TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A newspaper advertisement offering a US$10,000 reward for information about Nazi war criminals didn't run in Estonia's daily newspapers Tuesday after police objected.
      Similar ads ran in neighboring Latvia earlier this month and in Lithuania late last year, part of "Operation Last Chance," an effort to prosecute Nazi war criminals led by the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
      The ad that was supposed to run Tuesday in Estonia included copy reading, "During the Holocaust, Estonians murdered Jews in Estonia as well as in other countries," the Wiesenthal Center said. It urged anyone with information to call the ex-Soviet republic's Security Police Board, which investigates war crimes cases.
      But Police Board spokesman Henno Kuurmann said the unit asked a local advertising agency hired by the Center not to run the ad with its name and telephone number.
      "We are not able to say that an ad cannot be published," Kuurmann told The Associated Press Tuesday. "We just said we didn't like that our name and number was there."
      In a letter Kuurmann sent to the Media House ad agency, he said it was "misleading to publish (our) contact information ... as the Security Police Board has not laid out the mentioned $10,000 award."
      A copy of the letter, released to journalists by the Security Board, also argued that the ad's statement about Estonians killing Jews outside the country had not been proven.
      Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center's Jerusalem office, disputed the Police Board's claims.
      He also blasted its intervention and said he wanted an explanation from the Baltic-based ad agency -- including about how authorities got a copy of the ad before it was published.
      "This is outrageous. It's free expression that's harmed," he said, speaking by phone from Jerusalem. "The victims are the Estonian public. I stand by the text ... There's nothing inaccurate or inflammatory in it. We will issue a protest."
      Media House could not immediately be reached for comment.
      During the 1941-1944 Nazi occupation of the Baltic states, tens of thousands of Jews were killed, including more than 200,000 in Lithuania.
      In Estonia, some 1,000 Estonian Jews were killed, while about 4,500 fled to Russia before the Nazis invaded. Several thousand Jews from other countries were sent to Estonia and killed there.
      After regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the Baltics vowed to prosecute any living Nazi war criminals -- though that process has proved difficult with the few remaining suspects in their 80s and 90s.
      —
      On the Net:
      Operation Last Chance:
      http://www.wiesenthal.com/social/press/pr--item.cfm?ItemID6011

      MADRID, Jan 28 (Reuters) — Spain's Basque conflict bubbled over into the world of popular entertainment on Tuesday as a separatist leader accused the government of rigging votes in a talent show to find a Eurovision Song Contest candidate.
      Arnaldo Otegi, leader of suspended radical Basque party Batasuna and spokesman for a new separatist party, said the government wanted a Basque candidate so Basques would root for Spain in the Europe-wide contest, to be held in Latvia in May.
      He said the success of Basque-born Ainhoa, who was voted in by the audience of Monday night's "Operation Triumph" talent contest, was not "neutral."
      In the hugely popular TV show, candidates compete to represent Spain in Eurovision. The 22-year-old female singer went into the final round with the most telephone votes.
      "There are people with a vested interest, at the next Eurovision festival, that all the little Basques be there shouting for Ainhoa, which is like shouting for Spain," Otegi told Basque radio Radio Euskadi.
      "The (ruling) Popular Party has scored a goal," he said.
      Batasuna had about 10 percent of the vote in 2001 and campaigned for a separate Basque state made up of Spanish and French provinces. It was suspended by a judge last year for supporting separatist guerrilla group ETA, which has killed more than 800 people since 1968.

      RIGA, Jan 30 (Reuters) — The 2003 Eurovision Song Contest has become embroiled in a budget battle, after host city Riga threatened to slash funding for the annual musical kitsch-fest due to a spending row with the Latvian government.
      Riga landed May's 48th Eurovision after jazz singer and law graduate "Marie N" won the competition last year for the first time in Latvia's history with the Latin-inspired "I Wanna."
      But pride at winning the competition, which launched Sweden's ABBA on the road to supergroup status, has given way to financial wrangling and could embarrass the Baltic state as it prepares to join the European Union and NATO in 2004.
