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Opinions-Editorials Latvian Link News Picture Album October 11, 2003 |
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We've seen a lot of discussion on fear of ceding power to a central EU authority in Brussels. To quote from one of the Latvian message boards...
"You are replacing one form of Communism with another." Following was our response to one such comment. Looking at Latvia's
trade statistics in 1938, after 20 years of independence, ranking... |
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This week's link is borrowed off the AOL Latvian boards, passed on by the boards moderator. It's to a study discussing marketing Latvia's image abroad. It's on the Latvian policy portal site: http://www.politika.lv/polit_real/files/lv/brand_rep.pdf The home site is available in Latvian and English, respectively: |
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Reuters World Report Tuesday, September 23, 2003
11:48:00 AM
Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd. By Jorgen Johansson RIGA, Sept 23 (Reuters) — Three parties that threatened to quit Latvia's government said on Tuesday they would stay in the coalition for now, heading off a political crisis in the Baltic state days after it voted to join the European Union. "We are not leaving the coalition," Economy Minister Juris Lujans told Reuters. "I see no reason to leave." His Latvia's First Party had accused Prime Minister Einars Repse of using authoritarian methods and said it would no longer work with him -- threatening to bring down the coalition as it celebrated a strong "yes" in Saturday's referendum on EU entry. The Christian democratic First Party, the conservative For Fatherland and Freedom party and the Farmers and Greens party signed an ultimatum on Monday saying they would leave the coalition unless Repse quit. Repse refused and said he was prepared to lead a minority government while trying to form an alternative coalition. Although a coalition meeting on Tuesday failed to give any clear answers about the government's future, the four-party right-wing alliance said they agreed to call a truce with the rebel trio. "The consensus is that we have a truce for the moment, and the coalition will continue to work," said Krisjanis Karins, leader of the parliamentary group of Repse's New Era party. The rebel trio agreed there was a truce, but both For Fatherland and Freedom and the Farmers and Greens reiterated that they planned to leave unless Repse quit, prolonging the confusion in the ex-Soviet republic. The disintegration of Latvia's coalition would be unlikely to lead to any shift in EU or economic policies, but might complicate the state's preparations for joining the 15-nation bloc and NATO next year. Some analysts expect Repse will be forced to resign when some legislators from the three rebel parties help on Thursday to defeat a proposal to bring Riga free-port under closer government control. Repse sees the port as a nest of corruption. The rebel parties may then hope to persuade New Era to stay in coalition but without Repse, or look for an new coalition with the conservative opposition People's Party, analysts say. Repse, 41, founded liberal New Era in early 2002 and led it to victory in elections later that year on promises to stamp out corruption, graft and mismanagement. The former central banker delivered on his promise, sacking some top bureaucrats, police and custom officials, while keeping the country of 2.3 million people on course toward free markets and the European mainstream. He angered his coalition partners with what they see as a concentration of power around his office at the expense of other ministries and parliament. Reuters World Report Tuesday, September 23, 2003
8:31:00 PM
Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd. UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (Reuters) — Nineteen small and medium-sized European Union states demanded on Tuesday that negotiations on a first EU constitution that begin next month should be open and they should not be steamrollered. The foreign ministers of Finland and Austria, Erkki Tuomioja and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, told reporters that the 19 states had expressed a shared concern that the Italian EU presidency must allow them to raise and debate any issue. But they agreed on no substantive demands, focusing mainly on the procedure and timing of the talks which open on October 4 in Rome and are due to yield a treaty to be signed next May. Italy wants to wrap up negotiations by the end of this year but the smaller countries want more time for discussion. The constitution is meant to streamline EU decision-making and improve its leadership and foreign policy, so the bloc can function effectively when it expands from 15 to 25 member states next year. The big EU member states — Germany, Britain, France and Italy -- have warned against trying to unpick a draft adopted in June by a Convention of parliamentarians and government representatives, chaired by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. But Ferrero-Waldner said: "We want to be able to raise any question... We seek indeed not an unravelling of the package but a fine-tuning." The meeting brought together Finland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta. Of the smaller member states, only Greece was not present. The two convenors were reluctant to discuss the demands of the smaller states, such as maintaining one member of the European Commission for each member state or sticking to the arcane 2000 Nice treaty voting system, which gives small countries disproportionate voting power. The draft constitution would slim down the Commission to 15 full members with voting rights, chosen by equal rotation among the member states, and simplify the voting system to give more weight to the population criteria. Reuters World Report Thursday, September 25,
2003 5:45:00 AM
Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd. RIGA, Sept 25 (Reuters) — Latvia's prime minister survived a key vote in parliament on Thursday, regaining control over rebel coalition partners that threatened to topple him just after the Baltic country voted to join the EU in a weekend referendum. Some analysts expected Einars Repse would be forced out in the vote on a proposal to bring Riga free-port -- seen by Repse as a nest of corruption -- under closer government control. But voting showed the majority four-party coalition stuck together and voted through the proposal, which members of Repse's liberal New Era party took as a sign they had won the battle for control inside the fragile coalition. "The coalition partners showed today that we can obtain common goals," New Era's parliament group leader Krisjanis Karins told Reuters, adding Repse looked safe for now. Latvia voted strongly to join the EU in a referendum on Saturday, seen by many as crowning Latvia's return to mainstream Europe, but was immediately plunged into a government crisis as a junior coalition partner called for Repse's resignation. Coalition partners the Christian democratic First Party, the conservative For Fatherland and Freedom party and the Farmers and Greens party signed an ultimatum on Monday saying they would leave the coalition unless Repse quit. But Repse refused, prompting worries of a lengthy limbo as parliament offers no clear coalition alternatives. A disintegration of Latvia's coalition would be unlikely to lead to any shift in EU or economic policies, but could have complicated preparations for joining EU and NATO next year. Western observers said the affair had harmed Latvia's image by exposing the small Baltic country, already lagging in urgent administrative reforms, as politically immature. Repse won elections last October on promises to stamp out corruption, graft and mismanagement, grabbing 26 out of 100 seats in parliament. The former central banker delivered on his promise, sacking some top bureaucrats, police and custom officials, while keeping Latvia on course toward free markets and mainstream Europe. But Repse has angered his junior coalition partners with what they see as a concentration of power around his office at the expense of other ministries and parliament. AP WorldStream Friday, September 26, 2003
9:09:00 AM
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press By TIMOTHY JACOBS Associated Press Writer RIGA, Latvia (AP) — A Latvian court sentenced former Soviet agent Nikolai Larionov to five years in prison Friday after he was convicted of 131 counts of genocide -- more than 50 years after he allegedly helped deport men, women and children to Siberia at the behest of dictator Josef Stalin. The 82-year-old maintained his innocence throughout the trial in the Zemgale District Court in Jelgava, 40 kilometers (24 miles) south of the capital, Riga, maintaining his superiors forced him to sign deportation orders during a wave of arrests in 1949. "I sympathize with all of the more than 10,000 victims and their relatives, but I admit only that I performed a technical job and had no direct involvement in deportation of people," he said. Prosecutors argued that Larionov was an integral part of the Soviet Latvian Ministry of Security -- set up after the Red Army occupied the Baltic state in 1944. They said he was responsible for exiling as many as 500 people, often whole families. Larionov's five-year sentence, handed down immediately after judges convicted him, was less than the eight years sought by prosecutors. The maximum penalty was 15 years. His lawyers were expected to appeal. After the Baltic states regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, they vowed to prosecute those who took part in the worst Stalinist-era repression -- which included the deportation of more than 100,000 Latvians. Many died in the harsh Siberian conditions. About half dozen Stalinist agents have been convicted in Latvia, and more than a dozen more in neighboring Estonia and Lithuania. The Baltics are the only former Soviet republics to have pursued Soviet-era officials for humanity crimes. Most convicted were given suspended sentences, but others were sent to prison. Moscow has angrily criticized the trials as witch-hunts that target sick, elderly men. The Russian government has frequently helped to cover the legal costs of the accused, sometimes hailing the men as heroes of World War II who served the Soviet Union honorably. AP WorldStream Tuesday, September 30, 2003
12:13:00 PM
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press By MICHAEL TARM Associated Press Writer TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Patriarch Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, ended his first visit to Estonia in a decade Tuesday -- a five-day trip that signaled a thaw in the sometimes frosty relations between Russia and the ex-Soviet republic. The 74-year-old Russian spiritual leader's visit, however, did not appear to resolve outstanding issues surrounding the status of Orthodox faithful in the Baltic Sea country of 1.4 million people, a dispute that once threatened to split Orthodox Christians worldwide. Just hours before leaving Estonia, Alexy met with a representative from the Turkish Patriarchate in Istanbul -- which has sparred with the Moscow Patriarchate over who has jurisdiction here -- an unscheduled encounter that was a rare conciliatory gesture. While Estonians viewed him as an emissary of the Russian government, Alexy tried to avoid politics -- billing his visit as a homecoming. He was born and raised in Estonia during its first period of independence, from 1920-1940, when religion in Russia was suppressed by Josef Stalin. "I feel Estonia's my homeland and these days here were very happy ones," Alexy, in flowing black robes and gripping a gold-handled staff, said in Estonian after meeting President Arnold Ruutel Monday. Earlier, he said prayers over the graves of his mother and father in a cemetery in the capital, Tallinn, and held services at the hilltop, onion-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral -- where 1,000 devotees squeezed into the 100-year-old church to hear him say the liturgy. Estonia's government rolled out