Subj: News, Pictures, and Lat Chat for the New
Millennium! Date: 1/1/00 File:
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We hope your New Year's celebrations were happy and
safe! We've seen a lots of comments about what the new millennium
will, or should bring. The Latvian president, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, may have
said it the simplest and best...
"We are the ones now writing pages into history
and we are molding our land the way we want to see it.''
We couldn't resist the temptation to reflect ourselves on the
past two millennia of Latvian history, and what the next one might
bring—see our "Editorial"
section. This week's link, in keeping with the "Year 2000" theme, is a
link to the site for the Latvian Song Festival 2000, to be held in Toronto this
year. This week's picture is of the Freedom Monument, taken around
New Year's two years ago. It's one of my favorites—I have it set up as my
background... when Peters archives the mailer on our site, we'll add the option
to copy it as a "BMP" . Our first AOL Lat Chat of the millennium will
happen as usual... starting 9:00/9:30 Eastern Time Sunday, follow this link on
AOL: Town Square - Latvian chat
Ar visu labu,
P.S. For the more numerically minded out there, we do realize
that the actual turn of the millenium comes next year!
The history we are taught is not a chronicle of achievements,
but a chronology of conquests. Anglo-Saxon England arises with William the
Conqueror in 1066. A century later, Latvia arises with the invasion of the
Knights of the Sword and the eventual founding of the bishopric of Riga in
1201—a date Latvians know as intimately as the English know 1066.
For the eight centuries afterwards, the Baltics—and Latvia
in particular—sat at the crossroads of regional and global superpower
greed and fear, a perpetual battleground over trade and security interests.
Our folk songs spring from this history. One war-bound youth
consoles his sweetheart not to weep, another sings a cheerful goodbye to his
homeland. A battle survivor speaks of blood-red skies dawning and of
soldiers’ sorrows. An orphaned girl sings fondly of her parents; a young
boy plays soldier. Latvians do not sing of growing old and gray.
In the late 1500’s, a traveler wrote that between Riga
and Tartu (Estonia), “no cock was left to crow, no dog was left to
bark.” After the bloody Russian capture of Riga in 1710, annexing Livonia,
historians estimate a mere 90,000 Latvians were left alive.
Yet, always, love of duty prevails over war; love of life
prevails over death. Through this maelstrom, Latvians have doggedly and
unceasingly clung to their language, their culture, and their homeland.
The “call home” is a power every Latvian knows.
At the end of WWI, a Latvian battalion inside Soviet Russia found themselves
stranded—faced with surrender—when Latvia declared independence. They
marched to the Pacific and circumnavigated the globe to get home.
Our first millennium was one of tribalism. Our second millennium
was one of servitude. What of our third millennium?
The fractious ineffectiveness of Latvia's first modern
independent government was no accident. The cohesion of focus on the goal of
freedom dissipated once independence came. Through his vision and selfless
dedication, Karlis Ulmanis provided the unity of purpose that allowed Latvia to
achieve remarkable progress.
Once more we have freedom, and seemingly, once more, our sense
of purpose appears dissipated. It is with remorse that we watch Latvian
legislators pass laws to put profit into their own pockets. Recall the easing
of the tariff on imported sugar—as Latvian business profits
rose, Latvian sugar beets rotted in fields to be plowed under. In
America, at the end of the Civil War, we called these people
“carpetbaggers.”
The biggest industrial investment in Latvia's history will be a
pulp mill. What better metaphor for grinding up Latvia's riches—leaving
the waste, exporting the wealth? (What of the corruption pulp logging has
already engendered?) If lumber were harvested, milled and finished, and then
either exported or further manufactured into products—adding Latvian
ingenuity and labor—that would generate prosperity for a far larger
citizenry and serve a greater good. As it stands, Latvia’s
“gold” is being refined and taken away, while we are left with
nothing but dross and some tax revenue.
What empires did for nearly a millennia we now supplicate
business to do freely. Political independence means nothing if we subvert it
into economic dependence. Latvia will not rise from the profits of free
enterprise “trickling down” to its people and to the
state—Latvia will rise only if the interests of the people and the state
come before those of individuals and businesses. Latvia will not rise as a
“service” or “transit” economy (the economic collapse in
Russia has brought home the frailty of that plan)—Latvia will rise only if
it produces agricultural and manufactured goods imbued with the truly unique
added value of Latvian creativity and industriousness. This behavior cannot
be legislated; it must come from the heart—out of love of duty, as our
folk songs teach us.
