GallerySunday, 15 October 2000
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Subj: Latvian Mailer for Sunday,
October 15
Date: 00.10.15File: D:\_WWWLA~1.COM\JUL95\PICTS\TRISVI~1.JPG
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DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute
Sveiki, all!
We're both back home in Brooklyn, back in the
saddle! The colors are just now starting to turn in New York, hopefully you're
enjoying autumn (or spring as the case may be) wherever you are!
This
week's link is to an organization dealing with the
situation of children in Eastern Europe (see also the news below).
In
the news:
- Russia worried tarrifs will rise if and when Baltics join the EU
- Child poverty is a serious situation in Eastern Europe; in Latvia, 80 of 1000 have contracted tuberculosis [link]
- Russia protests new Latvian visa requirements — changes are required to come into line with western Europe
- Russian MP denounces proposed bill to ban wearing of foreign/pre-1991 military regalia (outlawing Soviet medal wearing seems perfectly reasonable to us)
- Prosecutors continue to press for the arrest of Kalejs for war crimes
- Russian war veterans also blast proposed Latvian bill regarding military medals and honors
and, regionally:
- Baltic and Russian ministers to meet on anti-crime cooperation
This week's picture is of the Church of the
Holy Trinity in Liepaja, Silvija's mom's home town.
Remember, mailer or
not, Lat Chat spontaneously appears every Sunday on AOL starting around
9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting until 11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this
link: Town Square - Latvian chat.
And thanks to you participating on the Latvian message board as well:
Click here: LATVIA (both on AOL
only).
Ar visu labu,
IN ACCORDANCE WITH AOL'S MAIL POLICY and good manners, please let Silvija (Silvija) know if you wish to be deleted from our mailing list. Past mailers are archived at latvians.com. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
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This week's link is to the European Children's Trust, http://www.everychild.org.uk
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Reuters
World Report Tuesday, 2000. October 10. 4:54:00 PM
Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd.
Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd.
HELSINKI,
Oct 10 (Reuters) — Finland's accession to the EU in 1995 hurt Russian
firms and this must be avoided when the Baltic states join the bloc, Russia's
privatisation architect Anatoly Chubais was quoted as saying on
Tuesday.
Chubais, chief executive of Russia's Unified Energy System, told the Finnish business daily Kauppalehti that Russian businesses had been harmed by Finland's EU membership as the tariffs on Russian exports to Finland had been raised.
"(But) Finland's joining (the European Union) was of course in principle a positive thing, and we accepted it as we do the spreading of the union into other countries now," Kauppalehti quoted Chubais as saying.
The case of Finland was an example of what happened when the special needs of Russia were not taken into consideration, said Chubais, adding Russia should not lose out as the EU developed.
The EU is currently holding membership negotiations with six countries — Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus and the Czech Republic — and a second group of six including Latvia and Lithuania are expected to join later in a second wave.
Finland joined the European Union in January 1995 along with Sweden and Austria.
Chubais, chief executive of Russia's Unified Energy System, told the Finnish business daily Kauppalehti that Russian businesses had been harmed by Finland's EU membership as the tariffs on Russian exports to Finland had been raised.
"(But) Finland's joining (the European Union) was of course in principle a positive thing, and we accepted it as we do the spreading of the union into other countries now," Kauppalehti quoted Chubais as saying.
The case of Finland was an example of what happened when the special needs of Russia were not taken into consideration, said Chubais, adding Russia should not lose out as the EU developed.
The EU is currently holding membership negotiations with six countries — Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus and the Czech Republic — and a second group of six including Latvia and Lithuania are expected to join later in a second wave.
Finland joined the European Union in January 1995 along with Sweden and Austria.
AP US
& World Wednesday, 2000. October 11. 17:44:00 PM
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
By IAN PHILLIPS Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
By IAN PHILLIPS Associated Press Writer
LONDON
(AP) — At least 50 million children in eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union live in poverty and are exposed to levels of tuberculosis usually
associated with the Third World, a new report says.
The report, released Wednesday by the European Children's Trust, a non-governmental organization active in 10 eastern European countries, urged the West to help by easing the region's debt burden.
Titled "The Silent Crisis," the report said poverty in the region has increased more than tenfold over the last decade due to reductions in government spending on health, education and social programs.
"Since the breakup of the communist system, conditions have become much worse — in some cases catastrophically so," the report said. "In view of the extent of the economic collapse ... the term 'transition' seems a euphemism. 'Great Depression' might be a more appropriate term."
"For all its many faults, the old system provided most people with a reasonable standard of living and a certain security," the report said.
