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Sveiki, all!
Our apologies for missing the mailer last week. Peters went to plug a CD drive in the computer without shutting it down... big spark... dead computer. A new motherboard, new CPU, complete reinstall, salvage of Email folders, etc. later,... well, here we are again!
The tragedy of September 11th continues to affect us all. Many of us know those who have lost friends or family members. Those images are forever etched in our minds--from his office window, Peters watches as a crane 50 yards away loads recognizable sections of steelwork from the WTC on to barges to be hauled away. We hope and pray the world can return to equilibrium and sanity.
In the news (latest first) over the past two weeks:
- Speaker of the Duma: Russia opposes NATO expansion; insists there is nothing threatening the Baltics
- Gunman arrested ahead of NATO summit; man is suspected of targeting national leaders to attend summit
- Latvia opens its waters to NATO ships armed with nuclear weapons, intended in support of NATO members
- EBRD head says Baltics, Russia strong; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is bullish on prospects in the Baltics; Russia is improving as well
- Inadequate terrorism insurance grounds Estonia's national airline; plummeting liability coverage (from $2 billion to $50 million) in wake of September 1th attacks leaves Estonia Air planes on tarmac
- Baltic Development Forum opens in St. Petersburg
This week's link has an international flavor (site based in Switzerland), to all sorts of Latvian history information.
This week's picture is Peters' attempt at minimalism, of Konvent Seta in Vecriga.
Understandably, AOL chat attendance has been light as we turn our thoughts to greater concerns or renewed personal priorities. We hope you AOL'ers take the opportunity to attend soon! "Town Square - Latvian chat" occurs spontaneously every Sunday evening between the hours of about 9:30 to about 11:00, Eastern time. (We've been getting there about 10:00pm lately.) AOL'ers can follow this link: Town Square - Latvian chat. And thanks to you participating on the Latvian message board as well: LATVIA (both on AOL only).
Ar visu labu,
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A massively informative site is the only way we can describe Ansis Reinhards' labor of Lettonian love, cataloging treaties and documents out of Latvian history:
Documents are in whatever language they originated in. The site is in French, however, we found that the translators on google.com and altavista.com (or access through babelfish.altavista.com) do an adequate job!
www.google.com... (or cut and paste http://www.letton.ch into
search, find it, then choose "translate")
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.letton.ch/
www.altavista.com -- cut and paste http://www.letton.ch into search, find it, then choose "translate") -- direct translation link didn't work right.
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Copyright 2001 by United Press International
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Oct 05, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Moscow continues to oppose NATO's expansion eastward despite the world's coming together to fight terrorism, a top Russian official said Friday.
"We rather dislike NATO (bid) to induct our neighbors from the Baltic countries," Gennady Seleznyov, the speaker of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, said at a news conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Seleznyov arrived in Kyrgyzstan to participate in the work of the Russian-Kyrgyz interparliamentary commission that discussed efforts to challenge international terrorism.
Speaking of Russia's relations with the Western military alliance, Seleznyov added that "today we are talking only about the organization of anti-terrorist operations" as the world attempted to adopt a unified policy on fighting terrorism.
"Russia is involved in consultations. Russia provides information it possesses about the terrorists' financing," said Seleznyov.
However, added the official, the Kremlin's stance on NATO's growing expansion toward Russia's borders would remain unchanged.
According to Seleznyov, Moscow is paying particular attention to the NATO membership bids filed by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the three Baltic states that were formerly Soviet republics.
"We will, of course, reconsider our position in relation to these countries if they go into NATO. There's nothing for them to do there, no one is threatening them," said Seleznyov.
Russia has repeatedly warned the Baltic states over alleged human rights abuses of large ethnic Russian communities living there.
This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a summit at NATO headquarters in Brussels where he reiterated Russia's concern over possible induction of the Baltic nations into NATO.
Putin argued that NATO had transformed from a military into a political organization pursuing certain political goals.
The bloc is scheduled to name new members at its November 2002 summit in Prague, the Czech Republic.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- A gunman was arrested just ahead of the recent NATO enlargement summit in the Bulgarian capital, senior police officials said Saturday.
The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was arrested late Thursday near the Hilton hotel in downtown Sofia, Interior Ministry official Boiko Borisov told reporters.
Borisov said that the man carried a Scorpion automatic gun with a silencer. A policeman was seriously wounded during the arrest.
Presidents of East European and Baltic countries aspiring to join NATO met for a one-day summit Friday in the Bulgarian capital. Of the 10 presidents attending -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia -- eight were accommodated at the Hilton.
According to Borisov, four of those were a possible target.
The police official refused to disclose any details on the identity or nationality of the suspect, saying they could prejudice investigations.
Bulgaria, like other European countries, has increased security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
(c) 2001 ITAR-TASS
By Galina Kuchina
Oct 03, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- The Latvian government has amended the rules for the entry and stay of foreign ships in its territorial and inland waters and ports. Henceforth its waters will be open also to ships with nuclear propellants and with nuclear weapons on board. Only a permission of the Latvian defence minister is needed for this purpose.
