riga, walking up to the winning Turks just minutes after barely missing out on a historic victory and handing them Belgian chocolate wrapped in a Belgian flag.
Latvia was widely credited for putting on a good show, watched by over 150 million people in and around Europe; many millions more around the world watched via satellite TV or later viewed reruns of the contest. It was by far the biggest and most costly international event ever staged in the country, and it appeared to dispel skepticism that the Latvians couldn’t organize such a logistically complicated extravaganza. No less than The New York Times praised the Latvian production: “Latvia did a bang-up job as host. The nation’s top artistic talent designed the staging and lighting for the contest, and the result was slick and spectacular.” But the BBC’s traditionally Eurosong cynic Martin Richardson was less charitable, singling out the Latvian presenters for criticism. “The hosts performed their limited links with all the acting ability of a Victorian dresser,” he said. “As usual, the judges (who announced the votes from their respective countries) overplayed their role with incomprehensible messages in pidgin English.” He added that “the kitsch level was ramped up to the maximum … The majority of the acts were of a sub-S Club level of cheesy pop.”
The broadcast featured film clips between songs showing tourist scenes around Latvia, segments that it was hoped will dramatically increase tourism interest in the Baltic state. There were also brief cameo appearances on the show by Elton John and astronauts on the international space station, who sent their greetings via a live link.
The voting went down to the wire, with Turkey leaping from third to first when Slovenia, the last country to announce it tele-votes, handed the Turks 10 points; just three votes separated Turkey from the third place Russians. The nail-biting drama, with the lead changing several times, contributed to high TV viewership numbers in several countries.
Many Europeans are dead serious about the Eurovision Song Contest, delighting when their country does well and falling into despair, even hostility when they bomb out.
An embittered Maltese delegation reportedly broke into a full-blown yelling match on the flight home from Riga, with finger pointing all the way around for the poor showing of the island nation’s entrant, Lynn Chircop; one report said the Maltese song writer and a producer almost came to blows. Malta came in a surprise second the year before in Tallinn, so the pressure was on Chircop to finish in the top 10. She placed 25th, second to last, Malta’s worst ever result.
In tried and true Eurovision fashion, some losers this year blamed allegedly faulty technical equipment for their demise. Some Russians reportedly complained that the chosen camera angles on Tatu were erratic, and ill-planned—undermining the duo’s presentation. And Britain’s Jemini told assembled journalists upon arrival back in London that they couldn’t hear themselves sing because speaker monitors on the stage weren’t on. “Maybe it was sabotage, but we couldn’t hear anything … If anyone else could have gone up and done it without the monitors then good luck to them,” said 20-year-old Chris Cromby, the other half of what the British press dubbed the Euro-flops. He insisted the switched off speakers accounted for their crooning out of tune.
Within a few days, Jemini seemed determined to prove the old adage that there is a silver lining in every cloud: They told the BBC they were seriously considering changing the duo’s name to Zero Points and they expressed hope the flood of publicity surrounding their historic Eurovision failure would end up lifting sales of their records.

Below are the results of the Eurovision final, in the order the contestants finished—followed by the votes they drew in the international tele-voting. Viewers dialed special numbers to register votes for their favorites song.

1. Turkey—167 points
2. Belgium—165
3. Russia—164
4. Norway—123
5. Sweden—107
6. Austria—101
7. Poland—90
8. Spain—81
8. Iceland—81
10. Romania—73
11. Ireland—53
11. Germany 53
13. The Netherlands—45
14. Ukraine—30
15. Croatia—29
16. Bosnia-Herzegovina—27
17. Greece—25
18. France—19
19. Israel—17
20. Cyprus—15
21. Estonia—14
22. Portugal—13
23. Slovenia—7
24. Latvia—5
25. Malta—4
26. United Kingdom—0

You can see City Paper’s reviews and hear audio/video of all the above songs here.

Thursday—May 22, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The remains of 3,000 French soldiers who died in Napoleon’s disastrous retreat from Russia in 1812 will be reburied on May 31 at a cemetery in Vilnius, near where their remains were recently discovered in mass graves. The reburial, which is likely to include a 21-gun salute and the attendance of diplomats from across Europe, is being organized by the Lithuanian defense ministry in cooperation with the French embassy. As many as 40,000 French soldiers who died in harsh winter weather as they beat a hasty retreat from Russia are thought to be buried in and around the Lithuanian capital; the unearthing of the mass graves was seen as a major archeological find last year.
(For a full account of the archeological discovery and of Napoleon’s ill-fated invasion of Russia through Lithuania, see The Napoleon Graves on this site.)

Wednesday—May 21, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Eurovision Song Contest madness has begun in earnest—with performers having arrived in the Latvian capital for pre-contest practice and orientation and with several hundred journalists from around the world in tow. Latvians widely hope that Eurovision, one of the most heavily watched TV shows in Europe each year, will prove a PR boon for their nation; the event is shown live across Europe on May 24 and is expected to be viewed by over 150 million people. But it is Russia’s Tatu duo, comprised of two 18-year-olds who are (or pretend to be) lesbian lovers, who have stolen the limelight and have appeared to be the sole focus of many journalists. In a press conference Tuesday, four days before the production starts, the bad-girl twosome moaned about the stage lighting and the overall organization of the event; their pouting and gripes prompted increasingly angry boos from journalists, who, at Eurovision, tend to throw objectivity by the wayside. The Eurovision organizers are clearly nervous about just what the Russians, already a well-established group in the West, will do on stage during the live performance Saturday. The two are known for making out on stage during their concerts, clad in scanty schoolgirl uniforms. Officials have put the two on notice that they could be disqualified for engaging in any sexually explicit acts and have said they could suddenly switch Saturday to a tape of Tatu practicing earlier in the week if they do not follow urgent advice to keep things clean. But in their earliest practice sessions in Riga, the duo proved uncooperative, refusing to sing when given the cue from stage directors; they could be trying to foil attempts to get a usable tape of their performance prior to the Big Night. Another clear sign that Tatu might be planning something untoward was an inquiry from their managers about the Song Contest rules several days ago: they asked if contestants had to keep their clothes on during the performance. The response, unsurprisingly, was that ” yes they do.”
(For more about Eurovision in Latvia and about Tatu, see the new edition of CITY PAPER; also see the magazine’s Song Contest page, here.)

Tuesday—May 20, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) President Rolandas Paksas signed Lithuania’s May 10-11 European Union referendum into law Tuesday; it was approved by 91 percent of voters. The final turnout figure was 63 percent, far surpassing the 50 percent needed to make the referendum valid. With its approval, Lithuania became the first of the three Baltics to vote itself into the powerful European bloc. EU backers in Latvia and Estonia, which hold their referendums in September, have said overwhelming support for membership in Lithuania should help their cause, generating a pro-EU momentum across the Baltics. Latvians and Estonians have generally been more skeptical about the EU, with only 55-60 percent of those asked in opinion polls saying they would vote yes. But the apparent trend in Lithuania of “yes” voters going to cast ballots and many avowed EU skeptics staying home could well be replicated in the other two Baltics, making approval of their referendums all the more certain.

Monday—May 19, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts said Monday he decided not to accept the resignation of Justice Minister Ken-Marti Vaher, who was recently stopped by police for speeding—which, according to local media, was his 23rd traffic violation since 1996. Vaher, 28, tendered his resignation last Thursday after police caught him driving 134 kph (83 mph) in a 90 kph (55mph) zone on May 10, and with pressure steadily building on him to give up his post.
The prime minister—who heads the center-right, pro-business Res Publica party—fared well in recent parliamentary elections by promising a zero-tolerance policy on corruption; critics said the moral standard set by Parts himself required that he let the justice minister go. But Parts said Monday that speeding was not high enough on the scale of infractions. “There is wrongdoing which requires that one quit without delay—such as in the stealing of state property, lying or committing a crime,” he told a news conference. “And there is wrongdoing in which one must be given a second chance. For me, this was a case of the latter.” Parts also invoked a soccer analogy, saying he had shown Vaher a “yellow card.” (Referees flash a yellow card at players who commit fouls; a second offense means the player must leave the field.) Parts added that “there will never be angels as ministers in Estonia, just people.”
Estonia’s Eesti Ekspress newspaper reported that Vaher has been fined dozens of times over six years for speeding and disregarding traffic signs—among other violations. The weekly dubbed him “a traffic hooligan.”
Estonia has one of Europe’s highest traffic accident rates per capita, with some 220 people dying on the roads in this nation of just 1.4 million in 2002. Police point to excessive speeding as one of the root causes of the high fatality toll last year, which was an 11-year high.

Thursday—May 15, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) The new edition of City Paper magazine, one of the only European publications to predict that Latvia would win the Eurovision Song Contest last year, has pegged Russia as having the No. 1 song this year—and put Estonia in the second place slot. The Baltic-based magazine said Sweden is bringing by far the worst song to this year’s Song Contest next week in Riga, and it also singled out the British entry for harsh criticism.
In a rating system from 1 to 10, City Paper gave the Russian duo Tatu its highest score, a 9. Estonia’s Ruffus was next with 8+, followed closely by Turkey, Norway, Iceland and Holland. At the bottom of the heap were Cyprus and Sweden, with a 2 and 2- rating, respectively.
The English-language publication put this year’s Latvian entry, a group called F.L.Y., in 15th place, with a 5 rating.
“City Paper penalized songs that lacked originality or that so blatantly resorted to formula,” explained an editorial in the magazine’s Song Contest special, released this week. “It favored ones that found some way to stand out from the all-too-pervasive Eurovision grayness.”
The magazine said Tatu, which has already achieved commercial success across Europe, stood out in sheer professionalism.
“Even if this style of music is not your cup up of tea, you have to give the Russians their due,” City Paper wrote. “While it’s unmistakably pop, it does not stoop to the level of everyday Euro dance techno music.”
But it added that the pressure was on Tatu—comprised of 18-year-olds Julia Volkova and Lena Katina, who, City Paper said “blend obvious talent, schoolgirl good looks and lesbian chic.”
“Losing to relative no names in Riga would be an embarrassment for the already well-established Tatu—all the more so since they’ve gone on record declaring they will clobber the competition,” the magazine said.
Tatu is singing their song—called “No Faith, No Belief”—in Russian, which City Paper said could hurt their chances of victory given that all the winning Eurovision songs for the past decade have been sung in English.
The magazine praised the Estonian entry as the least pretentious, the most gritty of this year’s crop of songs, saying they would seem “more in place at a roadside dive, beer and cigarette stubs spilled at their feet than at this high-priced glitzfest.”
The magazine insisted the Estonian song, called the “Eighties Coming Back,” at least had a chance of coming in first. “While City Paper invites questions of bias as a Baltic publication, a cold dispassionate analysis of the Estonian song testifies to its merits,” it wrote. “But the reality is that the Estonians could either take the Eurovision finals by storm or flop big time by being so far outside the Song Contest norm.”
City Paper strongly criticized the British and Swedish songs.
“You’d think the land of the Beatles and Shakespeare could generate a more inventive melody and involved lyrics,” it said about Britain’s song, “Cry Baby,” by the duo Jemini .”The onus is on the Brits —with all their natural advantages, including native English—to come up with something that’s not run of the mill … but this song is depressingly ordinary.”
Sweden’s “Give Me Your Love,” sung by a group called Fame, “while it tries oh so hard to please, is as hackneyed as they come,” according to City Paper. “The Swedes sometimes seem to be writing the same Eurovision song over and over and over, year after year after year—in a futile bid to recapture past ABBA glory.” Sweden’s superstar group won the 1974 Song Contest singing “Waterloo.”
Weeks before last year’s contest began in Tallinn, City Paper named Latvia’s Marija Naumova’s “I Wanna” as its No. 1 song—even though other publications around Europe gave Latvia virtually no chance at all of winning. It was rarely even mentioned as being among the top ten entries.
The international news agency Reuters specifically cited City Paper in an article the day after the 2002 Song Contest ended as the sole publication to have predicted Latvia’s shock victory.
“Naumova’s win was a surprise to industry pundits,” according to the May 26, 2002 Reuters article. “City Paper was the only media outlet that tipped ‘I Wanna’ as the 2002 Eurovision winner.”
City Paper said this year’s Latvian song, called “Hello From Mars,” “wasn’t bad.”
“But,” the magazine went on, “the name of the game is to stand out from the crowd. Latvia’s entry last year understood that. But ‘Hello From Mars,’ save for the off-beat song title, doesn’t really distinguish itself … it is probably not good enough to give Latvia a successive Eurovision win.”
The 12-year-old CITY PAPER, a news magazine and tourist guide, is the largest publication of its kind in the region. It prints some 25,000-40,000 copies every two months, and has over 80,000 readers, including in all three Baltic countries and outside the Baltics.
(For other information on the Song Contest in Riga, including audio and videos of the above-mentioned songs, see City Paper’s Eurovision web site, here.)

Wednesday—May 14, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuanians began looking to their future in the European Union following a weekend referendum that resulted in a whopping 90 percent of voters approving entry into the powerful bloc; many Lithuanians are hopeful that membership will further improve their lives. “Lithuania Wakes Up in the European Union,” read a banner headline on the front of Lithuania’s largest daily, Lietuvos Rytas, Monday. In an editorial, it added that EU membership should increase living standards and help the country “fully reach the levels of the modern world.” Incoming investment and EU aid money could also boost the economy—booming at 9 percent growth the first quarter of 2003—to new heights. Advocates say entry also returns Lithuania to its rightful place in Europe and gives the historically vulnerable nation a sense of security.
Even though it is now EU bound, Lithuania still faces a host of social and economic problems, including a yawning gap between rich and poor; the average monthly wage in Lithuania, the equivalent of less than 300 dollars, is half that of the poorest current EU member, Greece. While increased wealth is apparent in more and more giant shopping malls and posh restaurant in the cities, poverty seems rampant in the countryside; many farmer can’t afford modern equipment and so still use horses and age-old wooden plows to till their fields.
Farmers hope subsidies from the EU will improve their lot—though they have complained about an EU decision to provide lowers levels of agricultural subsidies to new members. But at least one Lithuania newspaper, Verslo Zinios, has warned that the country should not begin waiting around for EU aide and subsidies to help Lithuania achieve its goal of becoming a regional economic powerhouse in the manner of Ireland, dubbed the Celtic Tiger. “Tigers,” said the paper, “don’t milk cows.”
(See report below for further details about the Lithuanian referendum, including early fears that not enough people would vote to make it valid.)