At least 50 million children in the region are living in "genuine poverty," 40 million of them in the former Soviet Union, the report said. Overall, over 160 million — or 40 percent — of the region's population are thought to live in poverty.
As indicators of poverty, the report measured infant mortality, the proportion of the population not expected to live to age 60 and the number of tuberculosis cases.
It said the region's infant mortality — 26 per 1,000 births in 1998 — is approaching rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, where infant mortality is 32 per 1,000. In the United States, infant mortality is 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Nearly a quarter of the region's population are not expected to reach the age of 60. That compared to 25.2 percent in Arab states and an average of 28 percent in developing countries. Russia was on a par with India, with nearly 30 percent not expected to reach 60.
Rates of tuberculosis — a powerful measure of social deprivation — were also much higher in eastern Europe, with an average 67.6 cases per 1,000 people in 1997. That compared to 49.6 in Arab states, 47.6 in Latin America and 35.1 in east Asia. For developing countries, the rate was 68.6.
Tuberculosis rates ranged from about 20 per 1,000 in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, to 80 per 1,000 in Lithuania, Turkmenistan, Latvia and Russia, and 150 per 1,000 in Georgia.
The Trust said maternity and child benefits, unemployment pay and pensions, free education and health care, affordable public transport and housing have all disappeared as gross domestic product and public expenditure have plummeted in eastern Europe.
The proportion of the population living below the poverty line was worst — at 88 percent — in Kyrgyzstan.
Poverty figures ranged from less than 1 percent in Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to 4 percent in Hungary, 20 percent in Poland, 50 percent in Russia to more than 60 percent in Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova, the report said, citing data from the U.N. Development Program.
The West, the report argued, could help by easing the region's debt burden, which it said amounted to almost half its GDP.
It also called for expanding services that prevent family breakdown, developing a targeted family support system and improving standards of local management.
Aid should be focused on training, it said, rather than on short-term relief.
"Time is running out," the Trust said. "That there has not been a total collapse of social structures in these countries so far is a testament to the resilience of the people there. But they cannot continue living this way indefinitely."
On the Net:
European Children's Trust, http://www.everychild.org.uk
The report, released Wednesday by the European Children's Trust, a non-governmental organization active in 10 eastern European countries, urged the West to help by easing the region's debt burden.
Titled "The Silent Crisis," the report said poverty in the region has increased more than tenfold over the last decade due to reductions in government spending on health, education and social programs.
"Since the breakup of the communist system, conditions have become much worse — in some cases catastrophically so," the report said. "In view of the extent of the economic collapse ... the term 'transition' seems a euphemism. 'Great Depression' might be a more appropriate term."
"For all its many faults, the old system provided most people with a reasonable standard of living and a certain security," the report said.
At least 50 million children in the region are living in "genuine poverty," 40 million of them in the former Soviet Union, the report said. Overall, over 160 million — or 40 percent — of the region's population are thought to live in poverty.
As indicators of poverty, the report measured infant mortality, the proportion of the population not expected to live to age 60 and the number of tuberculosis cases.
It said the region's infant mortality — 26 per 1,000 births in 1998 — is approaching rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, where infant mortality is 32 per 1,000. In the United States, infant mortality is 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Nearly a quarter of the region's population are not expected to reach the age of 60. That compared to 25.2 percent in Arab states and an average of 28 percent in developing countries. Russia was on a par with India, with nearly 30 percent not expected to reach 60.
Rates of tuberculosis — a powerful measure of social deprivation — were also much higher in eastern Europe, with an average 67.6 cases per 1,000 people in 1997. That compared to 49.6 in Arab states, 47.6 in Latin America and 35.1 in east Asia. For developing countries, the rate was 68.6.
Tuberculosis rates ranged from about 20 per 1,000 in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, to 80 per 1,000 in Lithuania, Turkmenistan, Latvia and Russia, and 150 per 1,000 in Georgia.
The Trust said maternity and child benefits, unemployment pay and pensions, free education and health care, affordable public transport and housing have all disappeared as gross domestic product and public expenditure have plummeted in eastern Europe.
The proportion of the population living below the poverty line was worst — at 88 percent — in Kyrgyzstan.
Poverty figures ranged from less than 1 percent in Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to 4 percent in Hungary, 20 percent in Poland, 50 percent in Russia to more than 60 percent in Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova, the report said, citing data from the U.N. Development Program.
The West, the report argued, could help by easing the region's debt burden, which it said amounted to almost half its GDP.
It also called for expanding services that prevent family breakdown, developing a targeted family support system and improving standards of local management.
Aid should be focused on training, it said, rather than on short-term relief.
"Time is running out," the Trust said. "That there has not been a total collapse of social structures in these countries so far is a testament to the resilience of the people there. But they cannot continue living this way indefinitely."
