TALLINN, June 21 (Reuters) — The Baltic Sea states hope Russia will agree on Monday to a ban of heavy oil shipments in single-hulled tankers as early as April 2005, an Estonian government spokeswoman said on Monday.
      "We are hopeful that the Russians would agree on this deal today," she told reporters.
      Leaders and government officials from the 11 states of the Baltic Sea region, including Germany, Poland and Russia, were meeting in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.
      The former Soviet Union Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined the European Union earlier this year, have already agreed to bring forward the ban to April 5, 2005 from an earlier proposed start date of 2010.
      The initiative, therefore, depends on Russia, which is the main crude oil and refined products supplier in the region via its ports on the Gulf of Finland as well as via Baltic Sea ports of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
      Traders say the country is exporting more than two million barrels per day of Urals crude and refined products from the Baltic Sea ports to international markets.
      Russia has so far sent mixed signals on whether it is ready to agree on an early ban of single-hulled tankers, which are regarded as less safe than more modern double-hulled vessels.
      The European Union and the Baltic Sea community began to insist on an early ban of single-hulled tankers after the tanker Prestige sunk near the Spanish Galician coast in 2002 after being loaded with Russian barrels in the Baltic ports.
      The ageing single-hulled Prestige was carrying 77,000 tonnes of thick, foul-smelling fuel oil and broke in half after a five-day battle with the waves, coating beaches with thousands of tonnes of fuel oil in one of Europe's worst spills.

      LAULAMAA, Estonia (AP) — The prime ministers of Germany, Russia, Poland, Finland, Norway and the three Baltic states converged on this seaside town Monday for a meeting to discuss trade and a regional approach to protecting the environment and combatting AIDS.
      The summit was the fifth by the 11-nation Council of Baltic Sea States since it was established in 1992 to promote regional cooperation. The leaders of Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland were absent from Monday's meeting in Laulamaa, 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the capital Tallinn.
      The council holds summits every other year to provide political guidance for annual meetings by the foreign ministers of the member states.
      The year the leaders were expected to discuss regional trade, investment, the environment and HIV and AIDS.
      The summit also provides a venue for bilateral talks and is a means for strengthening relations between the European Union and Russia.
      Poland and the three Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia -- were among 10 countries joining the EU in May, leaving Norway, Iceland, and Russia as the only non-EU Council members.
      The prime ministers were expected to return to their home countries after the summit concludes Monday.

      MOSCOW (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday urged the European Union to enforce its human rights standards in all member states, including the rights of Russian-speakers in Latvia and Estonia.
      "The European Union as well as Europe as a whole cannot have persons of a second sort, non-citizens," Lavrov said at the end of the meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.
      He urged Latvia and Estonia, who joined the EU on May 1, to observe EU human rights standards and the rights of national minorities as recommended by the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
      Russia has long expressed concern over the status of Russian-speaking minorities in these ex-Soviet Baltic states. Moscow argues they are discriminated against by citizenship and language laws that force them to study in state languages they often don't speak and requiring some fluency in those languages to gain citizenship.
      Tuomioja said that EU criteria should be applied to all of its members.
      The two ministers also discussed bilateral relations, international issues as well the October meeting in Helsinki between Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Fradkov.

      TALLINN, June 21 (Reuters) — Russia has agreed to join a ban on using single-hulled tankers to carry heavy oil on the Baltic Sea as early as April 2005, a group of 11 regional states said on Monday.
      Russia's assent, won at a meeting of the Baltic Sea Council in Estonia's capital Tallinn, follows European pressure over the Prestige tanker disaster off Spain in 2002 and comes as Moscow looks to boost oil exports via crowded Baltic shipping lanes.
      The deal brings forward to April 5 next year the imposition of the ban, which had originally been envisaged for 2010 but was hurried up after the single-hulled Prestige foundered off the Galician coast, spilling its cargo of Russian heavy fuel oil.
      "The Baltic Sea states have in several fora voiced their concerns over the traffic of such vessels," the Council said in a statement.
      The ban means that no single-hulled tanker can be loaded with crude oil or fuel oil, while gasoline can still be transported in single-hulled vessels.
      The former Soviet Union Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined the European Union last month, have already agreed to bring forward the ban.
      The initiative thus depended on Russia, the main crude oil and refined products supplier in the region via its ports on the Gulf of Finland as well as via the Baltic Sea ports of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
      Traders say the country is exporting more than two million barrels per day of heavy Urals crude and refined products from the Baltic Sea ports to international markets.
      Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said Russia was using very few single-hulled tankers, especially at its modern flagship outlet of Primorsk, built less than three years ago but already shipping close to one million barrels per day.
      "This is not a problem for us at all," Fradkov told a news conference. "We are withdrawing the single-hulled tankers from use strictly in line with our obligations."
      The European Union and the Baltic Sea community began to insist on an early ban of single-hulled tankers after the tanker Prestige sunk off the Spanish Galician coast.
      The ageing, single-hulled Prestige was carrying 77,000 tonnes of thick, foul-smelling fuel oil and broke in half after a five-day battle with the waves, coating beaches with thousands of tonnes of fuel oil in one of Europe's worst spills.