the red carpet for Alexy, eager to signal to the Kremlin that any desire for better relations was mutual. Estonia in the past has accused Moscow of trying to bully it, while Russia has alleged that Estonia discriminates against the population's Russian minority. Ruutel held a lavish state dinner in the Patriarch's honor and gave him Estonia's Maarjamaa Cross, a major national award granted to just a handful of foreigners since the country regained independence amid the 1991 Soviet collapse. The visit wasn't tension-free, however. Some Estonian politicians blasted the decision to bestow the award upon Alexy, citing claims he once had close links to the KGB. And conspicuously absent from his itinerary were services with thousands of Orthodox here, mostly ethnic Estonians, who a decade ago switched their allegiance to the Patriarchate in Istanbul led by Patriarch Bartholomew. Ethnic Russians stayed loyal to Alexy and the Moscow Patriarchate. There are only about 150,000 Orthodox in Estonia, compared to over 150 million Orthodox globally. There are fewer than 50,000 ethnic-Estonian and over 100,000 ethnic-Russian Orthodox. Most ethnic Estonians, the majority in the Baltic state, are Lutheran. The decision nearly created a schism, with Alexy decrying in 1996 the "tragic division of Orthodoxy." Many Estonians believers argued that Alexy was too close to the Kremlin. That year, Alexy prohibited Russian clergy from holding services anywhere in the world with priests subordinate to Bartholomew -- though he rescinded the rule weeks later. As he arrived in Estonia last week, Alexy reportedly rejected suggestions that he preside over a joint service for all Orthodox -- as a way to help heal lingering bitterness between the two Orthodox branches. But in a surprise move, Alexy did accept an invitation to sit down with the head of the Estonian-dominated Orthodox Church in Estonia, Metropolitan Stephanos. "I invited him and there was no answer at first, but at ... the last moment, he came to see me," Stephanos told The Associated Press after the meeting ended. "It was very positive that we had contact -- and for a full hour." He expressed his hope to find a "solution to our problems" to Alexy. AP WorldStream Thursday, October 02, 2003
9:09:00 AM
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press By CONSTANT BRAND Associated Press Writer ROME (AP) — Back where it all began, European Union leaders will launch final negotiations for a constitution widening the EU powers, streamlining its tortuous decision-making and preparing the 15-nation bloc for 10 newcomers. On Saturday, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi will open talks by the 15 EU leaders -- and their colleagues from the 10 nations joining in May -- hoping to reach a deal by year's end. It is a huge gamble and nine rounds of negotiations are planned between now and mid-December. If they reach a deal by then, it will be an unprecedented step forward for a club that began with only six nations in Rome in 1957 and is looking at 30 members a decade from now. The draft constitution will embrace a charter of fundamental rights and detail the powers of the union in the future. It will give the EU a president, a foreign minister, a more structured defense policy and make it more difficult to wield national vetoes that cause bureaucratic gridlock. As they come to Rome, the European leaders will carry greatly diverging demands on what the EU charter should say. France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- which founded the European Economic Community, forerunner of the EU, in 1957 -- will come back to the Italian capital broadly agreeing on the draft of a constitution that emerged from 18 months of preliminary talks. The others will seek major changes, vowing to veto anything they don't like. At the heart of the negotiations is a constitutional text, drafted by a 105-member "European Convention" of representatives from EU states, parliaments and institutions. They finished their work in July. However, long before it had been printed in all 11 EU languages, the constitutional draft was either praised as farsighted or denounced as excessive. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, whose country now holds the EU presidency, is ruling out any wholesale text renegotiating. He said this week there is only room for "fine-tuning." No fewer than 15 nations demand a substantial rewriting of the draft. EU members Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Sweden and newcomers the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia want to EU presidency to continue to rotate among member states. They also oppose a slimmed down, 15-member European Commission, saying the EU executive must have members from all EU states. "After 18 months of talks in the European Convention ... if we now say that we prefer to stick to a six-month rotating presidency, then we are not going to have a constitution," Frattini said ahead of Saturday's talks. "They will then have to explain that to the people of Europe." German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has warned against "reopening Pandora's Box." But Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner retorted, "We are not opening Pandora's Box. We are closing gaps." "Everybody has got something they want changed," said Denis MacShane, Britain's European Affairs minister. "We (Britain) have things we want .... and we are not going to walk away from them." British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he will insist on retaining a veto in defense, foreign policy, social security and taxation areas. Other countries want to drop that veto right. The talks that open Saturday mark the fifth time that the EU treaty is being amended. Such negotiations have long been marked by hardline bargaining positions and this time is no different. Most controversially, Spain and Poland oppose changing the complicated formula -- agreed to in December, 2000 -- that allocates national votes in decision-making meetings for fear of losing power in the EU. Many other EU states seek a redistribution of votes to more closely reflect population figures. Also Poland, Spain and Italy want the EU constitution to make reference to God and Judeo-Christian values as a vital part of European heritage. Although there is a December deadline, the negotiations may spill into 2004. That would risk efforts to have the treaty ready for public scrutiny in referendums planned in many of EU states. A final constitution must win ratification by all EU legislatures and the European Parliament if it is to take effect in 2005, as planned. — — — On the Net: http://ue.eu.int/CIG2004/index.asp AP WorldStream Friday, October 03, 2003 1:34:00
