Saturday, 25 December 1999

Christmas, December 25, 1999

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News, Pictures and AOL Lat Chat Reminder for Sunday, Dec. 26 Date: 12/25/99
File: D:\+www.latvians.com\Mailer\rukitis.jpg (35351 bytes)
DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute

First and foremost, our best wishes to you all for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (and New Century and New Millennium)! Silvija had a White Christmas visiting her parents and sister in Virginia, but, alas, no snow here in New York. For those of you who are wondering, the next snow is forecast for Riga for Monday. :-)

We have our usual link from Gunars (just in time to dress up for the holiday season--it's a link about Latvian folk costumes), news stories, as well as a little Christmas card in place of the usual photo. For those of you on AOL, please join in Lat Chat Sunday night, starting at 9:00 to 9:30pm Eastern time, or thereabouts... click on the following link: Town Square - Latvian chat

Priecigu un lamigu jauno gadu!

Ar visu labu,

Silvija Peters

Latvian Link

LATVIAN FOLK COSTUMES —Two dozen drawings of Latvian folk costumes, and a bit of history/background as well! Some information on the general history of folk costumes in Latvia as well. —Gunars

Link:  Folk costumes of Latvia 
URL:  http://lcjdap.soroscj.ro/projects/iearn/fcatg/Latvia/index.html 

News

MOSCOW, December 19 (Itar-Tass) — Russia has opened polling stations in the CIS and Baltic states so that its citizens residing there would be able to vote in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Election Commission told Itar-Tass.
Eleven CIS states are included into three election constituencies of the Moscow region, he said. Ukraine is, however, included into Moscow's Leningrad district. As to the Baltic states, residents of Lithuania will vote for candidates running in the Moscow region, while Russians residing in Estonia and Latvia for those running in the Leningrad region.
In Byelorussia, polling stations are established in all regional centres. About 6,500 Russians, permanently or temporarily residing in the country, are expected to come to the polls. In a TV interview, Russian consul-general in the city of Brest Boris Rodimov has thanked Byelorussian authorities for assistance in preparation for the elections.
In Georgia, 12 polling stations are established, Valery Shardakov, head of the consul department of the Russian embassy in Tbilisi, told Itar-Tass. Eight stations are open in Russian military units stationed in Georgia and another three in units of the CIS peacekeeping forces.
In Estonia, about 100,000 Russians are expected to come to nine polling stations. Four function in the Russian embassy in Tallinn, another four in the consulate-general in the city of Narva, and one more in the Russian consulate in Tartu. An embassy spokesman said the vote would be in progress on both Saturday and Sunday.
pat/ezh Copyright 1999

Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd.
RIGA, Dec 20 (Reuters) — Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said on Monday the strong centrist showing in Russia's parliamentary election allowed for cautious optimism that reforms and democratic processes would continue.
The main opposition Communists looked set to remain the biggest party in Russia's State Duma (lower house) after Sunday's poll, but two new reformist pro-Kremlin blocs did surprisingly well and are seen altering the balance of power in parliament.
"It is a positive sign that (Russian) communists have not advanced at a more rapid pace than was feared, taking into account the difficult economic situation in Russia," Vike-Freiberga told Latvian state radio.
"The victory of Russian communists is to a certain extent nominal...The fact there are so many...candidates representing centrist forces allows us to look forward with cautious optimism that reforms will continue, as will democratic processes," she added.
Latvia, which regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has a large Russian-speaking minority. Some 650,000 Russian speakers live in the country, accounting for about a quarter of its population.
The Russian embassy in Riga estimated some 10,000 out of 55,000 eligible Russian voters turned out to vote at local polling stations.
Moscow has frequently criticised Latvia's treatment of Russian speakers, especially over a recently-approved language law it sees as an attempt to marginalise the influence of Russians in the Baltic state.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
By Clar Ni Chonghaile, Associated Press Writer