On the Net:
European Children's Trust, http://www.everychild.org.uk
Dow
Jones Thursday, 2000. October 12. 6:01:00 PM
Copyright 2000 Dow Jones & Co., Inc.
Copyright 2000 Dow Jones & Co., Inc.
MOSCOW
(AP) — The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday protested a decision
by Latvia to tighten visa requirements along its border with Russia, a ministry
statement said.
The new rule affects Russians living in border regions, and will hinder cross-border contacts and trade, the statement said.
The border controls are a sensitive issue for Russia because many ethnic-Russians living in Latvia have relatives in nearby Russian regions. Some food and other goods are traded across the border by local people.
Latvia is striving for closer ties with the West, including aligning its legislation and customs rules with European Union standards. The country has disregarded Russian protests in the past.
The new rule affects Russians living in border regions, and will hinder cross-border contacts and trade, the statement said.
The border controls are a sensitive issue for Russia because many ethnic-Russians living in Latvia have relatives in nearby Russian regions. Some food and other goods are traded across the border by local people.
Latvia is striving for closer ties with the West, including aligning its legislation and customs rules with European Union standards. The country has disregarded Russian protests in the past.
COMTEX
Newswire Friday, 2000. October 13. 6:32:00 PM
(c) 2000 ITAR-TASS
(c) 2000 ITAR-TASS
MOSCOW,
October 13 (Itar-Tass) — The intention of Latvian legislators to
restrict the rights of veterans of the anti-Hitler coalition evokes perplexity
and concern, Anatoli Chekhoyev, deputy head of the Duma committee for CIS and
relations with compatriots, said in an interview with Tass on
Friday.
Commenting on the draft law, submitted by Latvian legislators, which prohibits to wear orders, medals and badges of honour, given to them by "a foreign country," he said that "most probably, russophobia is replacing common sense in the minds of some Latvian legislators."
The Latvians, who lived through political repressions, and their representatives in parliament "seem to be ready to initiate their own version of political repressions — to ban the wearing of decorations, awarded for the services to the Fatherland ... The intention to infringe upon the rights of veteran antifascists, among whom there are many Latvians, does not do credit to the Latvian nation," he said.
Commenting on the draft law, submitted by Latvian legislators, which prohibits to wear orders, medals and badges of honour, given to them by "a foreign country," he said that "most probably, russophobia is replacing common sense in the minds of some Latvian legislators."
The Latvians, who lived through political repressions, and their representatives in parliament "seem to be ready to initiate their own version of political repressions — to ban the wearing of decorations, awarded for the services to the Fatherland ... The intention to infringe upon the rights of veteran antifascists, among whom there are many Latvians, does not do credit to the Latvian nation," he said.
Reuters
Online Service Friday, 2000. October 13. 8:33:00 PM
Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd.
By Anastasia Styopina
Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd.
By Anastasia Styopina
RIGA
(Reuters) — Latvian prosecutors said Friday they will seek an arrest
warrant for an elderly Nazi-era war crimes and genocide suspect now living in
Australia after a court overruled a judge's decision not to grant
one.
If successful, they said, this would provide legal grounds to ask that 87-year-old Konrads Kalejs, who now holds Australian citizenship, be sent back to his native Latvia for trial.
"If I get the arrest warrant and prepare all the documents which are needed according to Australian law, we can apply for extradition," Liana Dadzite, a prosecutor with the totalitarian regimes crimes unit, told journalists.
Prosecutors announced on September 28 that they had filed charges against Latvian-born Kalejs stemming from his time as an alleged commander of a concentration camp guard company during the Nazi occupation of Latvia in World War Two.
Kalejs has previously denied Nazi hunters' claims that he aided the wartime slaughter of Jews.
The lower Central Riga Regional Court then turned down prosecutors' request for an arrest warrant, a key to extraditing Kalejs from his home in Melbourne, saying there was no evidence that he was evading investigation.
The Riga District Court overruled that decision Friday, which means prosecutors must now resubmit their request for a warrant for Kalejs's arrest.
"I will turn to the central regional court with the same request as today's decision by the panel of judges has overruled the earlier denial to grant an arrest warrant," Dadzite said.
"I think this could happen next week."
Latvia needs an arrest warrant in order to ask Australia for Kalejs's extradition.
The Baltic country does not have an extradition treaty with Australia, but parliament is expected to approve one by the end of the year.
Kalejs has admitted to being a member of the wartime Arajs hit squad, but says he did not take part in any killings. Arajs was responsible for 30,000 murders in Latvia during World War Two.