The press service of the Latvian cabinet reported on Wednesday that these amendments would allow the republic to eventually "take part in actions, stipulated by Article 5 of the NATO collective defence treaty". They also "permit NATO troops to stay on Latvian territory in case of critical situations" and to hold exercises there.
Latvian Defence Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis explained that the rules were intended only for ships of the countries that are affiliated to NATO.
Copyright 2001 Reuters Ltd.
RIGA, Oct 1 (Reuters) -- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Monday that a decade of reforms in the three ex-Soviet Baltic states had made them resilient to a possible global slowdown.
"We are really strongly confident on the Baltic states. The momentum is good and we are ready to assist to sustain it in the coming...years," Jean Lemierre, President of the development bank for Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, told a news conference.
"If there is a need we are ready to increase our exposure to help...to provide more financing without a sovereign guarantee," he added.
Over the last 10 years, the bank has poured three billion euros into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Latvia alone had attracted 327.0 million euros of EBRD funding by end-August.
Lemierre was in the Latvian capital to discuss future financing and investment projects with top officials.
He mentioned vessel operator Latvian Shipping, with an attempt to privatise it under way, as well as a 900 million euro pulp plant, which could enjoy EBRD participation in the form of funding or expertise.
He also mentioned possibile EBRD funding of investment plans of electricity utility Latvenergo.
"We are ready to participate if the government wishes us to be a part," he said.
The bank has submitted technical proposals for funding in the case of Latvian Shipping, if the state would require it.
Lemierre also said he remained "very positive" on Russian growth propects.
Analysts have said Russia could be a key source of economic stability for the Baltic states in the face of possible weakness in Western Europe, although this could change if oil and gas prices, which have helped buoy Russian growth, fall.
However, Lemierre said they would have to slide considerably to before Russia's outlook could become clouded.
"Russia is totally on the safe side," he said.
He also said the EBRD had reviewed its 2002 investment plans for Russia last week, putting them at 1.0 billion euros.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- Estonia's national carrier grounded its fleet on Wednesday because of reduced terrorism insurance coverage following Sept. 11 airborne attacks in the United States.
Estonian Air made its decision after insurers slashed third-party coverage Monday for terrorist attacks, hijackings and acts of war to dlrs 50 million from up to dlrs 2 billion.
The carrier canceled daily flights from Tallinn to Hamburg, Germany; Kiev, Ukraine; Riga, Latvia; London and Moscow but said it would lease jets from Denmark's Maersk Air for flights to to Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden.
Privately held Maersk owns 49 percent of the Estonian carrier.
"This is too little for us to operate and would expose us to unacceptable economic risk," spokesman Raimond Made said.
Estonia's cash-strapped post-Soviet government, which owns 34 percent of the airline, has said it can't afford to help but would appeal to the Danish government for backing similar to guarantees it offered on Monday to Maersk.
The planes will remain grounded until the airline strikes a deal, hopefully by Friday, Made said.
Maersk officials in Copenhagen did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
National carriers in the nearby countries of Latvia and Lithuania also were scrambling to stay in the air.
Management at Lithuanian Airlines, which is 100 percent government owned, was meeting this week with government officials to discuss government-backed insurance.
Air Baltic, which is majority-owned by the Latvian government, has temporary coverage from major shareholder Scandinavian Airlines System and was negotiating with the government for permanent backing, spokeswoman Vija Dzerve said.
Members of the 15-nation European Union, which includes Denmark but not the three former Soviet Baltic republics, agreed last week to serve as insurer of last resort after several European airlines threatened to ground part of their fleets because they could not cover increased war and terrorism insurance costs.
(c) 2001 ITAR-TASS
By Olga Pavlova
ST. PETERSBURG, Sep 23, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- The Baltic Development Forum opened in St. Petersburg on Sunday. Delegates commemorated victims of the recent terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. with a minute of silence.
It was decided to hold the conference despite the tragedy in the United States because everyone must contribute to the consolidation of international cooperation under such circumstances, the forum chairman said. 700 delegates have come to the forum, which is twice more than initially planned.
President Vladimir Putin has sent greetings to the forum delegates. St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev delivered a report on the role of St. Petersburg in the cooperation between Russia and the European Union.
The third Baltic Development Forum, which is being attended by the prime ministers of Finland, Denmark, Lithuania and Latvia, is the first one that takes place on the Russian territory. The first two conferences were held in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmo, Sweden.
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Now and then Peters tries to be artistic, here, his attempt at minimalism (and, as you might gather from the square-ish shape of the picture, yes, Peters did the unthinkable and spent an afternoon taking pictures with Silvija's ***digital*** camera!). The picture is from Konventa Seta in Vecriga, from this summer.