      VILNIUS, June 22 (Reuters) — Lithuania's interim president on Tuesday called an emergency meeting of the State Defence Council after anti-corruption officers raided the offices of four major political parties.
      "We are short of information at present, but we have called a security council meeting for tomorrow morning," acting President Arturas Paulauskas told journalists.
      He declined to say whether Sunday's run-off presidential election to replace Rolandas Paksas, impeached in April over allegations of links with Russian mobsters and intelligence services, would be postponed.
      Earlier on Tuesday officers from the Special Investigation Service, headed by Paksas sympathiser Valentinas Junokas, raided the offices of four parties on suspicion of financial crimes including money laundering, bribery and embezzlement.
      "We are conducting a major pre-trial investigation in cooperation with the Prosecutor General and with court orders," SIS spokeswoman Elena Martinoniene told Reuters.
      "We visited the offices of four political parties to seize documents required for the investigation," she said.
      The SIS raided the offices of the ruling Social Democrats and Social Liberals, and those of the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Central Union, which joined forces with the coalition to topple Paksas.
      "Today a synchronised attack was launched on all political parties that don't back Russia's candidate Kazimira Prunskiene," said Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania's first head of state after independence in 1991.
      "This is political terror a few days before elections. Russia is playing its final card after Rolandas Paksas."
      The latest polls put ex-President Valdas Adamkus — who won the first round of the elections -- 10 percent ahead of Kazimira Prunskiene, the Peasant Party leader backed by Paksas.
      Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas, a rising star in the Liberal Central Union who headed Adamkus's election campaign, abruptly left for Poland just after the raids.
      "I took vacation time until next week in order to avoid this provocation by the SIS, who tried to arrest me," he told Reuters in a brief telephone interview, adding that the SIS was trying to influence the outcome of the presidential race.
      "In my opinion, what was done has been fully influenced by foreign intelligence agencies, corrupt business people and politicians," he said.
      Paulauskas addresses the nation at 0500 GMT on Wednesday, and parliament holds an extraordinary session at 1000 GMT.

      NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) — Stressed New Yorkers longing for an escape from their sweltering urban jungle this summer are often finding no peace at the beach despite miles of breezy coastline within close reach of Manhattan.
      Beach-seekers are confounded by strange rules, pricey parking fees, beach entrance charges, fines for not following posted policy and restrictions on where they can swim and surf.
      Not to mention lifeguards most comfortable communicating in Polish or Latvian. Or pool monitors who require swimmers to wear lining in their swimming trunks.
      Plotting the route to summer relief can be a challenge.
      While eight city-governed beaches were officially declared open earlier this month, 53 outdoor pools do not open until Saturday despite soaring heat and humidity.
      Tim Gough, who lives in lower Manhattan, said that recently "even though it is already boiling hot there was no water in the pool. It was ridiculous."
      Last season he was refused entry to a pool on Manhattan's Lower East Side because the swimming trunks he was wearing did not have a mesh lining. He was asked by a monitor to show that his swimsuit was lined.
      "When I asked why, I was told I needed lining to 'catch all the bits that fall out', which seems completely bizarre to me," he said.
      Gough said he was also shocked when he was required to pay a $7 entry fee to sit on the sand during a visit to Long Beach on Long Island, a 45-minute trip from Manhattan.
      "Beaches should be free. People should be able to swim at their own risk. It's all about civil liberties and this is supposed to be the greatest democracy in the world," he said.
      LIFEGUARDS FROM LATVIA
      Swimmers and surfers at city beaches, which are free to enter, face fines between $50 and $200 for activity outside the lifeguard hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
      New York Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe blamed "America's litigious society" for some of the strict rules.
      "New Yorkers can find them (the rules) strange but we are trying to get the laws relaxed," he said. "I blame the lawyers and the legal system. Europe is more sophisticated and people take more personal responsibility for risky behaviour."
      The city's official beach season lasts only until Sept. 6, the timing governed by the availability of lifeguards, most of whom are students taking on summer jobs.
      But even that is not immune from complication. Due to a shortage of local lifeguards, Parks Commissioner Benepe said the city looked to hire guards from other countries "like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa," but ran into visa problems.
      Eventually more than 50 lifeguards were recruited from Poland and several from Latvia and Bulgaria. They are paid $10 an hour. "The economy in Poland is not so good and they like to travel," said Benepe. "They have a good time."
      Beaches that come under the city's care are just a drop in the ocean compared to the number of sandy spots that surround New York on Long Island and on the New Jersey coast.
      Control of these beaches is divided among the federal government, national seashores, states, counties, municipalities, townships and villages, with each body setting different rules.
      For example, Long Beach resident John Schultz said his community prohibits swimming before 7 a.m. and confines surfers to two places on its 3-mile (4.8-km) shoreline. "That to me is ridiculous," Schultz said.
      At another popular area, the Jersey Shore, surfers are required to take a swimming test and get a surfing permit, he said.
      Joel Banslaben, head of the New York City chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a group dedicated to improving beaches, said public access was a growing concern.
      "Certain townships keep people out by charging for permits that range between $100 and $500 for a season unless you are a full-time resident," he said. Many municipalities say they use beach fees to pay for services such as the lifeguards and rubbish collection.
      The popular getaway for New York's rich and famous — The Hamptons -- "was even more exclusive where only residents can get permits to access the beach," he said.
      Faced with these obstacles, surfers and other avid beachgoers are forced to resort to insider information. "In the surfing community we have our secret spots," Banslaben said.