Monday—May 12, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Fireworks exploded over the capital, Lithuanians uncorked champagne and broke into song when it became clear late Sunday that the country would be the first Baltic state to vote itself into the European Union after a two-day referendum. A dramatic surge in voting on the last day of voting Sunday meant that, despite initial fears, the referendum would be valid—prompting celebrations that lasted into Monday morning, including fireworks that lit up the medieval old town in Vilnius. “Who will be the winner today? Lithuania is the winner,” Parliament Speaker Arturas Paulauskas declared, raising a crystal glass in a parliamentary hallway, calling for a toast. As he spoke, applauding lawmakers sang the national anthem in full voice, some of them teary-eyed.
With 100 percent of all the results counted, the “yes” vote was 91 percent, far higher than even opinion polls had predicted. Election officials said 64 percent of registered voters had cast ballots—easily exceeding the required 50 percent minimum.
Down the street from the parliament building, the Prie Parlamento bar handed out small flags with EU golden stars on one side and the red, green and yellow Lithuanian tricolor on the other. A van drove down the street blaring Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” the anthem of the EU, from loudspeakers. On the steps of the presidential palace in the Vilnius old city, some 500 young people waved blue balloons while rock bands played; Lithuanian and EU flags flew side by side over the building.
Turnout was just 30 percent Saturday, the first day of the vote, prompting jittery leaders to urge residents to vote; Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas demonstrated his nervousness by canceling a Saturday trip to Estonia, where he was to attend a 75th birthday party for Estonian President Arnold Ruutel. Analysts said a large number of people voted after church services Sunday in the predominantly Catholic country. In his remarks, Paulauskas singled out clergymen—thanking them for urging parishioners to cast their ballots.
Any failure to approve the referendum would have been a major embarrassment for Lithuania, where virtually all major parties staunchly back EU accession. It also could have cast a pall over future EU referendums, including those planed for the other two Baltic states in September. As the results became clear in Lithuania, however, Latvians and Estonians said the positive Lithuanian result would improve their own chances of passing referendums. “This is fantastic for Latvia,” said Ramona Umblija, a Latvian organizer of its vote later this year, in Vilnius observing the Lithuanian poll. “There is a friendly rivalry between the three Baltics. Latvians are now going to say, ‘Ah, Lithuania passed theirs. We must pass ours.’”
In Brussels, President of the Commission Romano Prodi also hailed the day, saying the landslide in favor of membership bodes well for Lithuania’s future in the powerful European bloc. “As a result, there will be a strong voice for Lithuania inside the EU,” he said. “This will be good for Lithuania, and I am convinced it will also be good for the EU.” “It is encouraging for all of us to see such enthusiasm for EU accession,” added EU Commissioner for Enlargement Gunter Verheugen.

Tuesday—May 6, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia wants to host a new European Union information technology agency, with officials here arguing that the country’s advanced Internet infrastructure and lower business costs made it ideally qualified. Estonia doesn’t now belong to the EU but is expected to join in May, 2004—around the time the agency is to be founded, said Arvo Ott, of the Economics Ministry’s Informatics Department. He said Estonia recently notified the EU of its desire to host the 50-employee office.
The EU agency, dubbed the Network and Information Security Agency, would concentrate on Internet and mobile phone security, including by finding ways to prevent fraud in commercial transactions in cyberspace. Nearby tech giants Finland and Sweden are also trying to woo the EU agency to their shores.
Ott said one question was how Estonia could begin the application process to become an agency host country when it wasn’t yet in the EU. He said Estonians were inquiring with EU legal experts about how this might be done. “This could be a major obstacle,” he said.
Dubbed E-Stonia by some, the country ranked No. 8 out of 82 countries in putting the Net to practical use in a recent World Economic Forum report. “We believe we have lots of selling points,” said Ott. “We have good Internet systems, a well-educated work force, low costs and excellent contacts with existing EU countries.”
(Also see related story on this site, KaZaA: Made in the Baltic States.)

Monday—May 5, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia’s hockey team scored a dramatic defeat of the mighty Russian team in the World Championships Sunday in Turku, Finland; it was the second time Latvia had beaten Russia in three years. The 2-1 defeat was doubly sweet, coming on the day Latvians mark a 1990 declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union and it prompted wild celebrations in the Latvian capital. Latvian goaltender Arturs Irbe, who plays for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, made 29 saves during the match and was widely credited with saving the day; Vadims Romanovskis scored the winner for Latvia in the third period. “It’s an unbelievable feeling. It doesn’t get any better than this,” Irbe told reporters after the game. “We’ve been dreaming about this win for a long time.” Despite the win, Latvia had an uphill struggle to make it through to the quarterfinals of the championship.
(See related story on this site, Hockey Mad.)

Friday—May 2, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) An Estonian-based company has kicked a Chechen-oriented web site off its server after complaints from Russia’s Foreign Ministry that the site, called Caucasus Center,, promoted terrorism. The web site, which publishes often sensational news about war-ravaged Chechnya, used a server in Lithuania earlier this year. But, also under Kremlin pressure, it was also closed down there—then soon relaunched with the Estonian server.
The Starman Internet company in Tallinn said Caucasus Center had not been on its server, saying it had only rented office space to another company that sold it’s server services to the pro-Chechen site. Henri Treude, a Starman spokesman, said he didn’t know why that company shut Caucasus Center down, but said the decision was probably “because of pressure from various media—and indirectly because of pressure from Russia.” He declined to provide the name of the server company involved.
The site—at http://www.kavkazcenter.com—failed to download Wednesday and Thursday, but as of Friday it appeared to be back up and running from a new server; there was no indication about where its new Internet host might be located. The same site once operated from U.S. and British servers, but was removed after its users were accused of sending thousands of spam e-mails to Internet users around the world.
In a Tuesday statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry called on Estonian authorities to take steps against the site. “We hope that the Estonian authorities, who earlier declared their readiness to contribute to the struggle against international terrorism, will close down such activities on their territory,” the statement read. But the Estonian government rejected the appeal. “The website is not located on the government’s server. Therefore, the government will not intervene,” Prime Minister Juhan Parts told a news conference Tuesday. Treude said Starman was not approached by either Estonian or Russian officials.

Wednesday—April 30, 2003
WASHINGTON (CITY PAPER) Analysis—Baltics, Eastern Europe could Reap Benefits from U.S. Goodwill—Washington, which pledged to penalize France for opposing U.S. Iraqi policy, looks set reward the Baltic states and other Eastern European nations for their support, including by handing them reconstruction contracts in Iraq and by speeding up the process of confirming new NATO members. “A lot of people here are looking for ways to help those countries that came along with us,” said John Hulsman, a European policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. “There’s brainstorming about how to help them—diplomatically and economically.”
Among the options being considered in the White House and Congress, said Hulsman: moving some U.S. bases from Germany, which also opposed the U.S. on Iraq, to Romania and Bulgaria—a redeployment that could provide a boost to the economies of the two ex-communist states. “This was talked about earlier and it always made strategic sense,” he said. “But given what Romania and Bulgaria have done for us on Iraq, even allowing our troops to operate from bases on their territory, it also now makes political sense.”
East Europeans, in public at least, insist they don’t care whether they profit or
not from having backed the U.S. on Iraq, saying they stood by the Americans because they understood the need to confront tyrants given their own histories. The White House, too, is careful not to talk about handing out rewards. But it does say its gratitude runs deep, especially since the 13 ex-communist nations offered their support just when Washington was desperate to show it wasn’t acting alone in Iraq. Asked by Latvian state TV in an interview broadcast Sunday if companies in the Baltic country might win some of the multi-million-dollar contracts to reconstruct worn-torn Iraq, U.S. Secretary Colin Powell suggested they would at least get favorable consideration. “Everybody likes contracts, and there will be many contracts,” he said. “But Latvia was there when it wasn’t clear what the outcome (of the Iraq war) would be … Latvia understood the importance of supporting us and the United States will not forget that support.” France’s opposition, he hinted the week before, also won’t be forgotten. Powell, asked in a CBS television interview if there would be consequences for France’s dissent, replied: “Yes.” He didn’t say how the U.S. might retaliate, though France would seem to stand little chance in any race for reconstruction contracts. Even the Baltics, with few previous business ties to Iraq, have been encouraged by U.S. officials to suggest even more companies that could bid for contracts; Lithuania has reportedly handed over a list of several road construction firms. “The Baltics are at the starting line,” said Jeff Nelson, of the U.S. Baltic Foundation, a Washington-based lobbying group. “The French have tied their laces together.”
The surest, most immediate gain for seven of the pro-U.S. states, including the
Baltics, will be quick confirmation by the U.S. Senate of their bids to join NATO. Lawmakers are slated to approve the new members within weeks—when the process had been expected to take up to a year. “No one expected the process would go this quickly,” said Marko Mihkelson, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in Estonia. “Our support on Iraq helped, yes. It’s created very positive feelings. It’s created a very trustful atmosphere.” “The question on confirmation is now just academic,” added Hulsman. “It’s now not whether the vote will be yes, but how high that yes vote will go—whether they’ll get 90 or more votes.” The Baltic foreign ministers are expected to see U.S. President George Bush in the White House around May 10, possibly with their meeting timed to coincide with a Senate vote on NATO. Nelson said the red carpet treatment reflected good vibes everywhere in the halls of power in the U.S. capital: “Strong pro-Baltic sentiment is spreading across Washington.”
But others expressed skepticism that the Baltics and Eastern Europe stood to gain
much from siding with Washington in the long term. “They’re likely to have more open
channels to the White House than the French or Germans,” said Matthew Sherwood, an editor at the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit. “But any other benefits are limited. I’m just not sure how long the current goodwill in Washington will last.” He said it was unlikely there would be similar agreement on big policy issues in the future, especially after the Eastern European nations join the European Union within the coming years. “The EU and the U.S. are likely to butt heads on, say, trade and environmental issues,” he said. “As full EU members, Eastern Europeans will be increasingly in opposition to US policies.”

Tuesday—April 29, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s economy expanded by over 9 percent for the first three months of this year, far exceeding predictions and appearing to put the country on the path of explosive growth for 2003, officials announced on Tuesday. If Lithuania stays on track for growth of over 9 percent, it would be the highest figure since the country regained independence; it would also likely register the highest growth rate in the Baltic states and in all of Europe. Until now, Lithuania’s highest annual growth rate over its past 12 years of independence was in 1997, when it posted a figure of around 7 percent. It wasn’t clear why the economy in Lithuania expanded so unexpectedly fast in recent months, though a boom in construction and various infrastructure projects seem to partly account for it. Consumer demands also remains strong in Lithuania, as it does in all three Baltic states—helping to offset lower demand for products made for export. Latvia and Estonia were expected to have growth figures in 2003 of around 5 percent.

Friday—April 25, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuanian President cum stunt pilot Rolandas Paksas took EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen for a ride in a two-seat stunt plane Friday in a highly unique diplomatic maneuver. Paksas, a one-time stunt champion, flew the plane in a full loop at one point during the 15 minute flight outside Vilnius; he said later that the plastic cockpit cover slipped open briefly during the stunt and that Verheugen had to reach up and pull it back. The Lithuanian president hastened to add that the two were never in any danger. After he took office, the 46-year-old Paksas said he would not heed advice of his security team that he give up flying. But this was the first time he had flown at a public event as president. Verheugen was in Lithuania for three days to speak to officials about Lithuania’s upcoming referendum on EU membership. (For more on Lithuania’s May 10-11 referendum, see reports below.)

Also in Lithuania Friday: Lithuanian Interior Minister Juozas Bernatonis resigned after reports he concocted allegations that the country’s police chief had spied on top politicians. While Bernatonis retracted the charge, he came under increasing pressure to step down over the affair.

Thursday—April 24, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Health officials said Thursday that a man admitted to a Lithuanian hospital with a high fever may have SARS—which, if confirmed, would be the first case of the potentially deadly pneumonia in the Baltic states. But doctors weren’t expected to confirm any diagnosis for at least several days, and false alarms have been common across Europe. The 50-year-old patient had recently been in Malaysia, where there have been several confirmed cases of the disease. SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, first appeared in China two months ago.

Wednesday—April 23, 2003
LONDON (CITY PAPER) Respectable economic growth will continue across Eastern Europe, with some of the highest levels in the Baltic states, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in a report released this week. It said economic expansion in former communist countries was around 3 percent on average in 2002, while the global average was just 1.7 percent. The EBRD said the Baltics and better-developed nations in central Europe would continue to witness strong consumer demand and could also benefit from a pick-up in exports to the European Union in the second half of this year—ensuring GDP growth of at least 4 percent. All three Baltics have posted growth rates of 5 percent or better this year and last, the highest figures in all of Europe.
The EBRD added that the economy of oil-producing Russia would be hit by falling oil prices in the wake of the war in Iraq.