No culture has a richer treasure trove of folk designs and
patterns. No culture has produced or preserved as many ancient songs, stories,
ballads, and sayings. Linguists now believe Latvian may be the oldest surviving
Indo-European language—making Latvian the oldest of any of the surviving
modern European cultures.
Politicians toss out Latvianized English to appear erudite;
as one pontificated on TV, my relatives told me they knew him and he was
“dumb as a boot.” They don’t vote anymore because
“they’re all like that.” University professors demand
Latvianized English by grading it higher than Latvian—you can’t get
an “A” without it. We have nurtured and preserved our heritage
through centuries of repeated near extinction—at times through the acts of
a single individual. Are we so full of ourselves that we now have the insolence
to jettison our heritage to indulge academic and intellectual foppery?
The creativity, the vitality, the tenacity of the Latvian people
is like no other. Notwithstanding my Swedish blood and Silvija’s Polish
and Lithuanian blood, we are completely Latvian. Every Latvian is a
testament to the power of this cultural identity. Even as foreign powers waxed
and waned across the Latvian landscape, their subjects—Poles, Lithuanians,
Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Russians, Germans—saw the true value of the
land, its people and culture, and chose to settle there; through the
generations, their progeny, too, became proud heirs to the Latvian heritage.
Let us open ourselves to our history, our culture—our
heritage. In the next millennium, let us use all the means at our disposal to
ensure that the world once again knows of Latvia. Let Latvia and its leadership
work diligently and unceasingly to capitalize on the most valuable, the most
potent, the most productive of all its resources—Latvians themselves.
There can be no greater purpose—nor greater or more lasting reward.
—
SONG FESTIVAL - TORONTO 2000 This
is the home page for the Song Festival planned for Toronto in the summer of
2000. It includes a timetable of activities and information on ordering tickets
to various events. Members of LatChat will be performing, and many others
attending. If you have any questions—contact me directly and I will try
and point you in the right direction—Toronto! —Gunars (Zulis@aol.com)
Even as the new millennium dawns, the problems of
the old follow. Widely reported was the "discovery" of Konrad
Kalejs in Britain; he is alleged to have participated in the Holocaust in
WWII. Also in the news, the economic outlook for 2000. Y2K
seems to have come and gone without incident. And the top
news item, of course, was the resignation of Boris Yeltsin as President of
Russia—what might we expect of Putin?
© 1999 The Australian
Associated Press By Trevor Marshallsea
LONDON, Dec 28 (AAP)—The British government was
under increasing pressure today to pursue and investigate Australian citizen
Konrad Kalejs for alleged involvement in the murders of thousands of Jews as a
Nazi commander during World War II. The Israel-based Simon Wiesenthal
Centre, which tracks old Nazis around the world, last night said Mr Kalejs was
living in the Rugby area of the English county of Warwickshire, having left
Australia last year. The Centre said it had written to Warwickshire police
to inform them that Mr Kalejs—who escaped conviction for war crimes in
Australia last year owing to insufficient evidence—was living in their
area. And Britain's Holocaust Educational Trust today joined the campaign
against Mr Kalejs by calling on Home Office Secretary Jack Straw to investigate
the 86-year-old. Trust chairman, former Labour MP Lord Janner, said Mr
Kalejs should be prosecuted in Britain if there was sufficient evidence. If
there was not, Britain should still follow the example of Canada and the US by
deporting him, Lord Janner said. "They only do that (deportation) if they
are sufficiently satisfied that a person is guilty of war crimes," he told BBC
radio. "They don't want him in their country. If that is correct, we don't
want him in our country either. "Certainly, we are not talking about
burglary or housebreaking. We are talking about personal involvement in mass
murder." Mr Kalejs moved to Australia after the war and obtained
citizenship in 1957. He later moved to the US but was deported in 1994
after the allegations against him became public. He then lived in Canada
for three years before being deported in 1997 back to Australia, where his high
profile war crimes trial was held a year later. Wiesenthal Centre director
Efraim Zuroff called on Warwickshire police to "take immediate action so that
this mass murderer will not continue to enjoy the undeserved hospitality of the
United Kingdom". "He features relatively high on the list of those we would
like to see prosecuted," he said. The Home Office said it was unaware of
the matter last night, though a spokeswoman said the allegations against Mr
Kalejs would be investigated, with the Immigration Service cooperating with
police if that "became appropriate". Latvian-born Mr Kalejs is alleged to
have been an officer in the Latvian Auxiliary Security Police, known during the
Second World War as the Arajs Kommando mobile murder squad. Mr Kalejs, who
has always denied the accusation and claimed he was a student during the war,
is accused by researchers of collaborating with the Nazi SS. The Arajs
Kommando unit was under the control of Viktors Arajs, jailed for life in
Hamburg in 1979 for war crimes including murder. Mr Kalejs is also alleged
to have worked as a guard at the Salaspils concentration camp near the Latvian
capital, Riga, where other murders were committed. Eli Rosenbaum, who led
the US Justice Department enquiry into Kalejs, told the Guardian that "the
evidence we presented in court was documentary evidence that he was in the
Arajs Kommando, a mobile killing unit, and we presented testimonies of people
who served with him who implicate him in atrocities". "When he is in
Australia, he is the the focus of constant media attention. I assume the
purpose of him going to the UK was to hide out in your country," he said.