      BRUSSELS, June 24 (Reuters) — The European Commission on Thursday gave four of the largest new EU members between three and four years to cut their budget deficits to below the bloc's limit, urging them to speed up fiscal reforms.
      In its assessment of EU newcomers' programmes that are eventually to bring them into the euro zone, the EU's executive said the countries' overhauls of public finances should be ambitious to keep up a pace of fast economic growth.
      The Commission recommended that Poland, by far the biggest EU entrant, have until 2007 to bring its budget deficit to below the EU's limit of three percent of gross domestic product from more than five percent in 2004, in line with national plans.
      "A dissipation of fiscal uncertainties, through a successful implementation of planned fiscal consolidation measures, is key to achieve the projected strengthening of growth," the Commission said in a statement.
      The European Union admitted 10 countries, mostly from central and eastern European, as new members on May 1. The Commission has since launched an execessive budget procedure against six of them -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and small Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta.
      As part of the procedure, the EU executive suggested deadlines for the budget sinners to trim their deficits, the recommendation to be reviewed by EU finance ministers on July 5.
      The Commission gave Slovakia until 2007 to achieve the EU budget cap. The Czech Republic and Hungary were told to lower their budget gaps to below three percent of GDP until 2008.
      Cyprus was given until 2005 to cut its deficit to EU limits and Malta until 2006.
      The EU executive said that fiscal reforms programmes underpinning the deficit reduction plans often lacked in ambitions and left the countries too vulnurable to a general change in macroeconomic conditions.
      "Within the outlined macroeconomic framework, the budgetary adjustment appears to be credible but not very ambitious," the Commission commented about the Czech Republic.
      On Hungary, it said that "there were no clear indication about the ambitious expenditure reducing measures."
      The Commission's reports did not discuss domestic politics, but analysts say that economic programmes could be jeopardised in some countries, notably Poland and the Czech Republic, by turbulent domestic politis.
      Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka was due to face a confidence vote in parliament later in Thursday. His failure would bring forward general elections, probably delaying economic reforms for months.
      The Commission also approved the economic programmes submitted by four EU newcomers that keep their deficits below three percent of GDP -- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia.
      This budget deficit cap is also a key criterion for any EU member that wants to join the euro zone.
      EU officials say new EU members will be allowed to join the euro zone some two years after meeting its accession criteria, which could make the small Baltic Republic the first to adopt the euro.
      If Poland and Slovakia meet their deficit goals, they could join the euro zone in 2009 at the earlier while the Czech Republic and Hungary in 2010.

      ST PETERSBURG, June 24 (Reuters) — Russia has put the brakes on new north Baltic oil terminal projects while studies are carried out to determine how much oil the route can cope with, a senior regional official told Reuters on Thursday.
      Grigory Dvas, deputy governor of Leningrad region, said officials would not accept any more proposals until studies had determined the maximum capacity for exports via the Baltic.
      "We have been forced to choose this course of action as the number of applications for terminals in the area has risen sharply," he said during an interview.
      Russian crude output is booming, with a new post-Soviet high of 9.09 million barrels per day pumped in May, but the world's second largest crude exporter faces an export capacity shortfall of around 800,000 bpd.
      Traditional shipping routes via the Black Sea are overcrowded and the overall pipeline export capacity has hit a ceiling of four million bpd.
      SHIPPING KLONDIKE
      Russian crude pipeline monopoly Transneft blazed the trail to new export routes via the Baltic with its flagship Primorsk port, which is due to reach a capacity of one million bpd by the end of the year.
      A rush of private terminal projects has followed, including LUKOIL's 10.7-million tonne Vysotsk oil and product terminal project, which has recently shipped its first cargoes.
      TNK-BP is building one of three terminals at Ust Luga. Their combined capacity could eventually exceed 30 million tonnes of crude and refined products.
      "We have realised that we will be unable to approve all the applications if we do not first study the area and discover what volumes and cargoes Ust-Luga can cope with, together with the infrastructure that exists or could be built," Dvas said.
      Those tests should be completed by the autumn.
      Dvas said the capacity of 11 planned oil, gas and chemical terminals on the Gulf of Finland alone was 165 million tonnes a year (3.3 million bpd) -- a huge amount as sure to irk shippers as it is to rattle greens in any of the eight other Baltic countries.
      Russia's top maritime official told Reuters in March that Russia was exporting 2.6 million bpd through the Baltic, including via the ports of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and could raise that to 3.0-4.0 million bpd without problems.
      But some fear the route could become as overcrowded as the clogged Black Sea routes they are in part designed to sidestep.
      The Black Sea suffers from the fact that, to reach world markets, all its shipping must pass through the Turkish straits.
      That means passing through Istanbul, and Turkish officials have slapped restrictions on oil tankers using the route.
      Baltic shipping must pass through the Danish straits. They are much wider but Nordic countries have shown they are worried by the prospect of a huge boost in crude oil shipments.

      MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's lower house of parliament was scheduled to consider ratification Friday of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, an agreement setting limits on heavy weapons across the continent.
      The treaty is seen to be in Russia's interest, since it allows additional flexibility in deploying its forces between regions, and entails no additional costs for the cash-strapped armed forces. Until now, however, Moscow has held off on ratification pending commitments from the former Soviet republics in the Baltics -- now NATO members -- to join the treaty.
      The agreement regulates the deployment of military aircraft, tanks and other heavy non-nuclear weapons around the continent. An amended version of the treaty, originally agreed in 1990 by 22 the 22 members of the NATO and Warsaw Pact alliances, was signed in 1999 to reflect changes since the Soviet breakup. Since then, however, it has been ratified only by former Soviet republics Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
      Moscow has been pressing the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined NATO in March, to commit to the treaty, saying that their failure to do would threaten Russia's security. The Baltic states cannot accede to the treaty until it enters force.
      The speaker of the lower house or State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, said Thursday that the chamber would simultaneously consider ratification of the treaty and approval of a statement urging the Russian president to ensure the maintenance of conventional forces at the level necessary to protect the nation, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
      NATO has linked its own ratification of the treaty to Russian troop withdrawals from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia. Moscow, which has dragged its feet on the pullout, says that its pledge to withdraw its forces from Georgia and Moldova is separate from the treaty.
      "Now, apparently, Moscow has decided to substitute the carrot for the stick in hopes that ratification of the modified treaty will have a 'positive demonstrative effect' and will help accelerate the ratification process in other states," the Kommersant daily commented.

      MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's lower house of parliament on Friday ratified the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, an agreement setting limits on heavy weapons across the continent.
      The chamber, known as the State Duma, ratified the agreement by a vote of 355-28, with two abstentions.
      The treaty was seen to be in Russia's interest, since it allows additional flexibility in deploying its forces between regions, and entails no additional costs for the cash-strapped armed forces. Until now, however, Moscow had held off on ratification pending commitments from the former Soviet republics in the Baltics -- now NATO members -- to join the treaty.
      "This is one of the most important components of the European system of security," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.
      The agreement regulates the deployment of military aircraft, tanks and other heavy non-nuclear weapons around the continent. An amended version of the treaty, originally agreed to in 1990 by the 22 members of the NATO and Warsaw Pact alliances, was signed in 1999 to reflect changes since the Soviet breakup. Since then, however, it has been ratified only by former Soviet republics Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
      Moscow has been pressing the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined NATO in March, to commit to the treaty, saying that their failure to do would threaten Russia's security. The Baltic states cannot accede to the treaty until it enters force.
      The Duma simultaneously approved a statement urging the Russian president to ensure the maintenance of conventional forces at the level necessary to protect the nation.
      NATO has linked its own ratification of the treaty to Russian troop withdrawals from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia. Moscow, which has dragged its feet on the pullout, says that its pledge to withdraw its forces from Georgia and Moldova is separate from the treaty.
      "Now, apparently, Moscow has decided to substitute the carrot for the stick in hopes that ratification of the modified treaty will have a 'positive demonstrative effect' and will help accelerate the ratification process in other states," the Kommersant daily commented.

      MOSCOW (AP) — Tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox faithful streamed along the Kremlin's riverside walls and into Red Square Sunday in a procession honoring a famed icon recently returned to Russia after decades in the United States.
      The procession, shrouded in clouds of incense smoke, went from the recently reconstructed Christ the Savior Cathedral into Red Square to bid farewell to the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God.
      The icon had been on round-the-clock display in Moscow for four days and is to be sent to St. Petersburg for more display before being returned to the Tikhvin Monastery east of St. Petersburg.
      Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the icon was painted by Jesus Christ's apostle St. Luke. It was lost in Constantinople sometime in the 14th century, then reappeared in Tikhvin in 1383.
      The monastery was closed by the Bolsheviks and the icon was taken to the city of Pskov, which was seized by Nazi troops in Wold War II. In 1944, retreating German soldiers took the icon to Riga, Latvia, where it was saved by the city's Orthodox archbishop Janis Garklavs, who emigrated to the United States in 1949.
      Garklavs willed the icon to his son on the condition that it be returned to Russia once the Tikhvin Monastery was reopened.

      BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — European Union governments on Monday failed to agree on a contentious proposal to approve a genetically modified corn made by a U.S. company for use in processed food.
      Diplomats said EU environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg were deadlocked in a vote on giving approval to the introduction of the corn product, known as NK603, from Monsanto Co. of St. Louis.
      Nine EU countries — Latvia, Denmark, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Italy, Greece, Austria and Luxembourg -- voted against the license, and two countries, Belgium and Spain, abstained.
      Nine others, led by Britain and the Netherlands were for approval.
      The stalemate, however, will not prevent the EU's head office from approving the corn for sale on the European market. That decision is expected in the next few weeks, officials said.
      The European Commission urged EU governments last Friday to approve the corn hybrid after it underwent "a thorough safety assessment for any adverse impact on public health."
      The union last month lifted its six-year moratorium on approving genetically modified organisms. Under EU rules, member states have three months to decide whether to accept requests for biotech products for sale in the EU. If they fail to reach a decision, it is left to the Commission to decide on the application.
      The stalemate reflects the deep divisions in Europe over the use of biotech foods.
      Genetically altered crops remain unpopular among many consumers in the wake of recent food-related health scares, from mad cow disease to poisoned poultry.
      In May, a biotech variety of corn made by Switzerland's Syngenta AG was approved for import and sale, but not cultivation. It was the first such approval for a biotech product in the EU since 1998, when a de facto moratorium was imposed in response to public fears about the health and safety of bioengineering.
      The U.S. administration has accused the EU of violating international trade rules by hindering the marketing of genetically modified food. Although it has welcomed the EU's lifting of a moratorium, it continues with a complaint against Europe at the World Trade Organization. An initial ruling is expected in September.
      Monsanto shares rose 80 cents to close at $36.28 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