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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press By TIM JACOBS Associated Press Writer RIGA, Latvia (AP) — A court Friday dismissed war crimes charges against a former Soviet partisan accused of killing civilians during World War II, in a case that had provoked condemnation from Russia. Presiding Judge Andris Strauts said Vasily Kononov, 80, was instead guilty of "banditry." But because the statute of limitation on the charge ran out decades ago, so he should not face further criminal action, Strauts told The Associated Press. Prosecutors could appeal the court's ruling and ask for the war-crimes charge to be reinstated. Kononov was sentenced in 2000 to six years in jail for allegedly ordering the execution in 1944 of nine civilians, including a pregnant woman, whom he suspected of Nazi sympathies. In April 2000, Latvia's Supreme Court ordered Kononov to be released from jail, saying it questioned some of the evidence against him. Prosecutors requested a retrial, which began last May. The killings occurred during the Nazi occupation of Latvia, when Kononov led a small band of pro-Soviet partisans. He claimed that the civilians got caught in the cross fire of a battle between partisans and Nazis. Moscow angrily criticized the trials as witch hunts that target sick, elderly men and many Russians consider Kononov a legitimate war hero. Russian President Putin granted him Russian citizenship in April 2000. Latvia was independent before being annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. After the 1941-44 Nazi occupation, the Soviet army returned, remaining there until the Baltic state regained independence after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Reuters World Report Monday, October 06, 2003
1:36:00 PM
Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd. RIGA, Oct 6 (Reuters) — Latvia's deputy premier said on Monday his country would catch up with mainstream Europe in just a decade despite being the poorest EU newcomer, adding that lazy workers were much to blame for an economic downturn in the West. "I see Latvia as a Hong Kong in Europe between the European Union and the CIS," Ainars Slesers told Reuters on the sidelines of a Baltic Development Forum gathering in Riga. Slesers, a successful businessman and former economics minister, hailed the Latvian work ethic and expected the small Baltic country to catch up with the EU average in just a decade -- more than twice as fast as analysts' expectations. "Latvia's strategic aim is to achieve EU living standards within a decade," Slesers said. Latvia enjoys fast growth, but struggles with huge differences between rich and poor and corruption levels seen among East Europe's worst. "I've seen some of the problems in richer countries in Europe where people want to work less but earn more," he said. "Those countries have serious problems with their social structures." Latvia, which voted strongly in favour of joining the European Union in a September 20 referendum, is the poorest of the 10 mostly East European countries which join the EU next May. in term of per capita income, with an average salary of just $300 a month. Latvia had the fastest expanding economy of all accession countries in the period 1998-2002 with an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.1 percent a year. Slesers said the boom would continue now that the ex-Soviet republic was set to become an EU member, with growth accelerating to new heights. "GDP growth could go up to 10 percent in the future because people are willing to work here," he said. "There'll be no economic borders anymore and I see Latvia has growth potential with our geographical location." Reuters Internet Report Tuesday, October 07,
2003 7:51:00 AM
Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd. By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) — Organized crime syndicates have stepped up their presence on the Internet, operating extortion rackets, child pornography rings and elaborate financial scams, Britain's top cyber cop told Reuters. And the most vulnerable target is the individual Web user, said Detective Chief Superintendent Len Hynds, head of the UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU). "Organized crime is turning to the weakest element in the chain, which is the people. It's the hands on the keyboard on either end of the transaction that is the actual weak point," Hynds said. The crime syndicates, he said, are based in every corner of the globe. Investigations have led the NHTCU repeatedly to Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, Russia and Latvia. The groups have honed their Internet skills as a greater flow of business is conducted online. "Organized crime in all its guises is extremely flexible. It does spot the new and lucrative opportunity," Hynds said. BLACKMAIL, EXTORTION, CHILD PORN In the NHTCU's two-year existence, the 55-person task force has made nearly 110 arrests for such age-old crimes as blackmail and extortion to decidedly hi-tech computer hacking cases. Law enforcement officials throughout the world suspect crime rings are recruiting technically savvy programmers to concoct fraud schemes against banks and businesses. An increasingly common scam hitting financial institutions is known as "Web site spoofing" in which a fraudster sets up a bogus online business that closely resembles a bank or business Web site. The aim is to lure unsuspecting Internet users to