Labour MP Robin Corbett, head of the parliamentary commission on home affairs,
told The Guardian newspaper Mr Kalejs should be pursued if there was sufficient
evidence against him. British law allows for war criminals to be pursued
even if their crimes are not committed on British soil. AAP tm/pjs
© 1999
Reuters Ltd. By Alan Crosby
RIGA, Dec 30 (Reuters)—If 1999 goes down as the
year of pain for the economies of the Baltics, 2000 should be the year of
gain. Hit hard by the 1998 Russian financial crisis, Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania had expected to rebound this year as companies reoriented trade
westward. But recovery from recession, difficult for even the most
developed economies, proved nearly impossible. Worse, it exposed that eight
years after all regained independence from the Soviet Union, the supposed
radical surgery to some industries had been little more than cosmetic. "A
lot of problems caused by the Russian crisis were already there, they had been
covered up until then and this forced them into the limelight," said Gunnar
Tersman, an analyst at Sweden's Handelsbanken. SIMILARITIES
OVERSHADOW DIFFERENCES Since breaking free from Moscow's
50-year grasp, all three have taken great pains to cast their own shadow, even
at the expense of "Baltic unity," a geographical and not cultural closeness,
they argue. Yet for all the differences, 1999 showed the three were
suffering through a lot of similarities. Second quarter year-on-year GDP in
Lithuania was down 4.0 percent, off 1.8 percent in Latvia, and -2.3 percent in
Estonia. Unemployment rose, governments in all three changed this year.
Sluggish economies slowed the flow of state revenues and all three were forced
to adopt unpopular austerity packages that still could not keep budgets from
expecting year-end shortfalls. Estonia has approved a balanced 2000 state
budget though questions remain as to whether it can keep to it after scrapping
its 26 percent corporate profit tax. Latvia meanwhile has approved a budget
shortfall of two percent of GDP, while Lithuania is struggling to meet IMF
expectations of a 2.8 percent fiscal gap, risking an $80 million standby
agreement and access to key low cost World Bank structural adjustment
loans.
"There may be a small fiscal deficit in Estonia in the range of one
to two percent of GDP, a change from our previous forecast of zero percent,"
said Toomas Reisenbuk, an analyst with the Baltic investment bank Trigon
Securities. "Latvia appears on track too but there are structural problems
(in Lithuania) and changes to the budget will not fix the outstanding issues
and the first quarter will show if the structural problems have been
addressed." CURRENCY DANGER LURKS IN LITHUANIA If
Estonia and Latvia keep their budgets at or very near current targets, analysts
said their currencies should not come under much pressure next year. But,
they warned, the same cannot be said for Lithuania. The litas currency is
pegged to the dollar at four-to-one under a currency board system that forces
the central bank to back all currency in circulation with reserves. Though
it was considering a change to a dollar/euro basket to reflect the changing
face of trade in Europe, the central bank announced in the autumn that it would
not make any changes to the system until mid-2001, when a direct shift to a
euro peg will be made.
Currency traders and analysts said that while the move may bring
short-term stability, it risks longer-term damage if the dollar strengthens,
making an already over-valued currency even more of an obstacle to exporters by
hindering their competitiveness. "Keeping in mind the very concrete
assurances of the central bank to keep the litas rigidly pegged to the dollar
until mid-2001 it is unlikely the central bank will give in to exporter wishes
to weaken the litas," said Stanislovas Dzindzelieta, treasurer of Savings
Bank.