      ISTANBUL, June 28 (Reuters) — Russia called on Monday for new confidence-building measures with NATO following the alliance's expansion into former Soviet territory in the Baltic.
      But, meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Istanbul, the two former Cold War adversaries made no progress in their row over a 1999 treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe.
      "We need reciprocal confidence-building measures ... to prevent dangerous incidents," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference after a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, held on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Istanbul.
      "We are very well aware that NATO no longer poses a threat to Russia and vice-versa. We have normal, partner-like relations with NATO, but the fact is that there is military activity taking place just beyond the borders of the Russian Federation."
      He said the Baltic region was "among the most stable on earth" and there was no objective security justification for such activities, describing them as a Cold War "hangover."
      Moscow opposed NATO's enlargement in March into the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Other former Soviet satellites Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia also joined the alliance at that time.
      President Vladimir Putin's decision to shun the Istanbul summit despite the attendance of U.S. President George W. Bush and many other Western leaders reflected Moscow's continued displeasure at the enlargement of NATO, diplomats say.
      The NATO-Russia Council was set up in 2002 for engagement on post-September 11 security issues such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction but has so far yielded few concrete results.
      Lavrov said NATO foreign ministers had responded "with some interest" to his proposal for confidence-building measures and said he expected follow-up discussions.
      CONVENTIONAL FORCES SPAT
      Russia and NATO remained at odds over the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), agreed in Istanbul in 1999.
      Russia is anxious for the adapted treaty to be ratified so that the Baltic states can sign up. Some Russian officials fear they could become NATO outposts for nuclear arms or army bases.
      But Western nations insist the adapted treaty cannot be ratified until Russia meets its part of the 1999 Istanbul bargain to pull back forces and weapons from the ex-Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia.
      NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the CFE was "a very important building block" in continental security and said the alliance expected Russia to ratify the treaty by the end of the year.
      "There is not only a political but a legal link between ratification and the Istanbul commitments (on removing Russian forces from Moldova and Georgia)," Scheffer said.
      He added that discussions had resumed with the new Georgian government "based on goodwill and an understanding of the need for a normal withdrawal from Georgia without inconvenience."
      Lavrov, Russia's former envoy to the United Nations, expressed his country's support for a NATO decision to provide training for the new Iraqi government's security forces.
      "Anything that helps stabilise the situation in Iraq is welcome," Lavrov said.
      He renewed Moscow's call for an international conference on Iraq's future bringing together members of the country's opposition as well as the interim government and foreign powers.

      VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Valdas Adamkus is no stranger to Lithuania's presidency. He held the job from 1998-2003 -- only to lose it in a narrow runoff to the former stunt pilot and now-impeached Rolandas Paksas.
      On Monday, after the Central Election Commission said final results showed the 77-year-old centrist won a second term, he vowed to return respectability to the position, saying he would overcome the embarrassment caused by his predecessor on the international stage.
      "I would venture to say that it was a choice between East and West, and a majority of Lithuanians said they're for the West," the white-haired former U.S. citizen told a news conference in the capital, Vilnius, after final results showed he won with 52.4 percent of the vote. He defeated ex-Prime Minister Kazimira Prunskiene, a Paksas supporter who got 47.6 percent.
      Analysts said Adamkus' narrow win was a likely sign that the Baltic state of 3.5 million isn't moving away from its pro-West tack, a path that largely established by Adamkus when he was president from 1998-2003. He lost to Paksas by a razor-thin margin in a January 2003 runoff.
      Even though the five-year job is mostly ceremonial in Lithuania's parliamentary system, the president has a strong hand in forming the republic's governments and influencing its foreign policy.
      Adamkus said he would work to restore the country's integrity and reputation abroad after Paksas was impeached for divulging state secrets and his ties to a businessman linked with Russian mafia.
      "I am convinced that Lithuanians took this decision looking to the future, and it also shows a conviction that Lithuania will follow a democratic path," he told the news conference, adding the country would continue aligning itself with the European Union, which it joined in May.
      As if to underscore that importance, the country was one of three EU newcomers that agreed over the weekend to peg its currency to euro, the first step in eventually adopting the common currency already in use by 12 members of the bloc.
      The win is expected to give pro-West supporters a boost ahead of national parliamentary elections this fall, analysts said, but it could also provide fodder for their opponents, particularly Prunskiene, who, in conceding the race to Adamkus, said she would use her support then.
      Prunskiene had the backing of Paksas, who was forced out of office in April for divulging state secrets and appointing an aide with ties to the Russian mafia.
      Both Adamkus and Prunskiene failed to win a necessary majority for an outright victory in the first round.
      Adamkus, who moved back to this former Soviet republic in 1997 after five decades in exile in the United States, came in first with 30.5 percent, falling short of predictions, while Prunskiene won 21.3 percent, twice the amount of votes he was expected to win in the first round.
      Prunskiene, a 61-year-old economist, was the country's first prime minister after the 1991 Soviet collapse. She was forced to step down amid allegations of past KGB ties, ruining her political career in the late 1990s.
      Earlier this year, she was cleared of all KGB-related charges, giving her renewed appeal among the country's 3.5 million residents.
      She sought to return to politics, actively promoting social welfare and feminist ideas.
      Paksas, who has been barred for life from seeking public office, also gave Prunskiene's candidacy a boost by urging his mostly rural supporters to vote for her.
      Prunskiene opposed Paksas' impeachment after the scandal erupted last year and has vowed to help bring him back to politics.

      BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — A key legal opinion, put before the European Court of Justice on Tuesday, recommends that Czech brewer Budvar AS be given trademark protection of the Budweiser name in Finland.
      EU Advocate General Antonio Tizzano said that given the company's historical links to the name Budweiser, it -- and not Anheuser-Busch Cos., its St. Louis-based rival -- is entitled to use the name Bud or Budweiser in Finland.
      The EU high court usually follows the advice of the advocate general, who gives cases a first review.
      Anheuser-Busch called the legal opinion supportive of the U.S. company's position.
      "Importantly, the advocate general points out that a trade name can in fact be prohibited from use when it is being used in a trademark-like manner, as has been the case with Budvar," said Stephen Burrows, chief executive and president of Anheuser-Busch International Inc.
      Budvar and Anheuser-Busch are locked in more than 40 lawsuits worldwide over the use of the name Bud or Budweiser.
      Budvar was founded in 1895 in Ceske Budejovice, Budweis to German-speakers in the area, where beer has been made since 1265. Anheuser-Busch has used the name Budweiser because it was well-known in its founders' German homeland. Its St. Louis brewery got its start in 1852 and made Budweiser, America's first national beer brand, in 1876.
      Tizzano said a 1995 international trademark agreement applies to previous trademark applications, as Budvar has argued. He said a Finnish court -- which seeks guidance from the EU high court -- should rule Budvar's name was linked to Budweiser before the U.S. brewer's.
      In Europe, courts in Latvia and Denmark have ruled in Budvar's favor but Anheuser-Busch has won the "Bud" cases in Sweden, Italy and elsewhere. In Finland, Budvar registered its name in 1967, but a Finnish court removed its trademark in 1984 for lack of use as Anheuser-Busch registered its trademark and sued Budvar for trademark infringement there.
      Anheuser-Busch said Tuesday that it registered Bud in Finland in 1986 and Budweiser there four years later, more than five years before Budvar introduced its brand of beer in Finland.
      In 2000, Anheuser-Busch said, the Finnish Court of Appeals ordered the Czech brewer to cease using the name Budweiser as a trade name for its beer, securing Anheuser-Busch's exclusive position to use Budweiser as a trademark in Finland.

      PARIS (AP) — Baghdad's decision to re-establish the death penalty ahead of the war crimes trial of Saddam Hussein evoked a mixed reaction in Europe, recalling the split across the continent over the war that toppled the Iraqi leader.
      Germany and France, two of the most vocal anti-war opponents, strongly stated their opposition -- without exception -- to the death penalty and called on Iraqi authorities to ensure Saddam a fair trial.
      In Berlin, the government's top human rights official, Claudia Roth, criticized Baghdad's move to reinstate capital punishment, which was suspended during the U.S. occupation.
      "To start out this way does not send a good signal," Roth told The Associated Press Thursday. "It would have been a signal of democratic strength had they not reinstated the death penalty in Iraq."
      France called on Iraqi justice officials to hold a trial that conforms to principles of international law, and the government reiterated its opposition to the execution of convicts.
      The 25-member European Union intends to let Iraq know of its opposition to the death penalty, said Emma Udwin, external relations spokeswoman for the European Commission, the EU head office.
      But while capital punishment is outlawed across the continent, attitudes hardened farther east among the newer EU members, where support for the war was strong.
      Latvian Foreign Ministry spokesman Rets Plesums said that whatever happens to Saddam after his trial is a matter of concern for Iraq -- not the Baltic state.
      "We are hoping that the new Iraqi courts will conduct the trial as fairly as possible, but I don't think our government will offer an opinion about what happens to Saddam Hussein," he said. "It's not our business."
      Latvia, a recent newcomer also to NATO, ardently backed the U.S.-led invasion and contributed more than 100 soldiers to the coalition after fighting ended last year.
      Poland, another supporter of the war, offered a similar view. Poland just decided to extend its troop deployment of 2,400 soldiers in Iraq until Dec. 31.
      "Our reaction is obvious. This is a sovereign decision of an independent court and of the Iraqis themselves," said Boguslaw Majewski, spokesman for Poland's Foreign Ministry.
      Roman Kuzniar, a political scientist at the Warsaw University, said the list of crimes committed by Saddam "would justify the death penalty."
      Poland had capital punishment before ousting the Communist government in 1989, then eliminated it in order to join the EU.
      Turkey, a Muslim nation with aspirations to join the EU one day, formally ended executions as part of its bid for membership. But many Turks still feel capital punishment is justified in some cases.
      "The conscience of the people will not be satisfied if he doesn't face the death penalty," said Burhan Kuzu, a top lawmaker from Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party. "If they give the death penalty to him, this decision will not disturb me."

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The government said Tuesday it would appeal a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that lifts a 10-year ban on ex-Communist and newly-elected European Parliament member Tatjana Zdanoka from seeking public office in Latvia.
      The Baltic country's parliament banned Zdanoka in 1995 from seeking public office because of her pro-communist views and opposition to Latvia's independence amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
      Last month, she was elected as one of nine Latvian representatives to the European Parliament.
      The human rights court — based in Strasbourg, France — lifted the Latvian ban on Zdanoka, saying it violated her rights to free speech and assembly, and ordered the government to pay her Ç23,000 (US$28,000) in damages.
      In the 5-2 decision last month, the court found that while a government has a right in some circumstances to place restrictions on holding public office, those restrictions should have been temporary.
      Latvia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday in a statement that it would appeal, because the human rights court "has not developed a stable practice with regards to this issue and because the ruling pertains to a serious historical and political issue." It did not elaborate.
      The Latvian government has until Sept. 17 to file its appeal. A panel of five judges will determine whether the appeal has merit before deciding whether to put it before the court's full 17-member chamber.
      Zdanoka could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
      She has wide support in Latvia's large ethnic-Russian community. As the leader of the For Human Rights in a United Latvia Party, she is the only left-wing politician representing Latvia in the EU Parliament.
      Latvia joined the European Union on May 1 along with nine other countries.

      LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) — Fitch Ratings on Wednesday lifted the long-term foreign currency ratings of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia to reflect the increasing certainty and proximity of their adoption of the euro.
      It change the rating of Estonia to A from A-minus, of Latvia to A-minus from BBB-plus, of Lithuania to A-minus from BBB-plus and of Slovenia to AA-minus from A-plus.
      "The outlooks on all four ratings remains positive," the ratings agency said in a statement.
      "In addition, the country ceilings of all four countries have been raised by one notch: Estonia to AA-minus, Latvia to A-plus, Lithuania to A-plus and Slovenia to AA-plus," it added.
      The long-term local currency ratings of all four countries were unchanged, it said.
      Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia last month became the first of the European Union's 10 new members to join the bloc's Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM-2), a key step towards adopting the euro in at least two years' time.
      Latvia hopes to apply to join ERM-2 after pegging its currency to the euro next January 1.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The Latvian government joined the growing debate on smoking in public places, saying Thursday it would let cities and towns decided whether to ban smoking on the country's beaches.
      The move came a month after officials told Latvia's most popular seaside resort, Jurmala, located just outside the capital, Riga, that a law banning smoking on its beaches was illegal since only the Saeima, or parliament, could impose such restrictions.
      Smoking is illegal in public buildings, but allowed in restaurants and bars. Some 33 percent of Latvia's 2.3 million residents are smokers, according to Health Ministry figures.
      The Regional Development and Municipal Affairs Ministry has prepared amendments to let Latvian municipalities decide for themselves whether to impose a ban on beach-side smoking.
      Because the Saeima isn't in session, the government can enact the amendments until parliament reconvenes to vote on them.
      The government is expected to vote on the amendments in the next few weeks, according to Regional Development Ministry spokesman Ansis Pupols.
      The amendments would apply only to beaches on the Baltic Sea and not to lake or riverside beaches, some of which are privately owned, Pupols said.

      TIKHVIN, Russia (AP) — Thousands of pilgrims gathered Thursday to greet one of the most significant Russian Orthodox icons as it returned to its home at the Tikhvin Assumption Monastery after six decades in the United States.
      After arriving in a special train car from St. Petersburg, 218 kilometers (135 miles) away, the Virgin of Tikhvin icon was carried aloft by Orthodox priests in dark robes toward the monastery, where it will be placed in an ornate shrine and protected by guards.
      Lidia Barankova, who wept as the icon passed, said she hoped the icon would cure her illnesses and give her strength to raise her grandchildren.
      "It's such a joy that I cannot even express it in words," said Barankova, a 76-year-old retiree.
      "I hope the icon will help revive the souls of our people and especially children, because their morals suffer now," said Emma Dmitriyenko, 67, who traveled from Belarus to Tikhvin to see the icon. "The youth swear, smoke, drink alcohol and take drugs. The icon and our faith should help save us."
      Tradition holds that the icon has healing powers and was painted by the apostle Luke. It was lost in Constantinople sometime in the 14th century, but on July 9, 1383, legend has it, the icon reappeared in Tikhvin, floating above the River Tikhvinka. As priests and pilgrims prayed, the icon descended into the hands of the priests. Witnesses interpreted it as a sign from the Virgin Mary that she wanted the icon to remain there and so they started to build a church.
      The next day, however, the icon was found on the other side of the river, and this was to become the site of the Tikhvin Virgin Assumption church.
      The church played a key role in the development of the city as traders and craftsmen traveled there to worship the icon. In 1547, Czar Ivan the Terrible paid his respects to the sacred icon and 13 years later, he gave permission for the construction of the Tikhvin Assumption monastery.
      The monastery was closed by the Bolsheviks and the icon was taken to the city of Pskov, which was seized by Nazi troops in World War II. In 1944, retreating German soldiers took the icon to Riga, Latvia, where it was recovered by the city's Orthodox Archbishop Janis Garklavs.
      Garklavs, who emigrated to the United States in 1949, willed the icon to his son on condition that it be returned to Russia once the Tikhvin Monastery was reopened.
      Last month, the icon arrived back in Russia on a special flight from Chicago via Latvia. Thousands of believers came to see the icon at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
      "The American Orthodox Church was overwhelmed by the gratitude of the Russian people for the return of the icon," said David Lucs, a spokesman for the Orthodox Church in America, who was among a 45-member U.S. delegation attending the Tikhvin celebrations.
      On Friday, the Russian Orthodox Church's Patriarch Alexy II will sign the official act transferring the icon to the monastery in perpetuity.

      VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Russia and eight other former Soviet republics on Thursday accused the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe of "double standards," saying the group unfairly criticizes governments in some countries.
      Russia's delegation on Thursday read a statement at a meeting of the Vienna-based group's permanent council, saying that the 55-nation group spends too much money on field missions to promote human rights and democratic institutions in certain countries, while overlooking others.
      "Selective increased attention to some countries while ignoring problems in other participant states is a violation of the OSCE mandate, and speaks to the presence of the policy of double standards and selective approaches in the organization, and unwillingness to consider the realities and peculiarities of a single state," said the statement, issued by nine members of the Commonwealth of Independent States: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
      Alexander Yakovenko, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said the group focused its field missions in those countries and the Balkans, while ignoring "for instance, the rights of national minorities in Latvia and Estonia."
      Russian-speaking minorities in those Baltic countries have complained of discrimination.
      The European Union and the United States missions to OSCE argued in response that human rights and rule-of-law issues could not be considered internal affairs.
      In a statement issued by the Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency, the union said it would reflect on the issues raised by Russia and the others but added that it had "serious concern about certain elements of the declaration."
      The OSCE was part of an observing mission that declared Russia's presidential election in March short of democratic standards. And the government in Belarus in October 2002 announced it was closing the OSCE office in Minsk, accusing the organization of supporting the opposition and meddling in the country's internal affairs.
      The office was later allowed to remain open after a compromise agreement that limited the OSCE's watchdog functions.
      "There have been cases of unjustified criticism from leaders of the 'field missions' about the internal politics of the governments they are visiting," the statement said.
      Russia and the other countries crafted the declaration, described as an "unprecedented collective demarche" on July 3.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The family of a Latvian soldier killed while serving in Iraq will receive 50,000 Lats (US$93,000) in compensation, almost double the amount mandated by legal provisions criticized as insufficient by the defense minister.
      Olafs Baumanis, 35, became the first and only serviceman from the Baltic country killed in the conflict when he was hit in a mortar attack last month near Suwariyah, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad.
      Under Latvian law, Baumanis' family qualified for compensation equivalent to 120 times the amount of his monthly salary, or 28,000 Lats (US$52,000).
      But Defense Minister Atis Slakteris — who has repeatedly said that the legally mandated amount was not enough -- said Monday that the government would also include a bonus of 22,000 lats (US$41,000).
      Baumanis, a first lieutenant, is survived by his wife and two children.
      Latvia has 140 soldiers serving in Iraq and nine in Afghanistan.
      In neighboring Estonia, the family of an Estonian soldier killed in Iraq in February was paid 2 million Estonian kroons (US$160,000) in compensation.

      RIGA, July 15 (Reuters) — Latvia's central bank decided on Thursday to keep interest rates on hold in the small Baltic EU newcomer, central bank chief Ilmars Rimsevics said after a rate-setting meeting.
      "The central bank has decided to keep rates on hold," he told a news conference, adding the key refinancing rate would be kept at 3.5 percent.
      The central bank raised interest rates by 0.5 percent in March -- the first rate change since 2002 and the first hike since the mid-1990s -- turning talk into action after warning about early signs of economic overheating.
      Latvia's economy grew 7.5 percent in 2003 with inflation of 2.9 percent. Economic growth accelerated to 8.8 percent in the first quarter and inflation hit 6.1 percent in June, mainly due to EU-related price and tax adjustments.
      Rimsevics said the central bank eyes growth of 7.0-7.5 percent in 2004 and reiterated that he expected full-year inflation around 4.5 percent.
      "We don't think inflation will go up in the coming months, and we see no reason to change our forecast," he said, adding that he expected the economy to slow down in the second half and help curb inflation from a peak of 6.2 percent in the EU accession month of May.
      Latvia plans to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM-2) — a precursor to the euro -- in early 2005 and adopt the single currency in 2008.
      The bank's next rate-setting meeting is in September.

      RIGA, July 16 (Reuters) — Crisis loomed for Latvia's coalition as the foreigner minister quit on Friday, leaving the minority government the uphill task of getting a sceptical opposition to approve a replacement.
      Rihards Piks, foreign minister only since feuding scuppered the last government in March, resigned to take a European Parliament seat he won in June, rather than stay in a government whose swift demise most analysts had already predicted.
      Analysts say the weak right-wing coalition could face trouble trying to get replacement Artis Pabriks -- put forward by Piks' conservative People's Party -- approved in parliament, with some steeling for the government to fall.
      "If I will not be supported by parliament, then it should be viewed as a vote against the government," Pabriks told Reuters after his party decided to put him forward.
      No government has lasted the full four-year term since Latvia regained independence from Soviet rule in 1991, with cabinets lasting on average just over a year.
      All opposition parties are seen rejecting Pabriks in a vote scheduled for Wednesday.
      The previous right-wing coalition, in power since late 2002, fell in February in a bitter spat between then Prime Minister Einars Repse and his deputy -- plunging Latvia into political limbo just ahead of joining NATO in March and the EU in May.
      President Vaira Vike-Freiberga asked Indulis Emsis to form a government in March. Emsis became Europe's first Green premier but with a minority cabinet few expected to last beyond a few months.
      Despite the chaotic nature of Latvian politics, all governments since 1991 have been market-liberal and placed EU and NATO entry on top of their agendas, ensuring stability in both the fast-growing economy and in foreign policy.
      Analysts expect a government crisis would either prompt the formation of a new rightist cabinet, or possibly lead to early elections that would probably return a right-wing majority to parliament, according to recent polls.
      "If Pabriks is rejected, it won't be a cause for the government to fall right away," political analyst Karlis Streips said. He expected that a vote against Pabriks would lead to back-room talks between the coalition and the opposition to seek a compromise and prevent a cabinet collapse.