the phony site in an effort to get them to submit their credit card and bank details. The NHTCU said 40 UK businesses have been hit by the spoofing scam so far this year, up from seven a year ago. FROM TEENAGE TRICKS TO ORGANIZED CRIME Hacking attacks, once considered the domain of bored teenagers looking to prove their Net skills, have also become an increasingly common weapon in organized crime's arsenal, said Hynds. Some have launched "denial of service" attacks — which consists of a crippling barrage of data capable of knocking Net companies offline -- against Internet service providers and online casinos. Under such a scenario, the groups threaten to unleash the attacks on businesses unless they pay a ransom. But the most active area for the NHTCU, and the new cyber investigation teams everywhere, continues to be breaking up child pornography rings. Nearly half of the 110 arrests made by the unit have been for pedophilia-related charges, Hynds said. "We are focusing on the organized groups that are making money out of peddling child pornography on the Internet. We are doing that in partnership with business and industry," he said. "We've deployed officers from this office overseas to physically remove children to places of safety," he added. International police forces have been tackling the rise of child pornography online with greater success recently. Last week, German police said they cracked a global pedophile ring that involved 26,500 computer users from 166 countries. AP WorldSources Online Tuesday, October 07, 2003
2:51:00 PM
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press Copyright 2003 XINHUA RIGA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — The Latvian government on Tuesday approved Latvia's accession to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement and authorized Minister of Foreign Affairs Sandra Kalniete to sign the agreement in Luxembourg on Oct. 14. The EEA Agreement was signed by the European Union member countries and three Economic Free Trade Association's members-Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The EEA Agreement stipulates Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein' s inclusion into the EU common market, except for the agricultural market. Trade in farm products is regulated by the EEA Agreement protocols. The EEA Agreement's aim is to promote a continuous and balanced strengthening of trade and economic relations with equal conditions of competition. The EEA Agreement deals with the free movement of goods, free movement of persons, services and capital, setting up of a system ensuring that competition is not distorted and that the rules thereof are equally respected, and others. The agreement also stipulates cooperation in science and development, environment, education and social sectors. The EU candidate countries will accede to the EEA Agreement by signing an agreement on the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia's membership in the EEA. After the ratification of the agreement by parliament, and when the agreement comes into force Latvia will become a full-fledged party to the EEA Agreement on May 1, 2004. The accession to the EEA Agreement is expected to better macroeconomic environment in Latvia, it will become a member of a common market that is based on free movement of goods, services, labor and capital. At this time, the EEA is a market with about 380 million consumers that accounts for almost 18 percent of the world's import deals and 20 percent of export deals. After the ten candidate countries join the EEA, the EEA with nearly half-billion residents will become the biggest market without internal boundaries in the world. It is expected to prompt trade and investments, cooperation and employment. AP US & World Thursday, October 09, 2003
6:20:00 AM
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press BURIEN, Wash. (AP) — Irene Beleiciks, a World War II refugee from Latvia who fled to the United States and founded Trejdeksnitis, a folk dance troupe that performed around the world, died Sept. 29. She was 85. Beleiciks started her Latvian dance troupe in 1963 after years working as a soup cook in a cafeteria at the University of Washington. Beleiciks' life was marked by adversity from the beginning. Her father, a Cossack imperial guard, remained loyal to the czar during the Russian Revolution and was killed by the Bolsheviks before she was born. She was brought up by her mother, a noblewoman. Despite being a ballet dancer and star athlete, Beleiciks did not pursue a professional career after marrying Latvia's 1937 decathlon champion. Shortly after she gave birth to two boys and a girl, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact and the Soviets took control of Latvia, arresting, torturing and deporting some of her friends and eventually arresting her husband. The Nazis occupied Latvia until late in the war. As they retreated, Beleiciks fled with her children out of fear of the Soviets. She spent time at a German refugee camp and wound up in Seattle in 1950. Lacking any knowledge of English, she took any job she could get, sometimes several at a time. Eventually, she found regular work at the university cafeteria. When Beleiciks became unable to keep up with younger dancers in Trejdeksnitis, she established another dance group for older women. AP WorldStream Thursday, October 09, 2003
11:05:00 AM