      Doubts about Latvia's ability to pull off the glitzy show began to surface immediately after its surprise win at the finals in neighbouring Estonia.
      The Latvian government has allocated 5.7 million lats ($9.86 million) to the extravaganza, regularly lampooned by critics but which last year attracted 150 million viewers.
      But Riga budget committee member Janis Karpovics told Reuters the council could chop its promised 670,000 lats to 270,000 lats, after being slammed by the government for a vast budget deficit.
      The Latvian capital's budget deficit is running at 33 million lats, twice the government ceiling for municipalities.
      "Of course cutting Eurovision funding would not be good, but if one has to bite off a finger it has to be the finger that would ache the least afterwards," Karpovics said.
      Eurovision, which cost Estonia $7.56 million, has already been kept on a tight budget as ex-Soviet Latvia tries to keep state expenditures down and avoid high budget deficits.
      A spokeswoman told Reuters Eurovision 2003 had no worries about the show's finances, but Arvids Babris from state broadcaster LTV and the main producer of the show has warned any funding cuts could damage Latvia's image.

      BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The Nice Treaty, negotiated in 2000, comes into force Saturday to ready the European Union for its historic expansion with 10 new members in two years time.
      "It paves the way for the first peaceful unification of the European continent," European Commission President Romano Prodi said Friday of the treaty negotiated in the French resort town. "Nice will also allow Europe to act more effectively."
      Getting the treaty ratified by the current 15 EU nations proved tough as Irish voters rejected it in a first referendum last spring. They endorsed it last fall in a last ditch attempt to keep EU expansion into eastern Europe and the Mediterranean on track.
      Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Malta are to join May 1, 2004.
      The treaty — the fourth update of the union's 1957 founding charter -- redistributes national votes in an EU of 25 member states, restricts national vetoes and revamps institutions. It limits the size of commissioners sitting on the EU's executive Commission and gives the European Parliament more powers and seats.
      The current 626-member EU assembly will grow to 732 members and will be given more say in everything, from spending to food safety standards.
      It also sets the agenda for a more radical overhaul of the EU by 2004-- including such issues as a better foreign and security policy coordination.
      By that time, EU nations are expected to ratify a first-ever EU constitution, which is being drafted by the 105-member European Convention.
      Negotiating the treaty in Nice laid bare long-standing divisions between larger EU nations and smaller ones, many of whom fear a club of 25 will only lead to a diminishing of their influence, with the removal of national vetoes.

      Mariss Jansons was probably born to conduct.
      The son of famous conductor Arvids Jansons, Mariss Jansons likes to say that his conductor's baton has been his favorite toy since he was 3 years old. The director of the acclaimed Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Jansons is also one of only three Russians including Yevgeny Mravinsky and David Oistrakh--to be awarded membership in Vienna's prestigious international music society, Musikverein, to which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig Van Beethoven also belonged.
      In 2000, when Jansons left his position as artistic director of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he had occupied since 1979, his farewell concert was attended by the Norwegian royal family. The maestro, who turned 60 this month, will take over the position of current principal conductor Riccardo Chailly at the celebrated Concertgebouw of Amsterdam in September 2004.
      During a rare visit last week to St. Petersburg, where the Riga-born Jansons spent most of his childhood and where he served as deputy conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra from 1985 to 2000, Jansons found time to talk with The Moscow Times.
      Q: The Concertgebouw is famed for hosting performances of works by Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner, two of your favorite composers. How do you feel about starting work there next year?
      A: It is an orchestra of venerable traditions, and there is no need to make major changes, really. Every artist brings his own perception of music, his concepts and interpretations, to his work. There are conductors who are more or less inclined to do contemporary music. Personally, I don't have any plans to reform the orchestra at Concertgebouw. I've performed with the orchestra many times, but I'd have to spend at least a year with them as principal conductor to be able to say more.
      Q: Russian orchestras tend to perform the work of just a limited number of composers such as, for example, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov and Johannes Brahms because they sell tickets. What is the trend in Europe?