Tuesday—April 22, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania is gearing up for a May 10-11 referendum on joining the European Union, one that is expected to pass easily. The southern most Baltic country will be the first of the three states to hold a referendum; Latvia and Estonia, both of which are considered more EU skeptical, hold theirs in September. An opinion poll released this week indicated that support for joining the EU stands at around 66 percent in Lithuania—while backing is some 10 percentage points lower in both Latvia and Estonia. While there is widespread support for EU entry among Lithuanians, some working in the large agricultural sector fear that membership will result in unfair competition from their richer, better-subsidized counterparts in the West. A small minority of Lithuanians also worry about a loss of sovereignty to Brussels. Most mainstream parties since Lithuania regained independence have backed Lithuania’s membership bid, while skeptics tend to be cash-poor, badly organized and also have few well-known public figures on their side. Lithuanians will be asked to check a “yes” or “no” box next to the sentence: “I do support Lithuania’s membership of the European Union.”

Thursday—April 17, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The International Monetary Fund recently praised the Baltic states as examples of how committed economic reformers can even go through a worldwide economic slump with respectable growth. John Odling-Smee, who oversees IMF projects in former Soviet subject states, said the Baltics had growth of between 5 and 7 percent over the last two years—while other major economies registered little or no growth. “The Baltics have put all the basic reforms in place now, so they are getting the investments to boost production, and they are able to sell it because their costs are lower than competitors in Western Europe and even much of Central Europe,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying. “This is a process we see continuing for many years, assuming they maintain their prudent macroeconomic policies and continue to improve the business environment.” He added that “many (other former Soviet republics) have started growing just as rapidly as the Baltics, but we are much more concerned about the sustainability of this performance.” He also singled out Russia as a country that has strayed from the reform path and may see growth began to falter as a consequence. “We think the growth rate (in Russia) will decline, apart from problems of the world economy, unless there is a big political push to speed up structural reforms,” he said. He said forecasts of 4.9 percent growth in Russia for this year would have to be revised downward.

Wednesday—April 16, 2003
ATHENS (CITY PAPER) Ten European Union candidates, including the Baltic states, signed an historic accession treaty at an EU summit in Athens Wednesday. With signatures on the 4,900-page agreement—the longest EU treaty ever compiled—the candidates are set to join in about a year from now; some, like the Baltics, must still approve national EU-membership referendums. The 10 new members will add 75 million people to the current 375 million EU. The signing ceremony Wednesday took place at the foot of Greece’s famed Acropolis, while demonstrators opposed to military action in Iraq demonstrated nearby.

Monday—April 14, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Former Danish Foreign Minsiter Uffe Ellemann-Jensen said that the three Baltic countries could become powerful engines of economic growth around the Baltic Sea region as they join the European Union and NATO. “The mingling of old and new democracies, mature and new markets, old structures, and new alliances, has characterized the Baltic region over the past decade,” he said, speaking at the opening of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in Riga. “These things have emerged as a strength, not a weakness.” The Copenhagen Post quoted him as urging the Baltics to keep up and even improve their educational standards if they want to follow in the footsteps of the Celtic Tiger and become economic powerhouses in their own right. “One reason that a country like Ireland in the past 20 years has made such tremendous progress, isn’t just its EU membership, but its directed efforts in the education field,” Ellemann-Jensen said. “Countries such as Latvia need a much more directed national development strategy. These countries also need better applications of the principles of law and order, and improved business ethics.”

Friday—April 11, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Advertisements offering a 10,000 dollar reward for information about Nazi war criminals have yielded substantial leads and could result in prosecutions, according to the Nazi hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center. The ads that have appeared in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia since last year are part of what the Wiesenthal Center dubbed “Operation Last Chance,” an effort to prosecute any still living suspects. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center’s Jerusalem office was in all three Baltic capitals this week and said the Baltic ads have already generated 217 names of possible war criminals, the vast majority of them coming from calls originating in Lithuania.
Zuroff said he hoped that at least a several of the calls would lead to indictments and trials. Even if they don’t, he said the publicity surrounding the ad campaign was itself educational. “It is part of a larger goal: to raise consciousness, to reach a point where more people are willing to confront the past,” he said. He said many callers appeared to have spoken about witnessing atrocities for the first time. “My sense is that many people call just to unburden themselves,” he said. “They’ve been walking around with it for all these years.” Zuroff told reports that the Wiesenthal Center could soon launch a similar program in Belarus and Russia
The campaign offering money for information has been criticized by some Balts, who argue that the cash rewards are inappropriate and provocative. Estonian police also objected to the inclusion of their phone number on drafts of ads scheduled to appear in newspapers earlier this year—leading to a delay in the publication of the ads.
During the 1941-1944 Nazi occupation of the Baltic states, tens of thousands of Jews were killed, most in Lithuania; some 200,000 Lithuania Jews perished. After regaining independence, the Baltics vowed to prosecute any living Nazi war criminals—though that process has proved difficult with the few remaining suspects in their 80s and 90s.

Thursday—April 10, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia’s pro-business, center-right Cabinet—headed by what is now Europe’s youngest prime minister—was sworn in before parliament on Thursday. Prime Minister Juhan Parts, 36, has pledged to cut taxes and take Estonia to a new level of prosperity by fostering the development of higher tech industries—while also trying to reverse the country’s declining birth rate.
His 13 ministers are drawn from a three-party coalition. Parts’ center-right Res Publica party, the center-right Reform Party and the center-left People’s Union control 60 seats in the 101-seat legislature.
Parts’ administration follows a tradition here of putting relatively young Estonians in positions of power. The new justice minister, Ken-Marti Vaher, and culture minister, Urmas Paet, are both 28; Economics Minister Meelis Atonen is 36, Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland is 37 and Social Affairs Minister Marko Pomerants is 39. The remaining eight Cabinet members are over 40.
Ojuland was also foreign minister in the previous caretaker government.

Wednesday—April 9, 2003
STRASBOURG (CITY PAPER) The European parliament on Wednesday approved European Union membership agreements of 10 nations, including the Baltic states, which are planning to join the prestigious body in 2004. The highly detailed treaties, which took several years to negotiate, can now be signed in Athens, Greece, later this month. Expansion still has to be ratified by the legislatures of the 15 current EU members, though that is expected to happen despite sharp dissention in Europe over Iraq. Several candidate countries, including all three Baltics, will also hold referendums to approve their membership bids; voters in Slovenia and Malta have already passed referendums.

Friday—April 4, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Cash-strapped opponents of Estonia’s bid to enter the European Union, up against resource-rich government leaders who back membership, are for the first time being granted significant state funds to argue their case, officials said Friday. The money comes as pro- and anti-EU campaigners gear up for a decisive referendum on the EU later this year, with opinion polls indicating that a vote in favor of membership is not a sure thing. Some 525,000 kroons, about 38,000 dollars, was earmarked for two anti-EU groups, including the No to the EU Movement, said Hannes Rumm, head of the government EU Information Secretariat. “There is a lack of debate in Estonian society about the EU,” said Rumm, insisting that the government did not want public discussion to be overwhelmed by the yes side. “We believe this money will help opponents to develop some of their ideas.”
He said an equal amount of money would also go to non-governmental groups supporting EU membership. Half of the 1 million kroons in EU campaign funds came out of state coffers and half was donated by the non-profit Open Estonia Foundation.
EU detractors welcomed the allocation, but said it didn’t level the playing field. “Any money’s helpful. But it doesn’t compare to the millions and even billions of (Estonian) kroons the yes side has at its disposal, directly and indirectly,” said Uno Silberg, who heads the No to the EU Movement. “This allows the government to say, ‘See, we’re helping the no side.’”
Skeptics, who say EU membership will undermine Estonian sovereignty, have complained for years that they haven’t been able to make their voices heard—with virtually every government since independence pushing for entry. All major parties also back membership. With the modest grants now being handed over to them, EU opponents say they are still vastly outgunned, with overwhelmingly pro-EU officials able to draw on the staffs of whole government departments in their yes-to-the-EU campaigns. Rumm, though, denied the government would spend any money calling on a yes vote. “We will have our own campaign to get out a bigger turnout,” he said “But we don’t tell people how to vote.”
The No to the EU Movement, the most prominent of the anti-EU groups in Estonia, does not have a single paid employee and its leadership often holds its meetings in cafes. “Our budget is, well, zero. We pay for brochures from our own pockets and we do work in our free time,” said Silberg. He said the organization had not yet receive the promise money but expected to soon; he said they would spend it on producing an anti-EU publication.
(Also see EU Doubts.)

Tuesday—April 1, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) President Arnold Rüütel offered to nominate leftist leader Edgar Savisaar to be Estonia’s new prime minister, though Savisaar immediately declined the offer, saying he had no hope of putting together a government, the president’s office said Tuesday. The presidential nod to Savisaar _ whose Center Party drew the most votes in March 2 elections with 25.4 percent of the vote and 28 seats—was widely seen as a formality. Rüütel has argued before that the party with the most votes, on principle, should be given the first chance to form a government. But three other parties—the pro-business Res Publica and Reform Party, plus the center-left People’s Union—concluded a deal to form a ruling coalition last week, so Savisaar would have had virtually no chance of building the needed majority. “Edgar Savisaar thanked the president for his trust, but said that, given the political situation where three parties already agreed to form a majority government, he couldn’t accept the president’s proposal,” Rüütel’s office explained in a statement.
Savisaar’s rejection of the nomination now clears the way for 36-year-old Juhan Parts, the three-party alliance’s choice for prime minister. His Res Publica fared better than the other two parties in the election, giving him the top post. Rüütel is now expected to nominate him within the next few days.
(For more details on the planned three-party government and on the election results, see reports from previous days below.)

Monday—March 31, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Around 85 anti-war protesters, some of whom hurled tomatoes and eggs at the U.S. embassy, were arrested during the largest anti-war demonstration in Estonia since the start of the conflict in Iraq. Up to 200 people staged the Sunday demonstration in Tallinn. Some slashed the tires and broke the windows of a U.S. embassy car outside the city-center compound. Television pictures showed the mostly young protesters waving placards, one of which read “Go home!” in English. Most of those detained, including some 40 teenagers, were released the same day—though all could still face charges, said police spokesman Risto Pullat; 11 were still in jail Monday. The official said protesters could be indicted for disturbing public order, which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence. Pullat said most of the demonstrators were Russian-speakers—who make up a third of the 1.4 million population and who have tended to be more vocal in their opposition to the war.
Estonia’s government, similarly to Latvia and Lithuania, has declared its support for Washington—even offering to send peacekeeping troops to Iraq once the fighting there ends. Opinion polls indicate a large majority of Estonian residents oppose the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, but that opposition has been largely silent.

Thursday—March 27, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Three Estonian parties concluded a deal Thursday to form a new government following elections earlier this month. The would-be ruling parties all back Estonia’s bid to join the European Union and NATO and they have agreed to reduce already low taxes even further. The pro-business, fiscally conservative Res Publica and Reform Party, which share 47 seats in the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature, make up the core of the coalition. The inclusion of the small center-left People’s Union, whose power base is in the countryside, gives the bloc 60 seats and a clear parliamentary majority. (The small center-right Pro Patria party was initially expected to be included in the agreement, but it was later excluded from coalition talks.) The three-party coalition agreement was initialed Thursday and will be signed early next week, according to Res Publica party spokesman Allar Tankler.
The boy-faced if dry Juhan Parts, 36, is the group’s choice to be the new prime minister. He would replace current Prime Minister Siim Kallas, the leader of the Reform Party; Kallas would be a key player on any coalition governing council but he said he isn’t likely to take a seat in the new Cabinet, explaining that a former prime minister in the government might make it more difficult for the new leader to make his mark. Parts, the leader of Res Publica and a recent head of the State Audit Office, has little political experience but is seen as being brainy and tenacious. Critics say his main challenge will be to match election promises that he’ll govern differently—more openly and honestly—than his predecessors.
The outgoing government is made up of the center-left Center Party and the Reform Party, which has shared power in a strictly caretaker role since 2002—operating in a kind of stalemate and introducing few new policies. The parties formed an unlikely partnership after a pro-business government collapsed amid internal strife. The planned new government, in contrast, look set to be a pro-active policy-maker. The coalition’s 43-page agreement calls for a 6 percent reduction of Estonia’s already low 26-percent flat income tax, but also foresees higher social spending in some areas, including on education. The agreement also says that Estonia should strive to make the country a “knowledge-based economy”, rather than continually emphasizing its low-wage advantages. Opinion polls show support for EU membership hovering around 50 percent and the would-be ruling parties said that campaigning for a yes vote in Estonia’s EU referendum, scheduled for Sept. 14 this year, would also be a top priority.
Estonian President Arnold Rüütel must first nominate Parts before the Res Publica leader can take office. Rüütel is expected to make an announcement within the next few days. The president could still nominate leftist leader Edgar Savisaar—though that would be a mere formality with Savisaar, a self-declared champion of the poor, now having virtually no chance of sweeping together the needed legislative seats. The 52-year-old, forced to resign in disgrace as interior minister in 1995 amid allegations he secretly tape recorded his political rivals, led his Center Party to a razor thin victory in the March 2 election, winning 25.4 percent of the popular vote. But it fell well short of a parliamentary majority—with several center-right parties landing enough seats to take the initiative in creating a new administration. Rüütel has said in the past that the party garnering the most votes, on principle, should get the first crack at forming a government—even if all indications are that it will fail.

VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) A military helicopter crashed into the Baltic Sea off Lithuania’s coast late Wednesday night, killing two and injuring four. It wasn’t clear why the Russian-made Mi-8 went down near Klaipeda during a training exercise, though officials said they were investigating the incident. The four soldiers injured weren’t in serious condition. The bodies of the two others, including the pilot, were pulled from the water on Thursday. Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas, himself a highly trained pilot, has extended his condolences to the families of the dead.