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Europe's top human rights court ruled Thursday that Latvia abused the rights of two Russian women by forcing them to leave due to their ethnicity. The panel of 17 judges at the European Court of Human Rights awarded Tatyana Slivenko and her daughter Karina Slivenko, Ç10,000 (US$11,800) in damages after finding their rights to "respect for a private life and home" under the Convention on Human Rights had been violated. As a signatory to the charter, Latvia is bound to uphold it. In their ruling, the judges said their deportation from Riga, Latvia, under a Latvian law which forced out Soviet army officers was unjustified. "The authorities did not appear to have examined whether each person presented a specific danger to national security or public order," the judges said. "In all the circumstances, the applicants' removal could not be regarded as having been necessary in a democratic society." Tatyana moved to Latvia with her parents — who still live in Riga -- in 1959 and married her husband Nikolai, an army officer in the Soviet Union's Red Army, in 1980. Their daughter, Karina, was born in 1981. Nikolai retired from active duty in 1986. The family was denied permanent resident permits and given deportation orders in August 1996. The Latvian government, which gained its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, said the family had to leave under a 1994 treaty on the withdrawal of Russian troops. As a result Nikolai left for Russia, while his wife and daughter appealed the deportation order but lost. In October 1998 the two were arrested and detained. The mother and daughter eventually left Latvia in July 1999 to join Nikolai in Kursk, Russia, and took up Russian citizenship. The Court threw out other claims of human rights violations against Latvia, including the right to liberty and security. The status of native Russian speakers, who make up more than a third of Latvia's population has been a sore point in relations between Russia and its Baltic neighbor. Russia, which was a third party to the case, has complained repeatedly that Latvian Russians are mistreated, noting that many are denied Latvian citizenship because they cannot pass the government-mandated Latvian language tests. Latvia has accused the Kremlin of using the issue of language to bully the former Soviet republic. Reuters World Report Thursday, October 09, 2003
11:31:00 AM
Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd. RIGA, Oct 9 (Reuters) — Latvia's parliament approved a draft 2004 budget that aims to bring the deficit down to two percent next year after lengthy debate that threatened to topple Prime Minister Einars Repse. "A vote against the budget is a vote against the government," Repse said ahead of the vote on the budget, which won support from 51 deputies in the 100-seat parliament, although the coalition numbers 55 deputies. Thirty seven deputies voted against. The budget needs to pass a second reading on November 13, but Repse said he expected it to be plain sailing now that it had survived the first reading. Repse came under heavy fire from his own junior coalition partners during budget talks this summer as he pushed to tighten state spending and bring the budget deficit down to two percent next year from three percent this year. The rift flared again on September 20, just hours after the Baltic country had voted to join the European Union next May, with three parties threatening to quit the four-party coalition due to Repse's "authoritarian" leadership. Finance Minister Valdis Dombrovskis from Repse's liberal New Era party told Reuters the 2.07 billion lats ($3.75 billion) budget was based on gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.1 percent. "Our priorities have been integration into the EU and NATO, social expenditures and pensions," he said, adding that Latvia was on track in its NATO and EU preparations. Parliament's budget committee chairwoman Baiba Brigmane said about one third of the budget would be spent on social needs such as pensions, efforts to tackle unemployment and raising the minimum wage to 80 lats from 70 lats. The small country of 2.3 million, which aims to join the ERM-2 waiting room for the euro in 2005 and introduce the single currency in 2008, has gone through wide-ranging free-market reforms since regaining independence from Soviet rule in 1991. Reuters Canada Thursday, October 09, 2003
4:01:00 PM
Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd. By John Chalmers COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) — Russia sought on Thursday to soothe concerns at NATO over its nuclear posture, saying it saw its former Cold War foe as a partner. Underlining Moscow's willingness to reach out to NATO, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov held talks at Colorado Springs with both the alliance's secretary-general and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on closer military cooperation. "Minister Sergei Ivanov said ... Russia does not have or does not seek to have a pre-emptive strategy in relation to its nuclear weapons," NATO Secretary-General George Robertson told a news conference. "They don't regard NATO as being an offensive organization, they regard NATO as being a partner to Russia." Improving relations with Moscow is a key element of NATO's drive to reinvent itself to tackle terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, threats highlighted on Tuesday by a war-gaming exercise laid on for alliance defense ministers. Diplomats said the ministers, meeting for a second day on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, would quiz Ivanov on a comment broadcast to Russians last week that Moscow stuck by its doctrine of making a pre-emptive military strike beyond its borders if its interests and those of its allies required it. A recent Russian defense report on the tasks facing its armed forces also said that if NATO remained a "military alliance with its existing offensive military doctrine," Russia would have to overhaul its military posture and nuclear strategy. RELATIONS STRENGTHENING That jarred with a reference in the same report to the value of military cooperation with Washington, which commentators said reflected competing views inside Russia's defense establishment where many remain suspicious of NATO. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns said he would be "awfully surprised" if there was any reassessment by Russia of its nuclear stance in relation to NATO. "There may be some kind of miscommunication here because we've never received any kind of demarche from the Russian government to NATO on this issue," he told reporters. "So we'll have to see what the minister says but it's our impression...NATO-Russia relations are actually strengthening." Russian President Vladimir Putin, pursuing a broad pro-Western policy, has softened criticism of NATO's decision to expand its borders behind the old Iron Curtain. He agreed last year to set up a new NATO-Russia Council for closer cooperation on security issues. There are still misgivings in Moscow, though, about NATO's embrace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which broke free from the Soviet Union in 1991. The Baltic states are among seven Eastern European countries due to join NATO next year. Burns said NATO and Russia were working together to beat terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction and were exploring cooperation on theater missile defense . A senior U.S. official said the question of joint exercises for missile defense and cooperation on early warning radars figured in the 30-minute meeting between Rumsfeld and Ivanov. AP WorldSources Online Friday, October 10, 2003