      A: Critics encourage orchestras to perform more contemporary music, although this music is favored by a rather limited audience. Each orchestra has to find its own balance in that respect. Money plays a key role, indeed. Few people would want to pay for someone's experiments. In fact, I personally find it tragic that there is less and less room for idealism in the world, where financial considerations prevail over nearly everything. On a global scale, however, most countries share a common problem, that of how to attract younger audiences to classical concerts. The entire world is in search of forms and ideas. I admire the British for their proms. These summertime classical music festivals gather crowds of youngsters. The young people generate so much energy, they create an atmosphere. But this is an exception. During the season, young audiences express little interest in classics. Next season, I start work as principal conductor for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and we are already planning to hold special events for younger people during which they can visit the orchestra, talk to the musicians, take a backstage tour and so on.
      Q: In what countries would one find the largest number of young people in the classical music concert halls?
      A: Perhaps China or Japan.
      Q: What about Russia?
      A: It's obvious to me that contemporary Russian audiences have changed considerably since perestroika. The major difference is that they don't have a sense of the music ...
      Q: ... yes, and it's so bad that the management of St. Petersburg's Shostakovich Philharmonic has to put notes on its programs asking audience members to refrain from applauding between movements and to switch off their mobile phones!
      A: Yes, it's obvious that they need time. But what people are generally brought up with in Russia today in terms of music is alarming. I switched on my television the other night and saw countless advertisements for a performance or recording featuring Russian pop singer Nikolai Baskov and Montserrat Caballe. Sadly, most Russians don't accept television critically, they just accept what they see. ... I don't mind the advertising, but presenting such singers as international stars is simply dishonest. Agencies can bring whomever they want to Russia, but they shouldn't deceive their audiences by presenting very average performers as international stars. The dangerous tendency now is that Russian audiences are confused because things have been turned upside down.
      Q: You run the annual Ultima Oslo Festival of Contemporary Music. Why have you chosen to focus on contemporary music, rather than on composers of the romantic period, your favorite?
      A: In Oslo, we performed a substantial amount of that music during the season. Also, there have been many festivals of that kind already. And, of course, I wanted to respond to the criticism that contemporary music is too rarely performed--to introduce audiences to music with which they are less familiar. Frankly, it shocks me when people say they "don't understand" contemporary music because you can't apply the word "understand" to music in the first place. You might say you don't understand language, but you perceive music through your soul, not your brain. Only your soul can respond--or not--to music. Generally, though, I think that contemporary music is enjoying more and more attention every year. In fact, the history of my festival is a good example. Only 200 people came to the first event in 1990. Now, the festival sells out.
      Q: You taught conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1970 to 2000. Why did you leave?
      A: I just had no time. My concert schedule was so full. I tried to compromise: First, I stopped dealing with student groups, keeping apprentices only, but then I realized I couldn't do even that. When you take a student, you have to bear the responsibility. You have to find enough time for him. I thought it would be the honorable thing just to leave.
      Q: You've performed with a number of prominent orchestras. Why haven't you brought any of them to Russia?
      A: Because it's far too expensive. I was thinking of taking the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on tour, but the plans collapsed after we figured out how much it would cost. No concert agency, no venue, nobody will risk inviting us to Russia if they aren't sure they'll make a profit and sell out the hall. Thinking back, it's hard to believe now that in the 1960s and 1970s the world's most highly acclaimed orchestras performed here. You could hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, all in one season! Ironically, this was during the days of the Iron Curtain. You can compare them to today's financial Iron Curtain, as a result of which Russian audiences are suffering.
      Q: With which orchestras do you have the best rapport?
      A: The Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. There are many highly professional orchestras that have all the notes right, but music is more than a score. The score is not the goal, it is the meaning. The goal is atmosphere. True musicians have to see beyond score--then, the music will soar and create atmosphere.
      Q: You were raised in a musical family. Your father was a conductor, your mother a singer. Did you always want to be a conductor?