Tuesday—March 25, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania and Estonia said Tuesday they would dispatch non-combat forces to Iraq—with Lithuania saying it was ready to do so within the week—yet another signal of Baltic governments’ staunch backing for U.S.-led military action in the Persian Gulf. While Estonia said it would deploy 55 peacekeeping troops to Iraq only after the war ends, Lithuania said it was set to send 16 soldiers, including six army doctors, in a matter of days. “They are ready to leave now,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius told journalists after the 141-seat Seimas legislature voted 59 to 13 to support the government plan; two deputies abstained and others either weren’t present or didn’t vote. The Lithuanian resolution says the soldiers will be on “a humanitarian mission” and will not take part in direct military action.
The Estonian government’s decision is still subject to approval by the country’s Riigikogu parliament, though that should come easily, according to government spokesman Daniel Vaarik. He said the U.S. hadn’t yet asked Estonia to pledge peacekeeping troops, “but we could see this (request) might come.” The peacekeepers, once deployed, were expected to stay in Iraq for six months, he said.
Last week, Latvia’s parliament also approved legislation permitting the government to send peacekeepers. Lawmakers said they would likely include a dozen medical personnel, mine clearing specialists and military police.
The deployments abroad, if they occur, would be among the largest since the Baltic states regained independence. Some Baltic soldiers have also served in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
The Baltics did not send soldiers to take part in the invasion of Iraq, but they were quick to grant over-flight rights to U.S. warplanes. They were named by Washington as members of the 35-nation coalition bidding to disarm Saddam Hussein’s regime by force.

Monday—March 24, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson said Monday he saw no reason why disagreements within the alliance over war in Iraq should damage the 19-member organization—nor, he said, would differences lead to a delay in welcoming new members into the NATO fold. “Surely this is an important moment for NATO,” he said, fielding questions after delivering a speech in Estonia. “But surely the alliance will go on.” He insisted there was nothing alarming about the sharply contrasting opinions over Iraq—with the United States and Britain leading the military invasion of the Persian Gulf nation and other NATO members, such as France and Germany, adamantly opposing the war. “You get the sensation at times that people expect NATO to behave like in the Warsaw Pact where someone in Moscow or Washington decides, and everyone falls in line,” he said. “NATO’s not the Warsaw Pact … Differences are the lifeblood of democracy.”
Addressing over 100 dignitaries in Tallinn, including foreign diplomats and army officers, Robertson said he was sure that debate over Iraq wouldn’t slow down enlargement. All the parliaments of current NATO members must first approve the membership bid of the seven candidate before they can take their seats at the alliance table next year. Robertson rejected suggestions that some NATO members, like France, could now oppose the membership of the ex-communist countries on grounds they have backed Washington’s stance on Iraq. “I don’t see any threat (of that)…I don’t see any indication in any of the 19 parliaments that the configuration of support for one side or another in the conflict will affect the outcome, nor should it,” he said. He said the only criteria should be whether candidates meet NATO’s military and democratic requirements.
Robertson was in Tallinn for one day to discuss Estonia’s NATO bid. He held similar talks in neighboring Lithuania and Latvia several weeks ago. He left Tallinn Monday night after meeting the Estonian prime minister and president.

Saturday—March 22, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Center-left leader Edgar Savisaar met with Estonian President Arnold Rüütel Saturday, raising speculation that the president may name Savisaar as his prime ministerial candidate following March 2 elections. But if he is picked, it would likely be a mere formality—with little chance Savisaar could put together a majority coalition. (See March 10th report below on how center-right parties are taking the lead in forming a new government.) Savisaar won the most votes by a razor thin margin, but his party fell well short of a majority. Rüütel, who could name Savisaar within a week, said years ago that he believed the party garnering the most votes in a parliamentary election ought to get the first shot at stitching together a coalition—even if all indications are that it would fail at the task.

Wednesday—March 19, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Distraught investors seeking comfort in the shared misery of plummeting stock prices worldwide may want to avoid the company of anyone who put their money in the Tallinn Stock Exchange. Many owners of Estonian shares, that is, are like to be too darn cheerful: they have seen prices on Estonia’s market soar a cool 45 percent since early 2002, outperforming virtually all other European exchanges, so badly shaken by impending war and a global slowdown. The market in neighboring Latvia, the Riga Stock Exchange, also fared well in 2002, with share prices rising 27 percent; the Lithuanian National Stock Exchange fell 13 percent.
While bad news piled on top of bad news for most countries in Europe and the United States, the Baltics were buoyed by invitations to join the European Union and NATO. “(Those) brought on a bout of optimism,” said Tallinn Stock Exchange head Gert Tiivas. Good news on the economic front helped, too. Gross domestic product growth in Estonia was up 5.5 percent in 2002, and the central bank forecast similar increases for 2003. (Both Latvia and Lithuania saw fast-paced growth as well.) Key Estonian companies, including banks and construction companies, reported record profits and strong consumer demand more than compensated for a drop in exports. Rising consumer demand was underpinned by a 40 percent rise in loans, mainly to families buying homes, apartments and cars. “When you’re here and see the economy boom, you don’t buy talk we’re going to nose dive,” said Tiivas, explaining how he brushed off predictions last year that Estonian shares were bound to start tumbling.
Kristel Kivinurm, of the Trigon Capital investment bank, said Estonia’s expected membership in the EU next year also encouraged foreign investors to snap up cheap Estonian shares in hopes that they’ll rise after the country enters the powerful bloc. Kivinurm said the main threat to the stock market in the near future was not war in Iraq but that Estonians could reject a referendum on EU membership scheduled for Sept. 14—something she said would badly spook many investors.
Tallinn’s main index rose 47 percent last year, from 144 points to 212 points. Blue-chip Hansapank—a pan-Baltic bank based in Tallinn—led the way, rising some 55 percent in 2002. Estonian Telekom, the second most heavily trade stock, rose 35 percent. New York’s DOW, by comparison, dropped 16.8 percent last year—its worst showing since 1977. London’s FTSE-100 sank 24.5 percent in 2002 and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 34 percent.
This year, Tallinn’s exchange is showing some signs of vulnerability. The index is down several percentage points so far this year, closing at 204 at the close of trading Wednesday. “But even our relatively flat prices so far this year are good, I suppose, compared to the blood letting in most share markets around the world,” said Tiivas. He said the Iraq crisis was probably a factor. “Today, people are saying in Estonia that, ‘Let’s wait and see what happens over the next few weeks,’” he said.
Albin Rosengren, an analyst at the Stockholm-based East Capital, said he remained bullish about the Tallinn exchange, saying its stellar performance hasn’t been a fluke. “We believe it still has a lot to give,” he said. “It’s not a speculative thing, its based purely on fundamentals, including Estonian companies with no debt, good cash flow and still low valuations.” Kivinurm agreed future prospects look good, as long as Estonia does join the EU next year. She said consumer demand should remain very strong, buttressing the Estonian economy even if most of the rest of the world should remain in the doldrums; she said loans to consumer accounted for just 16 percent of Estonian GDP, compared to 50 percent in many Western countries, leaving open the potential for rapid growth. She said government mandated pension funds will also start to have a positive impact on the Tallinn exchange soon.
Comparatively tiny turnovers and a thin selection of shares, however, is almost certain to limit the Estonian market’s growth potential. A mere 13 companies are listed on the exchange, with Hansapank accounting for a whopping 63 percent of all trades in 2002. Daily market turnovers average just 1 million dollars, virtual pocket change to most high-flying New York or London-based brokers. “If you are a smaller investor, that kind of liquidity is fine,” said Rosengren. “But large funds couldn’t get out of this market as quick as they’d want. Giant funds have not allocated many to this market … Most shareholders in Estonia are strategic investors, mainly from Finland and Sweden, who have long-term business reasons for buying shares in Estonian companies. That’s also given the Estonian market stability, despite its size.”
Estonia’s market also benefited from its sale two years ago to Finland’s Helsinki Stock Exchange—where daily turnovers are over 500 times larger than in Tallinn. That merger, which included integrating Tallinn’s trading system with Helsinki’s, made it easier for foreign investors to buy Estonian stocks. Investor’s outside the county now own over 80 percent of Estonian shares, according to the Tallinn Stock Exchange. “I think the major reasons for our market’s strong performance was macro-economics,” Tiivas said. “But the Helsinki link put in place the infrastructure to allow our market to perform more efficiently and to enable new players to come into our market.” (Helsinki also bought the Riga Stock Exchange last year, and Riga is also expected to join the Finnish trading system soon; Helsinki has also expressed interest in buying Lithuania’s national bourse.)
Among the many stock markets Tallinn left in the dust last year was its parent company. Prices on the Finnish market, dominated by mobile phone maker Nokia Ltd., plunged 34 percent.

Tuesday—March 18, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) The Baltic states signaled their support for U.S. military action in Iraq a day after President George Bush said diplomacy had been exhausted, with Latvia and Estonia adding that they would consider sending troops to the region after the war ends. Government leaders in Riga and Tallinn said they would not dispatch troops during any conflict, and that they haven’t been asked by the United States to do so. But they did say they could send specialist forces, including doctors and demining teams, later. Latvia’s parliament was expected to call a special session Wednesday to discuss possible Latvian participation.
Foreign ministries in all three Baltics also called on any of their nationals to leave Iraq, though there were no reports about how many Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians might be there. There have been virtually no bilateral or economic ties between the Baltics and Iraq.
Baltic leaders also said they would discuss the possibility of upgrading security along their borders as a precaution in the event of all-out war in Iraq.
The Baltic states have generally backed Washington’s policy on Iraq, drawing criticism from several Western European countries, most notably France. Opinion polls indicate a majority of Baltic residents oppose war in Iraq.

Monday—March 17, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvian organizers of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest emphatically denied recent reports that the extravaganza might have to be moved to another country because of serious logistical and financial problems. Similar rumors spread in the months before the neighboring Baltic state of Estonia staged the 2002 Song Contest, though it was later hailed as one of the better organized in years. Estonians and Latvians complain some Western Europeans were too quick write off their organizational abilities simply because they had once been communist-ruled, and because outsiders didn’t appreciate how Western-oriented the Baltics have become.
Questions about whether Latvia could swing the complex, highly costly show—one of the highlights on the annual European pop calendar—surfaced almost within the hour that Latvia’s Marija Naumova won in Tallinn in 2003; some Western newspapers erroneously reported that the Latvian government was distraught that the obligation of hosting the 2004 Contest had been foisted upon them. On the contrary, most officials rejoiced at the opportunity for their little-known nation to step into the international limelight. At least 100 million people are expected to tune in to watch the televised contest on May24.
The web site esctoday.com quoted the Danish BT newspaper as writing in mid-March that Eurovision executives visiting Latvia were deeply worried about missed deadlines and about financial shortfalls; the newspaper said some 5 million dollars needed to put on the event had still not been allocated by the government.
Esctoday.com, however, quoted the head of Latvian television, Uldis Grava, as flatly denying there had been any such complaints or warnings that the pop-song gala would have to be moved elsewhere. He said he had recently meant with Eurovision’s top brass but that “we talked about cooperation and about program exchanges, and neither of them said a single word that would indicate any doubts, lack of trust or accusations.” Grava added that his intention was that “the three-hour broadcast from Latvia will be the best ever for millions of viewers.”
(For a description of how Eurovision went in Estonia, see Whacky and Wonderful.)

Friday—March 14, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Some 160 homeless people died in harsh winter weather in Tallinn during the first two months of this year—more than double the number compared to the same period last year—officials said Friday. Colder temperatures this winter partly explain the dramatic increase, but growing numbers of abject poor and too few homeless shelters in the capital have been contributing factors, according to police spokesman Indrek Raudjalg. He said deaths from exposure occurred much less frequently outside Tallinn—the hub of economic activity in the country. Urmas Lepik, spokesman at Estonia’s Social Affairs Ministry, said there are no statistics on numbers of homeless—but that their ranks have almost certainly swelled in recent years. While winter is drawing to a close, there is a danger of more deaths, with temperatures still close to freezing Friday.

Thursday—March 13, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Newly sworn in President Rolandas Paksas called a press conference Thursday to deny reports he had relied on Lithuanian-based clairvoyant Lena Lolishvili to make some job-related decisions. He said that he had only gone to her at times to seek comfort on personal matters. Newspapers in the country have published articles for days speculating on the relationship between the Georgian-born Lolishvili and Paksas, with some media saying he even asked her to meet with job applicants hoping to work in the presidential headquarters. Some clergy from Lithuania’s power Catholic Church have also criticized Paksas relying on clairvoyants, saying it fell outside acceptable practice for Christians; the country is overwhelmingly Catholic. Lolishvili told local newspapers that, over the years, she had also counseled Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, among other leading public figures.

Wednesday—March 12, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvians expressed widespread disgust at a recent depiction in Norway—during that Nordic country’s national Eurovision final—of Latvia as an essentially Russian, pro-communist state. In a film clip during the televised Norwegian contest, alleged Latvians were shown in Russian Cossack uniforms playing balalaikas—neither of which are things associated with Latvian culture; hanging nearby were Soviet hammers and sickles.
“The feature depicted my country as a part of Russia, and that’s simply not true,” the Aftenposten newspaper quoted Latvia’s ambassador to Norway as complaining, adding that it painted an “extremely negative” picture of his homeland. The Norwegian ambassador in Riga, Jan Wessel Hegg, also criticized the national TV station’s portrayal of Latvia, which he said was not only inaccurate but offensive. “The Latvians think this exhibits an enormous lack of sensitivity,” he was quoted as saying.
Latvia, along with Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania, have endeavored to shake off their reputations as so called former Soviet republics— including by implementing far-reaching open-market reforms after regaining independence following 50 years of occupation by Red Army troops. They remain sensitive about assumptions made by some in the West that the Baltic states are more or less like Russia; natives in all three countries speak distinct, non-Russian languages. Latvian and Estonian culture has been most heavily influenced by Sweden and Germany, both of which occupied the region for centuries; Lithuania has been influenced more by Poland.
(For more on Eurovision in Latvia, see CITY PAPER’s Eurovision page, here.)