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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press Copyright 2003 THE MOSCOW TIMES MOSCOW — Two weeks ago in Moscow, Vladimir Linderman, the leader of the Latvian branch of Russia's radical National Bolshevik Party and a friend of writer Eduard Limonov, went out to buy newspapers and disappeared. His family and friends only found out what happened to him Tuesday evening after receiving a letter saying he was in Lefortovo prison. Linderman, also known as Abel, 40, was detained at the request of Latvian authorities, his lawyer Sergei Belyak said by telephone Thursday. He is accused of involvement in an alleged plot to kill Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and stage a coup last year. Linderman, a resident of Riga, effectively ran the National Bolshevik Party for the past two years while Limonov, the party's leader, served a prison term. Linderman was last seen at party headquarters near Frunzenskaya metro station on Sept. 24 before he walked out to buy newspapers and did not come back, Belyak said. His family and friends, afraid he had an accident, looked for him in the city's hospitals and morgues. "His family did not know what to think and was looking for him in all the morgues," Belyak said. Linderman is the father of four. Late Tuesday, his colleagues at the party received his letter from Lefortovo. Prosecutor General's Office spokesman Vasily Glushchenko confirmed that Linderman was detained pending an extradition hearing but said he does not know why Linderman was denied access to a lawyer for so long. "The reason for such a delay is not clear to me," Glushchenko said in a telephone interview, suggesting that it could be due to the officers who detained Linderman not being familiar with the formalities of extradition procedures. If Linderman were a Russian citizen wanted by Russian prosecutors, he by law would have been given access to a lawyer immediately after his arrest, Glushchenko said. Belyak said prosecutors contacted him Thursday morning and he went to see them immediately. "They made an awkward apology and said that the extradition might not take place at all," Belyak said. Latvian Embassy spokesman Atis Lots confirmed that Linderman is wanted in Latvia, where in addition to the other charges he also faces charges of illegally possessing explosives. Lots said Latvian authorities had not been officially informed that Linderman is in custody. Linderman testified in Limonov's defense during his 2002 trial, and Belyak said his testimony blew holes in the prosecutors' case. Limonov was convicted on arms charges but acquitted of plotting to overthrow the government and granted early parole this summer. Last November, Latvian police searched the apartments of members of the National Bolsheviks' Latvian branch, called Pobeda, and reported finding explosives. Three party activists were arrested but then released pending trial on condition they not leave Riga. They and four other suspects are charged with plotting to kill the president. Prosecutors wanted to charge Linderman as well, but he left for Russia, where earlier this year he requested political asylum, saying that the case against him is politically motivated, Belyak said. National Bolsheviks trumpet the rights of ethnic Russians in some former Soviet republics, mainly in Latvia, and are known for their radical protests. AP WorldStream Friday, October 10, 2003 9:21:00
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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — President Vaira Vike-Freiberga on Friday defended Latvia's human rights record against allegations that ethnic Russians in her country continued to suffer discrimination. Vike-Freiberga told reporters that Latvia respects all international human rights standards in protecting its large Russian minority. "Latvia has indeed had a very heavy inheritance, from the times of the Soviet occupation and of the 'Russification' process that took place then," Vike-Freiberga told reporters. "We have a variety of legislative steps that have been taken to deal with the problem, that have received the full approval of the (European) Commission and other institutions." She added that a special minister for social affairs had been tasked to deal with minority rights issues. European Commission President Romano Prodi said the issue, which had been a sticking point during expansion negotiations last year, was now being addressed. Latvia, alongside nine other mostly eastern European states, concluded entry talks last December and are set to join the 15-nation club next May. Vike-Freiberga's remarks come after the Strasbourg, France-based European Court of Human Rights, ruled Thursday that Latvia abused the rights of two Russian women by forcing them to leave due to their ethnicity. The court awarded the two Ç10,000 (US11,800) each in damages after finding their rights to "respect for a private life and home" under the Convention on Human Rights had been violated. Vike-Freiberga said the Latvian courts "would examine" the ruling, but gave no further comment on the decision. The status of native Russian speakers, who make up more than a third of Latvia's population has been a sore point in relations between Russia and its Baltic neighbor and a cause for concern for the EU in the past. Russia has complained repeatedly that Latvian Russians are mistreated, noting that many are denied Latvian citizenship because they cannot pass the government-mandated Latvian language tests. Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. After the 1941-44 Nazi occupation, the Soviet army returned, remaining there until the Baltic state regained independence after the 1991 Soviet collapse. AP WorldStream Friday, October 10, 2003 10:16:00