PARIS (AP) — When the Lithuanian embassy in Paris sent out its Christmas cards this year, they were designed to convey a blunt message: Give us back our building.
The cards featured an etching of a 19th century mansion in Paris' elegant 17th district. The Lithuanians say the Soviet Union stole the building from them during World War II and never gave it back.
The delegation now has offices at the same address as the Hard Rock cafe on one of Paris' more down-market streets, and it is still waiting for the keys to its former embassy, the Hotel Fournier.
Gediminas Varvuolis, the first secretary of the embassy, describes the current location as temporary, even though it has been the address for nearly 10 years — ever since Lithuania regained its independence after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
"The area is nice, but it's not a diplomatic quarter. I would not say we are in a hurry to move, but it's true that as a diplomatic representation we would like to have premises which suit us better," Varvuolis said.
Lithuania gained its independence in 1918 and started to open embassies abroad. Petras Klimas, the ambassador to France, bought the Hotel Fournier in 1925. The embassy still has the original certificate of purchase.
Today's quarrel dates from August 1940, when German forces occupied Paris, seized the Lithuanian embassy and handed it over to the Soviets.
Petras Klimas, the ambassador's son, was 10 years old at the time.
"They stole all our personal affairs — all our documents, all my toys. I have a list of the things that were stolen," he said in Paris, where he still lives.
After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, it reclaimed the Hotel Fournier. But when Germany was defeated, the French gave the keys of the building back to the Soviet Union, which had annexed the Baltic states — Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia — in 1940.
When Lithuania regained its independence in 1991, the country's Paris representatives hoped to regain Hotel Fournier.
But Russia, which claimed most Soviet property abroad after the Communist empire fell apart, kept the building, and the Lithuanians have been in temporary accommodations provided by the French Foreign Ministry since then.
The Soviets may originally have viewed the elegant building as a war trophy but it soon became more burden than booty. They couldn't sell it or rent it because they didn't have any proof of ownership. They even tried to give it to the French as a present, but the host country said no.
But now, realpolitik has given the building a new lease on life.
In bilateral talks between Russia and Lithuania, the problem has been being linked to Russia's request to expand the grounds of its embassy in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
The Russian embassy in Paris would only say that the issue would be decided in an amicable way through negotiations.
Friendly maybe, but for the Lithuanians, this is a serious topic. "For us, it's a very important question of principle," Varvuolis said.
Whenever Lithuanian officials come to Paris, they make a point of going to the Hotel Fournier and sometimes even walking to the door in protest. They never go in.
"It's not a row. We have a right. My father bought this building in the name of the Lithuanian government, and in fact, nobody contests that," Klimas said.
Lithuania's story is not unique. Estonia and Latvia also lost Paris property to the Soviets during the war. Estonia's building in Paris' chic 16th district was demolished by the Soviets in 1978 to build apartments for embassy staff.
Both the Latvian and Estonian delegations have moved out of their temporary accommodation and into permanent buildings, but they are still discussing restitution with the Russians.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd.
PRAGUE, Dec 21 (Reuters) — Czech beer maker Budejovicky Budvar n.p. said on Tuesday that courts in Latvia and Lithuania had thrown out cases brought by U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch attempting to stop Budvar's use of the "Budweiser" trademark in the two countries.
The rulings will allow the Czech government-owned beer maker to continue to sell its beer in Latvia and Lithuania under the trademark, the company said in a release.
The two breweries have fought a decades-old trademark battle over rights to use the term "Budweis," which is the German name for the south Bohemian town of Ceske Budejovice, where Budejovicky Budvar is based.
"The subject of the debate — the use of our trademark... was decided in our favor. Anheuser Busch may still use its legal right of appeal in the highest courts, but only with objections against the way the ruling was formed, and not against the subject of the debate," said Budvar General Manager Jiri Bocek.
Anheuser-Busch is the world's largest brewer, producing about 100 times as much beer as Budvar.
It has had mixed success in defending its trademark claim in courts around the world. A recent decision in Britain allows both companies to use the name, while the Swiss have banned Anheuser-Busch from selling beer under the "Bud" name.
[It was our understanding that Annheuser-Busch originally licensed the Budweiser name for use in the U.S.--a while back, Annheuser-Busch tried to negotiate the right to use their Budweiser name in Czechoslovakia, to which Budvar said "no way," and made some disparaging remarks regarding the, let's just say, lack of robust flavor, in the Americans' brew. -PJV]

Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd.
MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters) — Russia has agreed with the 30 countries that have airline routes crossing its territory to coordinate air traffic control around the start of the New Year, a Russian official said on Wednesday.
Viktor Samokhin, head of the Federal Air Transport Service's technical department, said cooperation would reduce the risk of Y2K computer bug problems.
"We have signed agreements with air traffic centres in Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Japan, China and Mongolia — to name just a few — to join efforts in order to avoid emergency situations," he said.
The Y2K computer bug affects older computers that allot only two digits for the year in dates, meaning they may read 2000 as 1900 and cause system failures. The United States has said Russia could be particularly susceptible to the problem.
Samokhin said Russian air traffic control would maintain constant contact with foreign control centres and procedures had been set up to overcome any computer malfunctions.
He said Russia had made a major effort to ensure air transport would remain safe from the Y2K bug, including $12 million spent by national carrier Aeroflot on upgrading computer systems.
Also on Wednesday, the ex-Soviet Central Asian country of Uzbekistan ordered its airports closed and domestic aircraft grounded shortly before the New Year because of Y2K concerns.
Foreign aircraft flying over Uzbekistan will not be affected by the order, though no scheduled landings will be permitted.
Last week another former Soviet republic, Ukraine, said it would ask foreign aircraft not to use routes over its territory for about two hours round midnight on December 31. It said it was also considering suspending train services for that period.

Picture Album

This week's picture is of our Latvian "rukitis" (elf) saying "Hi" from the front of his little cottage and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and New Millennium. (Our little friend was a gift from Peters' cousin Gaida on his first trip to Latvia.)

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