Saturday, 11 September 1999

News
Link
Picture

Lat chat and More - for Sunday, September 12, 1999 Date: 9/11/99 5:04:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Sturgalve

File: Riga-panorama.jpg (20893 bytes)
DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute
Sveiki!

Hope you all enjoyed the long Labor Day weekend! Our apologies for no mailer last week--Peters was busy resurrecting my parent's PC and I was packing to move (!) to New York (for those of you who have followed that saga!)

In addition to the usual picture and news excerpts, we have two *extras* this week. Gunars (Zulis) has graciously volunteered to add his byline to our (tries to be!) weekly mailer and write a short feature pointing us to interesting Latvian links on the web.

On a more personal note, we finished adding our vacation pictures from Latvia this summer (June 1999) to our web site... our URL is http://www.latvians.com

And if you're hankering for Latvian bread, we added a pointer to BalticProducts.com. (We don't get anything from them for this mention, they're nice people and we just LOVE their Kupris bread!)...

For those of you on AOL, please join us for Lat Chat this Sunday, starting from 9:00 to 9:30pm (EST) and lasting until 11:00 to 11:30... Town Square - Latvian chat We've been adding non-AOL folks to our list on request. If you pass this on, we'll be glad to add anyone interested to our distribution list whether or not they're on AOL.

Ar visu labu!
Peters, Gunars, and Silvija

One of the most common questions asked in chat (second only to piragi recipes) is "Where can I find materials to help me learn latvian?" Well, this might be a start.

This is an on-line project to help three particular groups acquire latvian language skills:
- Non-latvians with latvian spouses or simply an interest in languages and/or latvia
- People of latvian ancestry who did not learn the language as children and wish
to do so now
- N.American latvians who wish to help their children learn some latvian.

The site is pretty well self-explanatory - software/hardware requirements are quite basic and the material should be accessible to most people with their current computers "as - is". The first few modules do not require latvian fonts, so you can jump right in. In the second series of modules, fonts are required, but the site includes instructions on how to obtain basic latvian fonts free of charge.

The link is : The Latvian Language
The raw URL is: www.codefusion.com/latvian

Let me know what you think (zulis@aol.com). Next week - a great site which discusses the Latvian alphabet and provides excellent examples for anglophones to figure out those tricky "softened" l, k, and n sounds.

Dates in History... In the week ahead, September 17, 1991... The General Assembly admitted North and South Korea, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as members of the United Nations.

Reported by Reuters (9/10)...Yalta, where the U.S. and Europe ceded the Baltics to the "sphere of influence" of the Soviets, was the site of a more hopeful conference.
Reported by Itar-Tass military political news digest (9/9)...The Chairman of the North Atlantic Assembly (NAA) arrives in Riga

YALTA, Ukraine (Reuters) -- Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma urged European nations Friday to avoid creating a new "paper curtain" across the continent in place of the Cold War "iron curtain."
Addressing a regional summit of 22 Black Sea and Baltic states, Kuchma warned of new divisions that could alienate the wealthy from less developed European nations after decades of Cold War.
"There is a real threat that the 'iron curtain' may be replaced by a much more humane but no less dangerous 'paper curtain'," he said in reference to emerging visas, red tape and other travel restrictions within Europe.
Kuchma delivered his speech in the historic Livadia palace in the same hall and at the same table at which Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill effectively agreed in 1945 to divide Europe into two ideologically hostile blocs.
The issue of new divisions in Europe is of real concern to Ukraine.
Its neighbors Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have joined NATO, and other eastern European states, including ex-Soviet Estonia, hope soon to become members of the European Union.
"We are convinced that visa and other restrictions should not become an insurmountable obstacle for free movement of law-abiding citizens of the states aspiring for European integration," Kuchma said.
"I would like to ask EU states to return one more time to this issue."
Kuchma's call to avoid division lines was backed by the presidents of aspiring EU members Latvia and Lithuania.
The Ukrainian leader also called for concerted action by all regional states against terrorism and for decisive steps to help each other through natural calamities, such as the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Greece.
The summit, held amid unprecedented security, was expected to end Saturday. Officials said the participants might adopt a joint declaration on regional integration.
Political analysts said Kuchma, who is seeking re-election in October, also hoped to capitalize on support from the Yalta meeting for his policies to boost his campaign.
A former director of the Soviet Union's largest nuclear missile plant, Kuchma, whose five years in office have been marked by a balanced foreign policy but timid market reforms, faces his strongest challenge from leftist candidates.

RIGA, Latvia (Itar-Tass) -- Javier Ruperez, Chairman of the North Atlantic Assembly (NAA), has arrived here to familiarise himself with a plan for Latvia's integration into NATO. Mr Ruperez and Simon Lunn, NAA Secretary-General, who accompanies him, are touring the three Baltic States and arrived here from Tallinn. When leaving Estonia, Mr Ruperez said the NAA appreciates and supports the Baltic States' desire to join the European Union and NATO. On Friday the guests are to proceed to Lithuania. While in Riga, Mr Ruperez is to meet with President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Parliament Speaker Janis Straume, and members of parliament from the commissions on defence, home and foreign affairs.

This week's picture is a panorama of Vecriga (Old Riga) taken from the spire of St. Peter's Church during Peters' trip in August, 1993.