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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press By MICHAEL TARM Associated Press Writer TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Judges convicted two former Stalinist agents in Estonia Friday, giving them each an eight-year suspended sentence for taking part in the deportation of hundreds of men, women and children to Siberia more than 50 years ago. Judges said August Kolk, 78, and Pyotr Kislyi, 82, helped round up purported opponents of the new communist regime on Estonia's island of Saaremaa in March 1949, several years after the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic Sea nation of 1.4 million people. The victims were loaded onto ferries and then cattle trains for the 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) journey to northern Russia. Some 20,000 Estonians were forcibly exiled that same month to Siberia, where many perished in the harsh conditions there. The trial at the island's Saar County Court in Kuressaare — 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of the capital, Tallinn -- was followed closely by the island's close-knit, 40,000 residents, many of whom had relatives who were deported or were deported themselves. The proceedings started last year as one of the biggest trials of its kind, with eight suspects facing the court together. But the number of accused dwindled after six of the men, all in their 70s and 80s, were deemed too ill to stand trial. Kolk and Kislyi said they would appeal Friday's verdict. Both argued that, while they may have been involved in carrying out deportations, they did not break any laws at the time. Much of the evidence presented in court was drawn from KGB secret police files found in a cellar archive in Tallinn after Estonia regained independence amid the 1991 Soviet collapse. Several eyewitnesses also testified. All three Baltic states, including Latvia and Lithuania, have vowed to prosecute anyone who took part in Soviet atrocities. No other ex-Soviet republics have held similar proceedings. Moscow, however, has consistently denounced the trials as revenge against ailing old men, some of whom, Russia alleges, are Soviet war heroes. At least 15 million people were killed and another 40 million deported -- including more than 200,000 people from the Baltics -- by secret police during Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's rule. Over half a dozen former Soviet agents have been convicted in Estonia, where officials say the main aim is to shed light on the Stalinist period -- not to mete out stiff punishment. Only one convicted agent, Karl-Leonhard Paulov, was ever jailed; the 77-year-old died in 2002 after serving a year of an eight-year term. AP WorldStream Friday, October 10, 2003 11:33:00
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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press By TIMOTHY JACOBS Associated Press Writer RIGA, Latvia (AP) A crisis that threatened to topple Latvia's government has ended after the leaders of parties in the government's coalition backed off calling for the prime minister's resignation. The three parties — Latvia's First, Fatherland and Freedom, and the Greens and Farmers -- had called for Prime Minister Einars Repse to step down after the country approved joining the European Union in a Sept. 20 national referendum. They criticized Repse's managerial style. But rebel party leaders said that despite their disgruntlement with Repse, there isn't any alternative to the current four-party, center-right government. They conceded that stitching together any new coalition from the fractured 100-seat Saeima would been difficult. None of the eight parties in the legislature holds a majority; Repse's New Era is the biggest legislative party, with just 26 seats. "Our wish after the referendum was that we'd have another prime minister," Indulis Emsis, a leader of the Greens and Farmers party, told The Associated Press Friday. "Now, we aren't so strict about this and are staying with the coalition." Latvia's First parliamentarian Oskars Kastens, who had been one of Repse's harshest critics, said that while his party would prefer a new premier, it would not initiate a no-confidence vote against Repse. The decision was a turnaround for the parties, which, in a joint statement last month, accused the 41-year-old Repse of not consulting them on major policy issues and of using "extortion, threats and lies" to lead the former Soviet republic of 2.4 million residents. The infighting had already been apparent for months before, but the ruling parties agreed not to withdraw before the referendum, which they all supported, fearing it could hamper efforts to convince residents to vote yes. Latvia, along with nine other EU candidates, is scheduled to join the bloc in May, 2004. While Repse averted being deposed for now, unresolved strains in his coalition are likely to pose a constant threat of another government crisis, analyst said. "The bottom line is that this coalition is as shaky as it can be right now," said Latvian radio commentator Karlis Streips. A Repse advisor, Dans Titavs, said that despite the disagreements, the government has proven it can still work together. He pointed to Thursday's passage of the country's 2004 budget as one example. |
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From our vacation this summer past, Deco details still awaiting restoration to their heyday. |
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