EU INVITATION BOOSTS OUTLOOK Despite the
turmoil, analysts are optimistic that all three have set in motion the
necessary plans to put a poor 1999 behind them and enter the new millennium on
the correct path. All three expect modest GDP growth of between two and
four percent in 2000. Those plans also helped Lithuania and Latvia garner
an invitation from the EU in December to join detailed membership talks.
Estonia already had its invitation. Though membership is still a long way
off—2003 is the earliest forecast date—the increased status that
comes with the EU invitation is expected to boost the region in the eyes of
foreign investors, bringing badly-needed funds to cash-starved equity markets
and industries looking for sources of capital. "The Russian crisis is now
coming to an end and all three Baltic states are turning around, the fastest
being Estonia, as companies adjust to the changes and manage to build further
growth in the West," said James Oates, an independent Baltic strategist and
president of Adriatic Baltic Group. Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd. RIGA, Jan 1
(Reuters)—Below is a breakdown on how the Baltics are said to be
faring in dealing with the millennium bug in the key areas of electricity,
telecommunications, water distribution and aviation.
Estonia Electricity: As of 0015 local time,
the Estonian energy system was working normally with no warning alarms sounding
or emergency systems coming into use, Eesti Energia press department director
Kaie Saar said. Telecoms: Eve Karma, a dispatcher for fixed line Eesti
Telefon, said the system was running normally and no problems or interruptions
had been reported. She added that mobile phone networks had been overloaded and
busy but no Y2K problems were reported. Aviation: Nothing unusual has been
reported and all systems are working as normal, a spokeswoman from the Estonian
National Y2K Information Centre said. Water: No problems, either
Y2K-related or otherwise, have been reported, said the Estonian National Y2K
Information Centre spokeswoman.
Latvia Electricity: Latvenergo official
Pavils Raudonis says no problems have been reported. Vilnis Kreslinsh, head
of DC Baltija, a pan-Baltic grid operator and joint-venture of Baltic power
companies, says there were no problems to report, as all
operations—including Ignalina—were running flawlessly. Telecoms:
Elgita Strazdina, the head of Lattelekom's Y2K project division, says the
system has seen no disruptions, apart from some usual year-end overloads, which
have been overcome. Water: Riga Water head engineer Valentins Kuchers says
water supply functions were normal. Aviation: Latvian national carrier Air
Baltic had no planes in the air at midnight December 31. Latvian air traffic
control official Viktor Matveyev says there were no problems and there were no
planes in the air over Latvia within a radius of 500 km (310 miles).
Lithuania Electricity: Lithuanian Energy
Y2K coordinator Vladas Pashkevichius said all energy systems were working
properly and the grid load and frequency were in good shape. Telecoms: "For
the moment it seems there are no Y2K computer problems, just high traffic in
some places," Gintaras Monkevichius, the head of the Lithuanian Telekom's Y2K
project division, told Reuters. Water: Martynas Bieliunas, head of the
government's Y2K centre, said all water systems were operating perfectly.
Aviation: Lithuanian Airlines did not fly on December 31 and will
not on January 1. Bieliunas said early reports showed the civil aviation
systems had passed the date successfully. Nuclear power: "The date passed
normally. The work was not interrupted and there were no problems with the
computers or the automated systems," Viktor Shevaldin, general director of the
Ignalina nuclear power plant, told Reuters. As we have heard, Boris Yeltsin has
resigned and named Vladimir Putin in his place. Who is Putin and what can we
expect? This small analysis excerpt from a recent Stratfor (a private analysis
group) report sheds a little light...
Stratfor—Putin, even more than Primakov,
represents the return of the Gorbachevite–men interested in reform as a
means to preservation of the state apparatus and the national interest. Putin
struck quickly [after his appointment as prime minister]. The Swiss bank
accounts of Berezovsky, a leading oligarch closely tied to Yeltsin, were frozen
while criminal investigations moved forward. A massive military force was
gathered around Dagestan, including air power. Significantly, Putin announced
that these soldiers would be paid the same amount as troops in Kosovo: US$1,000
a month for privates, not the US$100 promised and frequently not paid. Russia
began raising the specter of Russian troops not remaining under NATO command
and instead collaborating with Serb forces in order to protect Kosovo Serbs
from the KLA. Russia began building pressure on the Baltics. Russia
condemned and threatened Latvia on human rights violations concerning Russian
citizens in Latvia. Russia cut off energy supplies to Lithuania.
The Freedom Monument, two New Year's ago... Peters
was disappointed the snow all melted just before he arrived! |