      A: I think so, yes. I spent entire days at the Riga Opera, where my parents worked. I could never see myself anywhere but in theater. Even as a toddler, I fantasized about conducting, and in fact a baton--not a toy soldier or toy car--was one of my favorite toys. When I was 3, my mother gave me a tiny model theater as a gift. All of my most vivid childhood memories are associated with music. No one ever said, "Why don't you become a conductor?" I just became one and have never had any doubts or regrets. My father never gave me conducting lessons, but we had so many wonderful conversations, and I witnessed so many rehearsals. ...
      Q:In your opinion, what personal trait is most essential in a conductor?
      A: You have to have talent to be able to lead an orchestra. Talent is such an ethereal matter, it has to be in the air. The conductor is the link between the composer and the musicians. The music, therefore, is perceived by the musicians through the conductor's emotions and ideas. The musicians have to trust and follow you. You can call it energy, fluides, hypnosis--you transform the music with your eyes, head, arms, fingers, your whole body. If you don't have this talent, no technique, however excellent, will save you.

      VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Future European Union member Lithuania is to impose stricter visa requirements for residents of neighboring Kaliningrad this weekend, amid Moscow fears the Russian enclave could become more isolated.
      Kaliningrad — which will be surrounded by EU members after Lithuania and Poland join in 2004 -- has been a topic of heated discussion between the European Union, Russia and Lithuania in recent months.
      After Lithuania won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, residents of Kaliningrad had easy access to Lithuania -- merely having to show a valid ID, including military papers, as they traveled to and from mainland Russia.
      The Soviet Union annexed Kaliningrad — formerly Koenigsberg — from Germany after World War II. But the Soviet collapse put several newly independent countries between it and mainland Russia.
      Both Lithuania and the EU have called for tighter borders, amid fears that smugglers and illegal immigrants from the economically depressed, crime-ridden Kaliningrad could use holes in the 250-kilometer (150-mile) long Lithuanian-Russian border to enter the EU.
      Under the new visa rules, the first stage in setting up a new visa regime before Lithuania's entry into the EU, residents of Kaliningrad will have to fill out a detailed request to cross through Lithuanian territory.
      "After midnight (Friday), all trains arriving from Russia will be checked according to the new transit rules", the spokesman for Lithuania's border police, Rokas Pukinskas, told The Associated Press Friday.
      Border guards will also no longer accept Russian military identification cards, or birth certificates for children under 14 who are traveling alone, as valid transit documents, he said.
      Heeding Russian requests, Lithuania did say it won't require that in-transit passengers receive entry and exit stamps in their passports. But they refused calls to postpone the new requirements pending further talks.
      Russia's Foreign Ministry as recently as Wednesday expressed concern about the introduction of the new rules.
      The Kremlin has repeatedly called for visa-free travel for Russians living in Kaliningrad, a proposal Lithuania has rejected.
      "Deals that damage Lithuania's sovereign rights and national interests are unacceptable," Darius Jurgelevicius, who has headed Lithuania's team negotiating the issue with Russia, said in a recent interview.
      Lithuania has indicated it will comply with the terms of a compromise deal hammered out between Russia and the EU. Under that agreement, which takes effect in July, Lithuania will begin issuing Russians special, EU-approved travel documents so they can go back and forth to Russia.

      WINTERBERG. Germany (AP) — Sandis Prusis piloted his four-man bobsled to a surprising gold in the European Championships Sunday while also picking up a World Cup win.
      Prusis' sled completed its two heats in 1 minute, 50.67 seconds to edge Olympic champion Andre Lange in 1:50.73. A swiss team led by Martin Annen grabbed bronze in 1:50.90.
      The win at the combined World Cup and European Championships also gave Prusis 176 points in the overall season, just two short of Lange.
      Lange didn't live up to his role as favorite, but said he was satisfied after a week in which his sled had to go in for repairs.
      "If I had to tell you about my horrible week, it would take until tomorrow," Lange said.
      Prusis trailed Lange after the first run with a time of 55.61 seconds, but then roared down the course in 55.06 for the day's fastest heat to grab the title.
      His teammates were Janis Silarajis, Marcis Rullis and Janis Ozols.
      Germany's Rene Spies finished fourth after taking the two-man gold Saturday.