Monday—March 10, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Three center-right parties and one small center-left group announced Monday they would try to hammer out a coalition deal allowing them to form Estonia’s next government—locking out the biggest voter-getter in March 2 elections, the Center Party. The center-right Res Publica and Reform Party—which share 47 seats in the 101-seat Riigikogu parliament—would dominate the four-party bloc. The inclusion of center-right Pro Patria and the center-left People’s Union would give the coalition 67 legislative seats.
Juhan Parts—the 36-year-old leader of Res Publica who ran on an anti-corruption, anti-crime platform—is odds-on favorite to head the would-be government, according to widespread press speculation. The three center-right parties advocate low taxes and policies they say would spur strong economic growth—already at a respectable 5 percent a year. The People’s Union, with strong support in the poorer countryside, has said it could accept most of center-right policies. The four parties will met again Wednesday to begin thrashing out an agreement in a process that could take weeks, said Res Publica spokesman Allar Tankler. But he was optimistic about the chances of striking a deal.
“A four-party coalition will mean a stable, strong and broad-based government,” he said. “We don’t want a government just for urbanites, or where it’s rich versus poor. This is what has been wrong with Estonian politics: a lack of common ground.”
Juhan Parts told journalists that including the People’s Union, despite some policy differences, would also ensure the government lasts a full, four-year term; no Estonian government since the restoration of independence has lasted a full term. The three center-right parties could, if they wanted, form a majority government on their own.
President Arnold Rüütel still has to nominate a prime ministerial candidate in the coming days. Traditionally, the president picks someone who is sure to win a parliamentary majority—something the four parties could do easily.
(See reports from last week, below, for more about the Estonian election results.)

Friday—March 7, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Edgar Savisaar, whose party won the most votes in Estonian elections over the weekend, says he’ll sue Estonia’s main dailies for libel, saying articles questioning his financial dealings spoiled his chances of heading a new government. Savisaar said he’d ask courts to order that Estonia’s most influential newspapers—Postimees and Päevaleht, plus the largest business newspaper, Äripäev—retract their allegations and issue apologies. He told a news conference that he’d seek monetary compensation, though he didn’t say how much. He said unfavorable articles about him in the run-up to Sunday’s election were “politically motivated.”
The heavy-set Savisaar, 52, was hounded in the media by questions about alleged kickbacks, tax evasion and financing sources of his cash-rich campaign. He singled out what he said were wholly untrue stories alleging he may have had links to organized-crime suspects who had used violence to gain control of Tallinn’s Central Market. Savisaar said he would no longer speak to the three dailies until legal proceedings end.
While his left-leaning Center Party won 25.4 percent of the vote and 28 seats in the 101-seat parliament—staunchly pro-business, center-right parties are now taking the lead in forming a government.
Postimees dismissed Savisaar’s legal moves, saying it was sour grapes. “That Savisaar doesn’t know how to win or lose has been demonstrated for years,” it said in a Friday editorial. “This action doesn’t do him proud … and offers no solace to his party.”
The center-right Res Publica, which ran on an anti-corruption platform and was Savisaar’s harshest critic, performed better than expected—coming in second, just .8 percentage points behind the Center Party in the popular vote, and winning the same number of seats, 28. Res Publica has been speaking with other center-right parties about forming a ruling coalition—though no agreements have yet been announced.
(Also see reports below from this Monday and last Friday for more details about the Estonian election.)

Thursday—March 6, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvian parliamentarians reversed a decision that they took just a few days earlier to hold a snap presidential election on Wednesday, March 12; the vote for president by parliament will now take place in June as originally scheduled. Coalition lawmakers who had supported the move for early elections—which was meant to boost the chances that a crucial European Union referendum passes later this year—now said they were no longer 100 percent sure the early election was constitutional. It would have assured victory for incumbent President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, a staunch EU supporter. Some critics complained that the snap election would have warped the democratic process by not allowing competitors time to mount serious bids for the post.
The EU referendum should win the required majority, though with some 30-40 percent of Latvians still expressing skepticism about joining, a yes vote is not a sure thing and the government is expected to launch an aggressive, well-funded pro-EU campaign. The popular Vike-Freiberga is expected to play a central role in that campaign.

Wednesday—March 5, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia, stuck in the relative Stone Ages when it came to Internet technology 13 years ago, says it will now found an academy to teach other ex-communist states how to use cyberspace to improve government services. Officials said Wednesday they would soon establish an Internet academy to instruct other countries how to put the Internet to good use in the name of better governance; it should be inaugurated within the year and cost some 250,000 dollars to operate for the first three years—with the Estonian government, the United Nation’s and the private Open Society Institute footing the bill.
A 2002 survey by The World Economic Forum—which has said a good Internet infrastructure is key to a country’s competitiveness in world markets—placed Estonia 8th out of 82 nations in putting the Net to practical use; that was the highest rank of any ex-communist state. The Estonian government holds Cabinet meetings online—sometimes with ministers logging on while traveling overseas. It also launched a site called “Täna Otsustan Mina,” or TOM, which stands for “Today, I’m Deciding.” Via the site, Estonians can comment on draft bills in a chat-room and even submit new laws themselves. If enough users support it, the government takes it up in a Cabinet session.
Officials from Ukraine and Georgia to as far away as Uzbekistan and Mongolia are expected to attend one- or two-week courses at the school in Tallinn, said Linnar Viik, an Estonian Internet expert who helped put the project together. “With all due respect to nations who have more Internet experience, ex-communist nations tell us they have nothing to learn from the U.S. or Sweden,” he said. “We share similar history, we’re at a similar starting point—so we know their challenges. We know what they need.”

Tuesday—March 4, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia will hold a snap presidential election in just one week, on March 12—with parliament taking the unprecedented step in a bid to boost the chances that a crucial European Union referendum passes later this year. The move should virtually assure that incumbent President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, a staunch EU supporter, wins a second term. Some critics complained that the decision by parliament this week warps the democratic process by not allowing competitors to mount a serious bid for the post. But Vike-Freiberga, whose terms was set to expire this summer, remains extremely popular and has virtually no credible challengers anyway. If she wins another mandate she can be expected to lead Latvia into both the EU and NATO; Latvia is slated to enter both next year. The EU referendum should win the required majority, though with some 30-40 percent of Latvians still expressing skepticism about joining, a yes vote is not a sure thing and the government is expected to launch an aggressive, well-funded pro-EU campaign.
(Also about the Latvian president on this site, see Tea with the Iron Lady and Ms. President )

Monday—March 3, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The center-left Center Party, led by a once disgraced populist, won the popular vote in Sunday’s elections in Estonia by a razor thin margin. But a surprisingly strong showing by a new center-right party looks almost certain to lock him out of any new coalition government.
The Center Party, headed by former Interior Minister Edgar Savisaar, forced to step down from his ministerial post in 1995 amid allegations he had tape recorded his rivals, won 25.4 percent of the vote with all the ballots counted—translating into 28 legislative seats. (See Friday report below for more on Savisaar.)
But the center-right Res Publica—formed only a year ago largely by Estonians in their 20s and 30s—performed far better than opinion polls had predicted, coming in second place in the popular vote with 24.6 percent of the vote—but tying the Center Party in garnering 28 seats. Res Publica campaigned on an anti-crime, anti-corruption platform, and was one the harshest critics of the divisive Savisaar, who became a lighting rod during the campaign. Res Publica seemed to benefit most from what was likely a strong anti-Savisaar vote.
Combined, a collection of center-right parties won 60 seats, putting them in the drivers seat as negotiations begin to stitch together a government from the fragmented 101-seat Riigikogu. Center-left parties have just 41 seats in total.
Since none of the six parties command an outright majority, it could take days of tough political horse-trading before a ruling coalition emerges. Still, the center-right parties are now clear favorites to form the next ruling coalition.
The conservative Reform Party won 17.7 percent of the vote, translating to 19 seats. The center-right Pro Patria won 7.3 percent, and 7 seats. And the centrist Moderates—which has tended to ally itself on policy with the center-right—had 7.0 percent, with 6 seats. The other center-left group, the People’s Union, had 13.0 percent, giving it 13 seats.
All the parliamentary parties agree on Estonia’s pro-reform, pro-West tack, including its drive to join the European Union and NATO. Estonia is to join both organizations in 2004.
Campaigning focused on personalities—especially on Savisaar, who is loathed by detractors with as much passion as supporters fawn over him. Opponents warned that if the portly, pokerfaced Savisaar became prime minister, that could spoil Estonia’s progressive, pro-West image. In the final few days of campaigning, he was also dogged by the local media about about alleged kickbacks, tax evasion and financing sources of his cash-rich campaign—publicity that may have hurt his party’s showing. Some surveys suggested it could have won over 35 seats.
The outgoing government is a coalition of Savisaar’s Center Party and the Reform Party, which have shared power in a strictly caretaker role since last year. But even outgoing Prime Minister Siim Kallas, of the Reform Party, hinted he would rather not work with Savisaar again if he can at all help it. Res Publica categorically ruled out ever sharing power with Savisaar.
The bugging scandal seemed to end Savisaar’s political career. But Savisaar, the current Tallinn mayor, roared back by wooing the elderly and poor—who say they haven’t benefited from open-market reforms adopted after Estonia regained independence during the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The cornerstone of his campaign was a vow to replace Estonia’s 26 percent flat tax with a myriad of tax brackets that would result in wealthier Estonians paying more. The Reform Party blasted the proposal, calling instead for the flat rate to be slashed to 20 percent. Res Publica also opposed any change to the flat-tax system.
President Arnold Rüütel has two weeks to nominate a prime minister, who would then have to present a Cabinet to parliament for approval. The president could name any party leader but usually gives the nod to the one who has the best chance of winning a legislative majority.
About 58 percent of 900,000 eligible voters cast ballots Sunday, a higher turnout than anticipated.

Friday—February 28, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Analysis-Sunday’s General Election in Estonia. When Estonian Interior Minister Edgar Savisaar resigned in disgrace several years ago following accusations he had secretly tape recorded his rivals—in a scandal dubbed the Estonian Watergate—pundits pronounced him dead politically, tarnished beyond repair.
They couldn’t have been more wrong, as the heavy-set, poker-faced Estonian is likely to demonstrate in Sunday legislative elections: the party he leads is favored to win more seats than any other group, and he himself is eyeing the most powerful job in the land, of prime minister.
His larger-than-life photograph is today plastered on billboards all across snow-covered Estonia, a confident-looking Savisaar raising his two fingers in a Churchillian V-for-victory sign over a party slogan that reads, “With us, everybody wins!”
The 52-year-old’s confidence appears to be well-founded, with latest opinion polls indicating that his left-leaning Center Party will win round 30 percent of the vote, with its nearest challenger, the fiscally conservative Reform Party, 10 percentage points behind.
The center-right Res Publica has tallied around 15 percent, with the rightwing Pro Patria and centrist Moderates polling around 5 percent; round 10 percent were undecided.
The center-left People’s Party, with strong support in the countryside, could play the king-maker, with some polls suggesting it could win over 10 percent of the vote and possibly hold the balance of power in parliament between Savisaar’s party and center-right parties.
Estonia’s economy is sound, with some 5 percent annual growth. It’s also achieved the main foreign policy goals of European Union and NATO membership that it set for itself after regaining independence; it should join both prestigious bodies next year.
So with a dearth of burning issues and all main parties generally agreed on Estonia’s pro-reform, pro-West course, campaigning has focused on personalities—especially on the divisive Savisaar, who is loathed by detractors with as much passion as he’s fawned over by his supporters.
Savisaar is an unlikely political cult figure with his graying hair, thick girth and usually dry, monotone manner. But at rallies, his predominantly elderly supporters buzz around him, with the smiling affection of teenage girls before a pop-band idol.
Critics portray him as a power-hungry populist and, pointing to the 1995 bugging scandal, compare him with former U.S. President Richard Nixon for his apparent penchant for dirty tricks. He’s also been dogged in the run-up to the election by questions about kickbacks, tax evasion and finance sources of his cash-rich campaign.
If he becomes premier, others say, that could damage Estonia’s well-cultivated reputation as a progressive, largely corruption-free democracy.
Others decry that Savisaar was a Communist Party member during Soviet rule, albeit a low-ranking one, and that he seems to run his Center Party like a family business, including by making his wife Vilja and 21-year-old daughter Maria Center Party candidates for the 101-seat Riigikogu parliament.
But even critics concede he’s a masterful politician, directing by far the slickest, most professional looking campaign, and in crafting an image as a strong but caring leader. One of his ads depicts him as Superman rescuing someone falling over a cliff.
“He says what people want to hear, promising everything to everybody. He has no principles,” said Marko Mihkelson, of the center-right Res Publica. “It’s Soviet-style stuff, but it works.”
Savisaar, who currently serves as Tallinn mayor, roared back onto the political stage by wooing a constituency other parties appeared to write off _ the elderly and poor, and anyone who complained they haven’t benefited from ten years of radical reforms. He’s also reached out more than any other politician to voters from Estonia’s large Russian-speaking population, including by putting more ethnic Russians on his party list than other parties.
The cornerstone of his campaign is his vow to scrap Estonia’s one-sheet flat income tax form—heralded by free-market enthusiasts at home and abroad for its simplicity; it takes just 10 minutes to fill out. Savisaar said he wants to replace it with a progressive system that would create a myriad of higher and lower tax brackets.
Center Party activists have gone door to door distributing a glossy, green and white slide wheel that enables lower income Estonians to calculate for themselves just how much less tax they’ll pay in a graduated system, and how much more wealthier Estonians would pay.
Toomas Ilves, a leader of the centrist Moderates, said he agreed Estonia’s current 26 percent tax rate should be raised to guarantee better social care.
“But as the Center Party proposes it, it’s class hatred. It’s ’screw the rich!’” he said.
Ilves and others once warned of dire consequences should Savisaar—prime minister from 1990-92—again take the reins of power, saying he had displayed an authoritarian bent.
And his reputation for heavy handedness may yet foil his bid to form a coalition government should, as expected, his party fall short of an outright parliamentary majority.
Even the Reform Party, which has shared national power with Savisaar’s party since last year in a caretaker role, says it would rather not work with him again, if it can at all help it. (The odd-couple ruling parties openly bicker, Center blasting Reform’s call to slash the flat-tax rate to just 20 percent.)
Still, warnings about Savisaar have been toned in recent years.
Former Prime Minister Mart Laar, Savisaar’s arch political enemy who once said the Center Party leader could ruin Estonia’s chances of ever qualifying for the EU and NATO, said he’s more circumspect now that Estonia is already so irrevocably enmeshed with the West.
“Not even Mr. Savisaar can change that,” he said.