If extradited, Kalejs would be the first Latvian Nazi-era war crimes suspect to be brought to trial since the country regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Nazi hunters have criticized Latvia for slow progress in bringing cases against suspects such as Kalejs, pointing out that the country has actively prosecuted suspects of Communist-era crimes.
During the World War Two occupation, 95 percent of Latvia's 70,000-strong Jewish population died.
If successful, they said, this would provide legal grounds to ask that 87-year-old Konrads Kalejs, who now holds Australian citizenship, be sent back to his native Latvia for trial.
"If I get the arrest warrant and prepare all the documents which are needed according to Australian law, we can apply for extradition," Liana Dadzite, a prosecutor with the totalitarian regimes crimes unit, told journalists.
Prosecutors announced on September 28 that they had filed charges against Latvian-born Kalejs stemming from his time as an alleged commander of a concentration camp guard company during the Nazi occupation of Latvia in World War Two.
Kalejs has previously denied Nazi hunters' claims that he aided the wartime slaughter of Jews.
The lower Central Riga Regional Court then turned down prosecutors' request for an arrest warrant, a key to extraditing Kalejs from his home in Melbourne, saying there was no evidence that he was evading investigation.
The Riga District Court overruled that decision Friday, which means prosecutors must now resubmit their request for a warrant for Kalejs's arrest.
"I will turn to the central regional court with the same request as today's decision by the panel of judges has overruled the earlier denial to grant an arrest warrant," Dadzite said.
"I think this could happen next week."
Latvia needs an arrest warrant in order to ask Australia for Kalejs's extradition.
The Baltic country does not have an extradition treaty with Australia, but parliament is expected to approve one by the end of the year.
Kalejs has admitted to being a member of the wartime Arajs hit squad, but says he did not take part in any killings. Arajs was responsible for 30,000 murders in Latvia during World War Two.
If extradited, Kalejs would be the first Latvian Nazi-era war crimes suspect to be brought to trial since the country regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Nazi hunters have criticized Latvia for slow progress in bringing cases against suspects such as Kalejs, pointing out that the country has actively prosecuted suspects of Communist-era crimes.
During the World War Two occupation, 95 percent of Latvia's 70,000-strong Jewish population died.
COMTEX
Newswire Friday, 2000. October 13. 9:10:00 PM
(c) 2000 ITAR-TASS ala/mjs/kam
(c) 2000 ITAR-TASS ala/mjs/kam
MOSCOW,
October 13 (Itar-Tass) — The Moscow War Veterans Committee (MWVC) is
fuming over a Latvian parliamentary proposal to forbid people wearing foreign
medals and orders, committee spokesman Alexander Golosov said on
Friday.
"We regard the actions of the initiators of this draft as an attempt to infringe upon the rights of veterans of the anti-Hitler coalition," Golosov told Tass.
"Many Russian veterans are concerned over the fact that the adoption of the bill can bring about persecution on political grounds," he said.
Veterans who took part in the liberation of Latvia from the fascists have expressed their opposition to the bill, proposed by members of the Popular Party.
The bill refers to decorations issued by foreign countries before 1991, when Latvia regained independence.
"We regard the actions of the initiators of this draft as an attempt to infringe upon the rights of veterans of the anti-Hitler coalition," Golosov told Tass.
"Many Russian veterans are concerned over the fact that the adoption of the bill can bring about persecution on political grounds," he said.
Veterans who took part in the liberation of Latvia from the fascists have expressed their opposition to the bill, proposed by members of the Popular Party.
The bill refers to decorations issued by foreign countries before 1991, when Latvia regained independence.
COMTEX
Newswire Sunday, 2000. October 15.10:03:00 PM
(c) 2000 ITAR-TASS yer/
(c) 2000 ITAR-TASS yer/
RIGA,
October 15 (Itar-Tass) — The Baltic and Russian interior ministers
will meet in a Latvian castle near the Lithuanian border on October 17 to
discuss anti-crime cooperation, the press center of the Latvian interior
ministry reported on Sunday.
Russia is expected to be represented by Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo.
The ministers will also discuss the exchange of information and training of police officers.
Russia is expected to be represented by Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo.
The ministers will also discuss the exchange of information and training of police officers.
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This week's picture is of the Church of the Holy Trinity (Trisvienibas Baznica) in Liepaja. It boasts one of the few organs remaining in Europe whose original works were built by Johann Sebastian Bach's favorite organ builder. In Soviet times, there were regular concerts, which generated enough income to restore the church. Now, the tour buses are gone, there's little income — time and its henchmen, the woodworms, are once again taking their toll. This picture is from 1995; we have not been back since to see how the church is doing. Almost forgot, Rastrelli did the interior!