Thursday—February 27, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson arrived in Lithuania Thursday on the start of a two-day visit to the region to discuss scheduled Baltic entry into the alliance next year. He was also expected to discuss the situation in Iraq in his talks with Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas and newly sworn-in President Rolandas Paksas; Lithuania has backed Washington’s policy on Iraq and recently granted fly-over rights to U.S. war planes. Robertson will travel to neighboring Latvia Friday for a similar round of discussions.
NATO has praised modernization efforts of the Baltic armies—which, combined, number under 20,000 soldiers—but has also said they must continue raising military standards. Opinion polls indicate that a strong majority of Baltic residents support NATO membership, seen by many people here as a guarantee against any future threats from neighboring Russia.
In his inaugural address Wednesday, President Paksas said Lithuania was eager to play an active role within the alliance. Paksas also said he will fly to Afghanistan Friday to visit some 40 Lithuanian soldiers working with U.S.-led coalition troops to oust remnants of the country’s former Taliban rulers.
Robertson is scheduled to leave the region from Riga on Friday. He will not stop in Estonia.

Wednesday—February 26, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Rolandas Paksas was sworn in as Lithuania’s third president since independence, vowing to keep the country firmly on the road to the European Union and NATO. Paksas, who defeated outgoing President Valdas Adamkus last month, raised the specter of world terrorism in his inaugural speech, saying Lithuania wanted to play its part in fighting modern-day threats. “Lithuania will not only hide under the NATO umbrella, but will together with other nations defend the security of Europe and that of the whole world,” he told dignitaries after taking the oath of office. The 46-year-old appeated to refer to the Lithuanian government’s support of U.S. policy in Iraq saying that “we cannot remain passive observers, watching how the world is hit by the threats of the third millennium. Lithuania will never be a passive observer when dealing with these threatening problems.”
He also harkened back to U.S. President John F. Kennedy, quoting him as saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country;” Paksas said Lithuanians also had to commit themselves to building up their own country. “Time has not lessened the value of (Kennedy’s) words and they have a special meaning today: they urge us to return to our ideals,” he said.
Paksas also paid tribute to his predecessor, the 76-year-old Adamkus, who was sitting nearby while the new president spoke. “I was encouraged by the words that you, Mr. President, said a few days ago during our discussions: ‘I will always be just a telephone call away,’” he said.
(Also see related news report from Tuesday, below.)

Tuesday—February 25, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuanian Rolandas Paksas recently won a shock presidential election victory over incumbent Valdas Adamkus. Paksas, who will be sworn in as Lithuania’s new president this week, won 55 percent of the vote compared to Adamkus’s 45 percent; a low turnout, of just 51 percent of eligible voters, clearly worked in the upstart’s favor, with many Adamkus supporters assuming victory for them was in the bag. Weeks earlier, in the first stage of the electoral process, Adamkus handily trounced Paksas and all other challengers. The following article about Adamkas appeared in a recent edition of CITY PAPER, which, at the time in December, had also assumed Adamkus was a shoe-in for another term:

Mr. Nice Guy
By Michael Tarm
When U.S. President George W. Bush recently arrived in Vilnius and reached out to shake hands with Lithuania’s head of state, the man smiling back at him was also an American—of sorts.
One-time U.S. citizen and now Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus explained in an interview at his majestic, 14th century palace—tall windows looking out across the snow-covered Vilnius old town—that he couldn’t just shrug off his five decades living in Chicago.
“Yes, I always felt Lithuanian. I always will,” he said, an enormous painting of Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas looming over his office fireplace and a paperweight with a U.S. presidential seal on his desk. “But you can’t wipe out 50 years of your life: My most creative and energetic years I spent in the U.S.”
When the lanky, white-haired Adamkus, now 76, traveled to the United States several years ago, he admitted himself that he felt disoriented, telling journalists at the time that “I looked around and it struck me: Am I coming home? Or am I coming here as a guest?”
Bush came to Vilnius to congratulate Lithuania and the other Baltic states for winning coveted invitations to join NATO during the alliance’s November summit in Prague (Bush photo, with Adamkus in Vilnius). It was only the second visit by a sitting U.S. president to the region; Bill Clinton traveled to Latvia in 1994.
Today, Adamkus is credited with helping Lithuania achieve its NATO goal, in part, by establishing a good rapport with alliance leaders; Lithuania set that goal—once thought unattainable because of vehement Russian opposition—after regaining independence in 1991.
On his watch, during which he mediated the formation of several governments, Lithuania has also moved to the verge of European Union membership. It came out of recession and now has one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies, with annual growth of around 6 percent.
But when he first became president by a razor-thin .7 percentage points in 1998, many Lithuanians had serious doubts about the genial Lithuanian-American—who seemed far too easygoing and, well, too darn nice for the job.
Others said he plainly didn’t have the background to lead a country, never mind a former communist one facing such complex social and economic problems.
He hadn’t, for starters, spent more than several months at a time in Lithuania since, at age 17, he fled the war-ravaged nation—stowing away on a withdrawing German military train—as Soviet troops invaded and began arresting opponents in 1944.
Earlier, he’d edited an underground anti-Nazi publication; he also briefly joined a band of students who resisted the incoming Soviets—a personal history that might have silenced those who saw Adamkus as a quintessential Mr. Nice Guy, lacking all requisite toughness.
Emigrating to the U.S., he worked at a Chicago auto plant assembly line, then got a college engineering degree. Later, he rose to the top ranks of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; he once defied heavy pressure from the White House itself and blew the whistle on his own boss for caving in to the chemical industry.
His political experience was limited.
His only previous foray into electoral politics was in a 1968, when he ran for Trustee of Sanitation in Cook County, Illinois. He lost.

Before being sworn in as president, he did renounce his U.S. citizenship—something he said was emotionally difficult. He also declined his annual presidential salary of 40,000 dollars, saying his 60,000-dollar-a-year U.S. pension for his years with the EPA was more than enough.
Still, could someone who’d spent most his life abroad, however apparently well-meaning and honest, possibly lead a people with whom he now appeared to share little?
Even his Lithuanian set him apart.
He speaks with an American accent and his word choice—sometimes drawing on idioms that fell out of use after World War II—was often the butt of jokes.
As the years went by though—as Adamkus distinguished himself as one of the few politicians not to become embroiled in scandal—his approval ratings soared to near 80 percent.
His American side contributed to his booming popularity, according to Rasa Razgaitis, the Vilnius mayor’s chief of staff.
“He has an American manner of speaking on positions from a moral standpoint, something many politicians here don’t do,” she said.
In Lithuania’s parliamentary system, the president isn’t involved in the day-to-day running of the country. But he is a chief foreign envoy and plays a critical role in forming new governments—and in criticizing them when he believes they’re out of line.
Adamkus, defying his nice-guy persona, wasted little time blasting a series of governments for spending too much time bickering and for not dispensing with Soviet-style bureaucracy fast enough.
He stayed popular even after broaching touchy issues that others sidestepped.
He asked Lithuanians to confront the 1941-44 era of Nazi occupation when 240,000 Lithuanian Jews were killed. During the interview prior to Bush’s visit, a red book entitled Auschwitz 1940-1945 lay on the edge of his own desk.
For someone forced out of his homeland at the hands of a mostly-Russian Red Army, Adamkus also took a surprisingly moderate line vis-a-vis Moscow—while other politicians continued to bay about Russia being a potential threat.
A week before all three Baltic states won the coveted NATO invitations they’d been dreaming about for so long, Adamkus denied Lithuania wanted membership so badly out of fear of its powerful neighbor.
“I reject this philosophy that Russia’s the enemy waiting to invade Western Europe,” he said. “Those days are over.” He insisted that Lithuania wanted into NATO, first and foremost, “to share responsibility for the security and future of Europe.”

Not everyone’s enamored.
Some complain Adamkus is far too quick to side with Washington. Others criticize the ex-environmental regulator for appearing to ignore environmental issues, pointing, in particular, to his defense of nuclear power.
Still others say Adamkus, now pushing 80, is simply too old.
“But how can you retire when you are full of energy, your health is good and you have all kinds of ideas?” Adamkus countered, saying he wanted to devote more attention to social-welfare issues. “Retiring would be a suicidal decision for someone like me. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”
Most Lithuanians seem to agree he’s still fit to lead.
He was slated to run again in the year-end presidential election, and polls suggested he’d crush all contenders, including his main rival, former Prime Minister-cum-professional stunt pilot Rolandas Paksas. (Paksas displayed his desperation for votes by flying his one-seat turboprop plane under a bridge at one campaign event; a month after the death-defying stunt, he was still a distant second to Adamkus in the polls.)
With his re-election virtually in the bag, Adamkus was presumably able to concentrate fully on hosting Bush when he visited the vast, marble-floored presidential palace, once home to Russian Czars and even Napoleon Bonaparte.
Adamkus said his message to Bush was that not only he but all Lithuanians now share American values and that “Lithuania wants to be on the same team” with the United States.
Bush was equally complimentary about Lithuania’s progress since the Soviet collapse—and about Adamkus. As a token of U.S. admiration, Bush presented his Lithuanian host with a basketball signed by Michael Jordan.
There’s at least one other reason why the two leaders were likely to have hit it off over coffee at the palace: Adamkus, before he entered politics in Lithuania, was also a devoted member of the U.S. Republican Party.

Friday—February 21, 2003
WASHINGTON (CITY PAPER) Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga won rave reviews for forthrightly supporting the United States stance on Iraq while she was in Washington this week, at least according to a report today in the conservative Washington Times. After meeting with President George Bush on Monday, the Latvian president later appeared on CNN and Fox television to discuss her backing for the American position. According to the Washington Times, the Latvian embassy was inundated with e-mails heralding Vike-Freiberga and contrasting her to French President Jacques Chirac, who strongly opposes military action in Iraq. The newspaper quoted Joe Armstrong of Scituate, Massachusetts, as saying he had been planning a trip to France, but will go to Latvia instead to “experience the spirit of your brave, strong people in a land recently freed from despotism.”
(See earlier reports below on Baltic support for U.S. policy. About the Latvian president, see Tea with the Iron Lady.)

Tuesday—February 18, 2003
BRUSSELS (CITY PAPER) French President Jacques Chirac has lambasted Eastern European countries which sided with the United States on Iraq, hinting that their tilt towards Washington could jeopardize their chances of joining the European Union. He pointed in particular to a joint letter recently signed by the so called Vilnius 10 group of ex-communist nations, including the Baltic states, that backed the U.S. stance on Iraq. “These countries have not been very well behaved and have been rather reckless about the dangers of aligning themselves too rapidly with the American position,” Chirac told a news conference after a meeting on Iraq in Brussels. “When you are in the family … you have more rights than when you are asking to join and knocking on the door,” he said. “They missed a good opportunity to shut up.”
His comments prompted condemnations from several Eastern European officials, who said Chirac had been patronizing and offensive. Reaction across the Baltics was surprisingly muted Tuesday, partly because Chirac’s comments came too late Monday night to make Baltic newspaper’s.
Estonian government spokesman Daniel Vaarik did say there was no question of Estonia altering its view on Iraq in the face of French criticism. “Every country has a right to its own opinion—and we don’t regret ours,” he said. He added that the Estonian position, calling on Iraqi compliance with UN resolutions but leaving open the possibility of war, was the same as many current EU members.
Officials for days have conceded that they find themselves in a no-win situation, with both NATO- and EU-member legislatures preparing to vote this year to approve Baltic accession treaties. Chirac’s comments may play into the hands of small but vocal anti-EU groups in the Baltics who have warned for years that big nations will push Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia around once they’re inside the bloc.

Thursday—February 13, 2003
RIGA (CITY PAPER) The European Union has agreed to intervene in a dispute between Russia and Latvia over the cutoff of crude-oil supplies by pipeline to Latvia’s giant Ventspils Oil, one the cornerstones of the middle Baltic state’s economy. The EU said it would talk to Russian officials, at Latvia’s behest, about the potentially economy-wrecking tiff next month; Latvia accuses the Russians of using the cutoff to pressure it to sell Ventspils Oil to them; while Transneft, the Russian-based pipeline conglomerate that switched off the taps in December, says it is simply tired of paying what it claims are exorbitant oil-transit fees to Latvia. For now, Transneft is channeling the oil to Western markets via new Russian ports on the Baltic Sea coast near St. Petersburg.
The transit-oil business accounts for up to 10 percent of Latvia’s overall economic growth—even more by some estimates. So if the dispute drags on for many more months, it could begin to dent Latvian GDP forecasts of around 5 percent for 2003. Latvia’s seacostal town of Ventspils, where Ventpils Oil is located, is almost wholly dependent on the the Russian pipeline shipments—though it has received some oil by rail since December.
Russian companies have been trying to reassemble Soviet-built energy infrastructure across the Baltic states—and throughout the former Soviet Union—in recent years, including by purchasing a controlling stake in Lithuania’s Mazeikiai Oil, the only oil processing plant in the Baltics and one of the economic engines of Lithuania. Russia’s Yukos bought U.S.-based Willaims International’s controlling shares in Mazeikiai after pushing for them for years, including by occasionally cutting or slowing crude oil shipments to Lithuania.
Many people in the Baltic states have been fearful about Russian-ownership of such giant, economically important companies, saying the Kremlin could use those links in the future as leverage to pressure Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on political matters. Others argue the increasing Russian economic ties will both help the Baltics prosper and ensure a steady supply of oil and natural gas in the long term.

Tuesday—February 11, 2003
VILNIUS-RIGA-TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Analysis—
Governments vs. the People: Sharp Divisions over pro-US Stance
“I don’t want war. Who does? But I believe we must choose sides. And I believe our side is with the United States.”
—Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas, in Monday’s Postimees.

Activists, opposition parties and major dailies in the Baltic states have sharply criticized their leaders for backing U.S. Iraq policy, saying it runs counter to overwhelming public opinion against any war. All three Baltic governments, together with seven other eastern European countries, last week signed a letter supporting Washington as it threatens to invade Iraq over accusations it has stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. The letter said “the trans-Atlantic community must stand together to face the threat posed by the nexus of terrorism and dictators with weapons of mass destruction.” It stops short of saying an attack on Iraq would be justified.
Critics say leaders from the Baltic governments are kowtowing to the superpower United States. “The public reaction was so negative, it amazed me,” said Peep Mardiste, who heads Estonia’s Green Movement. “People were angered about the secrecy around the letter. No one was consulted beforehand and no one explained it.”
That unease extended into mainstream media. Monday’s Aripaev, Estonia’s normally pro-government business newspaper, rebuked leaders for becoming entangled in “a dangerous and irresponsible game,” arguing that Estonia’s pro-U.S. stance could make it a terrorist target.
The official backing for Washington’s Iraq policy appeared to confirm divisions between what U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the “old Europe”-meaning France and Germany-and ex-communist states. But recent polls in the allegedly “new Europe” Baltic states suggest far more public affinity for the French and German anti-war views, with over two-thirds of Baltic residents saying they opposed military action in Iraq. Prominent Estonian writer Jaan Kaplinksi has also launched a nationwide petition expressing “astonishment” that the government signed the ten-nation letter, saying the statement would reflect the majority Estonian opinion.
Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas on Tuesday mounted a passionate defense of his support for Washington’s Iraq policy, fending off criticism that the government’s backing had been poorly thought through. “I don’t want war. Who does?” he wrote in Tuesday’s Postimees daily.
“But I believe we must choose sides. And I believe our side is with the United States.” Kallas also said he accepted that Iraq had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction and that its military had demonstrated a willingness to use them. “The danger posed by (Iraqi leader) Saddam Hussein will only be eradicated after he has been removed from power,” said the 54-year-old premier. Kallas, an activist during Estonia’s drive for independence from Moscow in the early 1990s, also compared Iraq to the totalitarian Soviet Union. “The USSR, too, only retreated when confronted with sheer force,” he said.
Kallas’s defense is doubly urgent with Estonian national elections set for next month, with his ruling center-right party facing stiff challenges from several competing groups-many of which led the attacks on his Iraq policy. He counterattacked in his Postimees article by accusing rivals of trying to score political points over the weighty issue of war, saying this was “depressingly cynical.”
Government spokesman Daniel Vaarik also denied Estonia sided with Washington to reciprocate Washington’s support for Baltic independence-or for U.S. support for Baltic bids to join NATO; they are slated to join the alliance next year. “This is not about gratitude,” he said. “It’s about sharing responsibility for international security.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland denied her country had effectively backed all-out war, saying she hoped that could be averted. But she told a TV news program that Estonia couldn’t just stand by, “with its hands in its pockets.” “If there’s an attack with biological or chemical weapons in, say, Paris or Tallinn, it will already be too late,” she said.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian officials Tuesday grounded Estonia’s small fleet of Russian-made Antonov 28s after one crashed the day before while taking off from Tallinn’s international airport, killing two crew members and injuring another.
The crash Monday occurred around 8:00 in the evening, about a kilometer from the main airport building; the aircraft had just lifted off the end of the runway when it dived nose-first into an open field. Television pictures showed the tail of the white, 13-meter long plane poking up through birch trees, the cabin crushed virtually beyond recognition. The cargo plane, which was carrying mail to nearby Finland, had three crew aboard and no passengers. Other Antonov 28s in Estonia are fitted to fly passengers, mainly to Estonian islands of the Baltic Sea coast.
Four Antonov 28s still in service in Estonia were slated to undergo thorough safety checks, though several could be allowed to fly again as soon as Wednesday, according to Aviation Administration director Toomas Peterson. The Tallinn-based Enimex company—which owned the ill-fated plane as well as two of the Antonov 28s scheduled for inspection—also had its license to fly withdrawn pending a review of its safety procedures, Peterson said. Another Antonov 28 owned by Enimex crashed on an Estonian island in late 2001, killing two passengers; 14 survived, as did the plane’s two crew members. At the time, that airplane accident was considered the worst in decades in Estonia; the country has otherwise had a good air safety record.
The government set up an accident investigation committee, though officials would not speculate about causes. Police also opened an investigation, as they are required to do by law, but gave no indication they suspected foul play. Officials did say the weather conditions were not considered hazardous at the time of the accident, with a mixture of light sleet and snow falling during the day. The temperature at the time of the crash was near freezing point.
The surviving crew member was not in life-threatening condition, Enimex said in a news release Tuesday. It gave the name of the captain who died as Alexander Verbenko, 44; it said the other fatality was co-pilot Vladimir Gorelik, 39.

VILNIUS-RIGA-TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The following about Baltic NATO membership appeared in a recent edition of CITY PAPER— Champagne corks popped, legislators cheered and one leader shaved his beard in celebration as people across the Baltic states rejoiced at receiving long-sought invitations to join NATO. Latvian Prime Minister Einars Repse said that the day NATO formally asked the Baltics to join, on November 21, was the second most important day in his country’s history—next to the time the Baltics regained their independence in 1991. “This means our independence and the ideals of freedom and democracy that we fought for will be protected forever,” he said, speaking to a crowd in a driving snow at Riga’s city-center Freedom Monument.
NATO issued invitations to seven ex-communist nations—the Baltic states plus Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia—at its summit in Prague. Many Baltic media broadcast the event live, with deputies around TVs shouting approval when their country’s name was read off. Estonian legislator Mart Laar kept a vow he made as premier last year that he’d shave his trademark blond beard if NATO invited the Baltics, which made entry a top foreign policy priority a decade ago.
The following day, U.S. President George Bush flew to Vilnius to personally congratulate all three Baltic presidents.
In a speech at a Vilnius old town square, Bush vowed that “in the face of aggression, the brave people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will never again stand alone.”
In response, tens of thousands of cheering Lithuanians who’d gathered to hear him began chanting “aciu! aciu! aciu!”—which means “thank you” in Lithuanian. “You’re welcome,” answered a beaming U.S. president.

Because of once-vehement Russian objections to Baltic NATO membership, their bids were seen as the most contentious by far—and they were initially considered long shots.
That’s made their success all the sweeter.
“Considering where we were years ago, it’s very gratifying,” said Estonian parliamentarian Mari-Ann Kelam, minutes after receiving the news and sipping champagne in celebration. Nearby, other deputies also clinked glasses.
As U.S.-Russian relations improved after the September 11 airborne terrorist attacks, Russia appeared to soften its opposition to Baltic membership—though stopping well short of saying it approved of NATO expansion to its very border.
Washington also became notably less jittery, saying the rise in worldwide terrorism proved the notion that security is indivisible isn’t just a cliche—and that the more nations there are in alliance the better.
“I hope that this step will be a reminder to those forces in Russia who may still think in terms of the former Soviet empire that those days are gone,” said Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga in a speech during the Prague conference. “They are on the dustheap of history.”
But some in Russia haven’t come to terms with an expanding NATO.
Several trains arriving in Tallinn from Moscow recently had fresh anti-NATO graffiti scrawled on theirs sides. “Stop NATO!” read one. “NATO is worse than AIDS,” said another.
Most Baltic leaders sidestep questions about why they want into NATO, with the alliance discouraging them from naming Russia as a potential future threat. Officially, governments say they want in to “contribute to European security.”
But residents in these economically dynamic but historically vulnerable countries—forcibly annexed by Josef Stalin’s Red Army in 1940—are quick to point to Russia as reason No. 1 for wanting to snuggle under the alliance’s protective wing. “You know other neighbors who might ever invade us?” said Tõnu Ekberg, 58, shopping at a market in the Estonian capital. “Sweden? Finland? Come on!”
Kelam stopped short of calling Russia a current threat. “Well, Russia’s not an immediate threat,” said Kelam. “But looking at our past, our troubles have usually come from one direction: the east….NATO’s an insurance policy.”

Combined Baltic armies number just over 20,000 troops; with 4,500 soldiers, Estonia will have the smallest national army in NATO. (Russia’s army, by comparison, numbers some 1 million men.) Estonians say they’ll make up for a lack of military might by specializing in tasks like mine clearing.
Unlike other ex-communist states that inherited militaries after the Soviet bloc collapsed, the Baltics started with no armies and no arms; when Russian troops withdrew in 1994, they stripped their bases bare, in some cases down to the kitchen sinks.
The Baltics could not have started from a less advantageous position.
But their progress in building from almost nothing impressed NATO. The pride of Baltic militaries is a new 100-million-dollar, pan-Baltic radar network that lets them track all planes flying anywhere over the three nations. In a sign of growing U.S. trust, it agreed recently to sell Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Lithuania—the first country in the region allowed to buy the high-tech weaponry.
The Baltics expect to join as full NATO members in 2004.

A minority says NATO will be too costly. The alliance requires that
members spend at least 2 percent of their national budgets on defense and some argue that this money would be better spent elsewhere, like on improving medical care.
But most polls put backing for NATO entry among natives at between 60-70 percent. Support for NATO certainly runs deeper than for membership in the 15-nation European Union, which the Baltic states also are slated to join in 2004. Many Balts seem ambivalent about EU accession, unsure about its benefits.
Toomas Henrik Ilves, Estonia’s recent pro-EU and pro-NATO foreign minister, explained that qualifying for NATO—while challenging—wasn’t quite as painful as overhauling all government institutions and laws as required by the EU.
“Joining the EU is like having every bone in your body broken….then you get a new skeleton,” he said. “Joining NATO is like buying a very expensive suit of armor that you have to get in shape to be able to wear.”

Wednesday—February 5, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The Baltic states and seven other eastern European nations were expected to sign a letter Wednesday forthrightly backing U.S. policy on Iraq. The declarations of support follow as similar letter sign by several Western European countries, including Spain and Great Britain—considered a rebuff to France and Germany, which have expressed strong reservations about a war against Iraq. The text of the letter from the 10 eastern European states wasn’t immediately available but was thought to widely agree with U.S. President George Bush that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat.
All three Baltic states have tended to be more pro-Washington than their counterparts in Western Europe, partly out of gratitude for U.S. support of their NATO membership bids; the Baltics are slated to join the alliance next year. Estonia and Latvia, while more cautious than Lithuania, have also hinted they will back the United States should matters come to all-out war in Iraq. Lithuania has already granted Washington rights for U.S warplanes to fly over Lithuanian airspace, if need be, should war break out in Iraq; Lithuanian officials have said it was willing to take a series of other steps, though it did not specify what those might be. Others have hinted that Lithuania could go so far as to contribute troops to a U.S.-led invasion force.
While Baltic governments have been supportive, public opinion in the Baltics has been far less enthusiastic, with at least two-thirds of local populations saying they oppose an invasion of Iraq.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER)—Estonia’s ex-KGB chief says he and former colleagues were recently offered cash for information that might implicate campaigning politicians as having collaborated with the hated, once feared secret police. The would-be buyers were politicians or their supporters intent on smearing rivals in the lead up to next month’s parliamentary election in Estonia, Rein Sillar was quoted as telling Estonia’s Postimees daily. “Information is asked about persons who, at different times and for different reasons and in different ways might have assisted (the KGB),” Sillar was quoted as telling the newspaper’s Tuesday edition.
Estonia regained independence from Moscow in 1991 after 50 years of often brutal Soviet rule. The KGB —with the backing of the courts—regularly jailed those who expressed even the slightest form of anti-Soviet dissent. Memories of Soviet repressions are fresh, so any hint a leader collaborated with the secret police is enough to ruin a political career. Ex-agents are also banned from serving in parliament on grounds they pose a security risk.
Sillar’s allegations came a day after Estonian Interior Minister Ain Seppik resigned following reports alleging that, as a judge in 1985, he jailed three teenagers for their opposition to Soviet rule. Allegations about Seppik were reportedly not based on KGB files but public court papers. Seppik said he didn’t recall the case and that the accusations were part of “a witch hunt.” He vowed to run for a seat in the March 2 election.
Sillar, who lives in Tallinn, declined to give details about the cash-for-information offers, saying only he turned them down and that the money involved was “large.” He didn’t say which parties may have been involved. He left open the possibly that other former KGB staff might be tempted.
Estonia has sought to expose Soviet abuses, including by opening Stalin-era KGB archives discovered in a damp, dimly lit Tallinn cellar after independence. More recent KGB files were hastily destroyed or withdrawn to Moscow as the Soviet Union collapsed, when Sillar headed the Estonian KGB. So questions about who worked for or collaborated with the KGB have been left mostly unanswered.
Many could be vulnerable to accusations—true and false—of collaboration. Postimees said 30,000 people in this nation of 1.4 million may have been named in the missing files. To tarnish opponents, there are widespread suspicions the KGB listed some as having collaborated— though they never did.

Monday—February 3, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian Interior Minister Ain Seppik tendered his resignation Monday following allegations the top law enforcement official jailed three teenagers for opposing Soviet rule nearly 20 years ago; his decision seemed to avert what could have become a full-blown government crisis. Prime Minister Siim Kallas had asked Seppik to leave just hours early, as opposition parties and leading public figures expressed outrage that such a key minister was reportedly involved in Soviet-era human rights abuses. Kallas and the embattled minister, Ain Seppik, belong to different parties in the Baltic state’s two-party government and the affair threatened to severely strain the coalition just a month before scheduled legislative elections.
Newspapers reported last week that, as a judge in 1985, Seppik convicted three Estonians, aged 16-19, for scrawling anti-Soviet graffiti on buildings and setting a communist monument on fire; they served between 2-3 years in prison. Reports said Seppik also sentenced one man to a psychiatric hospital for distributing anti-Soviet leaflets.
In a statement issued by his center-left Center Party Monday, Seppik said he decided to resign in the interest of preserving the ruling coalition, which also includes the prime minister’s center-right Reform Party. “It was my plan for several days to pull out of this dirty game,” he said, adding he still intended to run for a legislative seat in the March 2 election. A defiant Seppik initially refused opposition calls for him to step down, saying repeatedly that he did not even remember the trial against the teenagers and that his role, in any case, would have been a formality. “I can see dangerous signs of a witch hunt being staged,” he said Friday, adding that political opponents were trying to tarnish a whole generation of Estonians who had no choice but to live and work within the Soviet system. But many Estonians, who have spent a decade trying to consign the dark Soviet era to the past, said they were horrified to learn that someone who led police forces today had once played a central role in Soviet repressions.
The Center Party leadership, including chairman Edgar Savisaar, expressed staunch support for Seppik last week, saying they accepted his insistence that he played a minor role in the prosecutions. The Reform and Center parties formed an unlikely alliance last year after the demise of a center-right government, saying they would serve mainly as caretakers until the March 2, 2003 elections. Kallas found himself in a delicate position, wanting to distance himself from Seppik. But he also appeared nervous about provoking a government crisis as campaigning for seats in the 101-seat Riigikogu parliament begins in earnest.
While they are government partners, Reform and Center have opposed each other in early electioneering. Other center-right parties, including Pro Patria (Isamaa) and Res Publica, have focused their attacks on Center and its populist party leader Savisaar.

Saturday—February 1, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania imposed stricter visa requirements for residents of neighboring Kaliningrad this weekend, while Moscow continued to express fears that the Russian enclave could become more and more isolated. Kaliningrad—which will be surrounded by EU territory after Lithuania and Poland, as expected, become EU members in 2004—has been a topic of heated discussion between the EU, Russia and Lithuania in recent months.
After Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union, residents of Kaliningrad had easy access to Lithuania—merely having to show a valid ID, including military papers, as they traveled to and from mainland Russia. But both Lithuania and the EU called for tighter borders, partly from fear smugglers and illegal immigrants from economically depressed, crime-ridden Kaliningrad could use holes in the Lithuanian-Russian border to enter the EU.
Under the new visa rules, the first stage in setting up a new visa regime prior to Lithuania’s entry into the EU, residents of Kaliningrad will have to fill out a detailed request to cross through Lithuanian territory. Border guards will also no longer accept Russian military identification cards, or birth certificates for children under 14 years of age who are traveling without parents, as valid transit documents.
Heeding Russian requests, Lithuania did say it won’t require that in-transit passengers receive entry and exit stamps in their passports. But they refused calls for the visa requirements to be put off entirely pending further talks. Russia’s Foreign Ministry as recently as Wednesday issued a statement expressing concern about the introduction the tougher transit rules. The Kremlin has repeatedly called for visa-free travel for the Kaliningrad Russians, something Lithuania has flatly rejected.
Lithuania has indicated it will comply with the terms of a compromise deal hammered out between Russia and the EU. Under that agreement, which takes effect in July, Lithuania will begin issuing Russians with special, EU-approved travel documents so they can travel back and forth from Russia proper.

Thursday—January 30, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Russian investment in Lithuanian has soared over the past year as companies from the east try to establish a firm foothold in the region before the Baltics enter the European Union, the Vilnius-based Verslo Zinios reported. Investment from Russia increased almost five fold last year, largely as a result of purchases of huge chunks of Lithuania’s energy sector. Russian companies, which have seen their profits rise in recent years and which have cash to spend, apparently want to position themselves in strategically important Baltic industries before even more EU investors move in. Russia is now the seventh largest investor in Lithuania, where only a year ago it was the 18th largest, according to Lithuania’s statistics department; it said Russian money was by far the fastest growing source of new investment in the southern most Baltic state. It added that there was Russian capital in some 1,200 Lithuanian firms and Russians fully owned over 300 companies. Their biggest prize is the Mazeikiu Oil conglomerate, the sole oil refinery in the Baltics and the largest company in Lithuania; Russia’s Yukos last year bought controlling shares in the company from the U.S.-based Williams International. Russian companies have also put huge Latvian oil and transport businesses—like Ventspil Oil—in their sites, though Latvians so far appear to have resisted heavy Russian pressure to sell.
Some politicians in the Baltic states in the past have expressed concern about an influx of Russian capital, saying it could make the Baltics more vulnerable if the Kremlin ever threatens to use economic pressure for political ends.

Wednesday—January 29, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania indicated Wednesday that it is ready to back any U.S.-war effort in Iraq, if the UN inspection process fails to avert conflict. In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Lithuania signaled that it was willing to go considerably farther in supporting the U.S. than some long-time NATO allies in Western Europe, like France and Germany. The same day, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Giedrius Cekuolis confirmed that Washington has been granted rights to fly over Lithuanian airspace, if need be, should war break out in Iraq; he said Lithuania was willing to take a series of other steps, though he did not specify what those might be. Others have hinted that Lithuania could go so far as to contribute troops to a U.S.-led invasion force. All three Baltic states have tended to be more pro-Washington than their counterparts in Western Europe, partly out of gratitude for U.S. support of their NATO membership bids; the Baltics are slated to join the alliance next year. Estonia and Latvia, while more cautious than Lithuania, have also hinted they will forthrightly back the United States should matters come to all-out war in Iraq.

Tuesday—January 28, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) An advertisement offering a 10,000 dollar reward for information about Nazi war criminals didn’t run in Estonia’s daily newspapers Tuesday as scheduled after police objected to parts of the ad text. Similar ads ran in neighboring Latvia earlier this month and in Lithuania late last year; they were designed by the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The ad that was supposed to run Tuesday in Estonia included text that read, “During the Holocaust, Estonians murdered Jews in Estonia as well as in other countries,” the Wiesenthal Center said. It urged anyone with information to call Estonia’s Security Police Board, which investigates war crimes cases.
But Police Board spokesman Henno Kuurmann said the unit asked a local advertising agency hired by the Wiesenthal Center not to run the ad with its name and telephone number. “We are not able to say that an ad cannot be published,” Kuurmann said Tuesday. “We just said we didn’t like that our name and number was there.” In a letter Kuurmann sent to the Media House ad agency, he said it was “misleading to publish (our) contact information … as the Security Police Board has not laid out the mentioned $10,000 award.” A copy of the letter, released to journalists by the Security Board, also argued that the ad’s statement about Estonians killing Jews outside the country had not been proven.
Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center’s Jerusalem office, blasted the Police Board’s intervention. “This is outrageous. It’s free expression that’s harmed,” he said. “The victims are the Estonian public. I stand by the text … There’s nothing inaccurate or inflammatory in it. We will issue a protest.” In addition to the Security Board comments, Zuroff said the advertising company also cited objections from academics who said the advertisement might violate laws against inciting ethnic hatred.
Some 1,000 Estonian Jews were killed during the Nazi occupation, while about 4,500 fled to Russia before the Nazis invaded.

Monday—January 27, 2003
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) An Estonian court Monday found Sergei Maistrizin guilty of criminal negligence in the deaths of 68 people who drank a methanol-laced liquor that prosecutors say he played a central role in brewing two years ago. The 35-year-old was initially indicted for murder and faced a maximum penalty of life in prison; but judges reduced that charge to criminal negligence citing a lack of evidence; they handed him a five-year jail term Monday. Sixteen other defendants were also convicted Monday on lesser charges—mainly with distributing the deadly drink. They received shorter sentences.
Prosecutors said Maistrizin sold 10 200-liter barrels of methanol to distributors knowing it was potentially lethal. They said he made a total profit of 3,000 dollars from the sales. Maistrizin pleaded not guilty as the trial began late last year in the County Court in Pärnu, 125 kilometers south of the capital, Tallinn.
Alcohol poisonings occur sporadically in this Baltic Sea coastal nation, where black-market alcohol is widely used. But there were never so many deaths at one time. The victims—including one as young as 17—died after drinking the same batch of liquor in and around Pärnu during September 2001; over 80 were injured. They were mostly poorer Estonians who bought the alcohol because it was cheaper than legal brands, costing about 30 kroons per half-liter compared with at least 100 kroons in licensed stores.
Methanol, also called methyl or wood alcohol, is sometimes used by illegal distilleries to increase the potency of the liquor or is added by mistake. It is used in antifreeze and blamed for hundreds of deaths worldwide each year.

Thursday—January 23, 2003
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania’s parliament Thursday adopted a constitutional amendment that will drop all restrictions on the sale of land to foreigners. While Lithuania last month won a coveted invitation to join the European Union, the EU insisted it must follow through on commitments to grant non-citizens rights to buy land, including farmland. The amendment passed the Seimas legislature with overwhelming support; the ban on the sale of agricultural land to foreigners—the last restriction on the purchase of real estate—will end seven years after Lithuania joins the EU, or by around 2011. The EU earlier agreed to the seven-year transitional period. Lithuania and the other two Baltic states are slated to become full EU members in 2004. The prohibition against selling land used for farming was written into the constitution after Lithuania regained independence, reflecting strong feelings among some natives that only Lithuanians should own Lithuanian farmland. The sale of other types of land to foreigners was already permitted.

Wednesday—January 22, 2003
TALLINN-RIGA-VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) The Baltic states may be on the fast track into the European Union—but officials here say rail links to Europe are woefully inadequate, so they are proposing a new train service to fill the gap. Government spokesmen said Wednesday that the plan involves replacing Soviet-era tracks, then installing modern electric trains that can travel 200 kilometers per hour from Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, to Berlin in just seven hours.
These sea-coast nations won invitations to join the EU last month—culminating a decade-long drive to re-enter the European mainstream after 50 years of Soviet occupation; they’re slated to become full EU members in 2004. But traveling from what will be the outer northeastern edge of the EU to the center of business and cultural life on the continent remains cumbersome, time consuming and costly—leading many people here feeling isolated.
Daniel Vaarik, Estonia’s government spokesman, said the new line could foster EU goals of bringing Europe together—economically and culturally. “Our geographical distance to many European cities is not that great, but it is in the time it takes (to travel to those cities),” he said. “If we could cut the time down, it would be very good for us.”
There is no regular passenger or freight train traffic from the Baltic countries to Western Europe, and car or bus travel from Tallinn to Berlin via the mostly single-lane, poorly lit Baltic highways can take 20 hours or more. Many locals also consider flights prohibitively expensive. A plane from Tallinn to Berlin can cost over 500 dollars—more than the average monthly wage here. Officials said tickets on the new train would cost half that.
The line, dubbed Rail Baltica, would run some 1,500 kilometers from Tallinn—through Riga and Vilnius—to Berlin, according to the head of Estonia’s Railway Department, Oleg Epner. He said project—five years in the planning by Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians—has been introduced to officials in the EU and also Poland—through which the train would also have to run. He said both the EU and Poland reacted favorably. (Finland, which could also put the new route to good use, has also been involved in talks.)
The plan seems to be gaining momentum. It was discussed in detail at a meeting of Baltic premiers last week in Estonia, and all three government leaders reportedly said they were bullish on the idea. Spokesmen added later, however, that a final decision probably wouldn’t be made for months, or even years.
Epner said he was hopeful the project could be completed in 12 years, saying it would take a decade to lay the EU-standard, 1435-millimeter-wide track—which would replace the wider, 1520-millimeter track favored by Soviet engineers. “By 2015, I want to be able to climb on a train with my laptop and a cup of coffee in Tallinn and be in Berlin in seven hours,” he said.
Proponents say the potential economic benefits are clear, arguing that it would increase cargo traffic and tourism. Tourism officials, especially in Latvia and Lithuania, have complained for years that there were not enough cost-effective ways for tourists to get here; the vast majority of visitors to Estonia arrive by ferry from Finland.
Most Baltic trade with Western Europe—including of Russian oil en route through the Baltic states to Western markets—is done through seaports. Because of a lack of lines, there is little trade with the West by rail. (A large amount of Baltic trade with Russia is conducted by rail, thanks to the Soviet-built networks that run east.)
Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas, a fiscal conservative who has tended to cast a skeptical eye on big infrastructure projects, has also now agreed Rail Baltica was worth serious consideration. “Sometimes a dry financialist has to be a visionary, too,” Vaarik quoted Kallas as saying.
But the Estonian leader may yet turn cool once he sees a price tag.
Epner said coming up with one will take months. But he said similar projects have cost a whopping 1 million dollars per kilometer of track. By that measure, the Tallinn-Berlin line could cost some to 1 billion euros. He said he hoped the EU would help foot the bill.