Rav Kook's Latvia Days
Jerusalem Post Jan. 6, 2005
Copyright 2005 Jerusalem Post
By Yehudah Mirsky
Like most of us, I guess, Latvia has figured little in my life, other than as the source of the many Letts who regularly populate New York Times crossword puzzles.
Lithuania was, of course, a different story. The high Jewish intellectual life centered in Vilnius (in Yiddish, forever, "Vilna") and its tributaries was so rich in so many directions, traditional and modern alike, that to this day thousands of Jews, Talmudists especially, identify themselves as "Lithuanian," even if they were born in America or Israel. Latvia always seemed like an afterthought.
Still, I was glad to travel there to give some talks about one native son who transcended its borders and much else besides. Abraham Isaac Kook, born in 1865 in a shtetl called Griva on the banks of the Daugava River, lived in and around Latvia until 1904 when he moved to Jaffa, eventually becoming the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine, until his death in 1935.
Best known as the first and greatest major rabbinic figure to endorse Zionism, he was an extraordinary amalgam of scholastic jurist, ecstatic mystic, lyric poet, modernist theologian, communal leader, and saint. His messianic vision still fuels Israel's settlers, while his universalism animates the religious left; ultra-Orthodox spokesmen still fear and denounce him with an oddly flattering regularity.
Rav Kook's outstanding significance to Israeli and Zionist history has served to obscure the fact that more than half of his life was lived elsewhere, largely in Latvia. The Israeli embassy in Riga and the Latvian Culture Ministry jointly convened a conference to mark the centennial of his departure for Palestine. In truth, not many students of Rav Kook scholars pay much attention to his early decades, but I do, and so I was asked to visit.
The morning before the conference I traveled with the Israeli ambassador, Gary Koren, to the town of Bauska (in Yiddish, "Boisk"), an hour's drive south of Riga, where Rav Kook had served as spiritual leader for the decade prior to his departure. A knowledgeable and sympathetic local historian showed us around.
In Rav Kook's time, a bit more than 40 percent of Bauska's population of 6,000 were Jews. Bauska, like Latvia generally, was then what we today would call multicultural, with Latvian, Russian, German and Yiddish all simultaneously serving as linguae francae, with much being written in Hebrew as well.
Bauska's Jewish community was home to both traditionalists and Enlighteners; its members were Talmudists, Hassidim, businessmen, tradesmen, doctors, teachers, journalists, and revolutionaries. Some owned factories, others were poverty-stricken. One was a deputy in the Russian parliament. Another became a great Semitic philologist.
It was in this polyglot atmosphere that Rav Kook honed what would become his genius for synthesis and reconciliation. His synagogue, made of white stone with an exquisitely carved wooden interior, preserved today only in photographs, stood on the main street, directly across from the marketplace and city hall. All that remains of it today is an empty, weed-filled lot. The only physical traces of Jewish life there outside the local museum are two plaques, two tombstones, and the faded lettering on a factory, "Michelson."
THE END of Bauska's Jews is a depressingly familiar tale. The Nazis arrived there at the end of June 1941. A little more than a month later, the town's 600 remaining Jews were taken to a police firing range in a birch forest eight kilometers out of town and shot by the locals, at Nazi behest. The boilerplate memorial slab over the otherwise unmarked mass grave there refers only to "Soviet citizens, victims of fascism." They had been Soviet citizens for all of one year, after Stalin crushed the Latvian Republic.
STAR FUND-RAISER GETS POST — Kentuckian Bailey takes oath as envoy to Latvia
The Courier-Journal Jan. 14, 2005
Copyright 2005 The Courier-Journal
By Kay Stewart
Catherine Todd Bailey of Louisville, the new ambassador to Latvia, was given the oath of office yesterday by Secretary of State Colin Powell. In the middle was her husband, Irving. "I am just so honored by the opportunity to be able to serve my country," Cathy Bailey said.
In 1977, Catherine Todd Bailey ventured into Kentucky politics as a volunteer for a little-known Republican running for Jefferson County judge-executive.
Yesterday, she was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Latvia.
In the intervening years, Bailey honed her skills to become a star fund-raiser for the state and national Republican Party, as well as a leader for local charitable causes. And the candidate she backed 28 years ago, Mitch McConnell, became one of the nation's most powerful U.S. senators — and a Cathy Bailey fan.
McConnell, who supported Bailey's appointment at a confirmation hearing before members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September, said she has proven leadership skills and values that will serve the nation well.
But he's not taking credit for getting her the job. "She knows people in the Bush campaign, and the Bush administration," McConnell said in an interview, adding, "The call was made by the president and the secretary of state."
The Senate approved Bailey's appointment on Nov. 20, and Secretary of State Colin Powell swore her in yesterday in Washington.
QUICK TAKE
Latvia is in Eastern Europe on the Baltic Sea, between Lithuania and Estonia. It is slightly larger than West Virginia, with a population of 2.3million. Its capital is Riga.
Recent history: After a brief period of independence between the two world wars, Latvia was annexed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1940. It re-established its independence in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Latvia joined both NATO and the European Union in the spring of 2004. (Source: CIA Web site: www.cia.gov)
As ambassador, Cathy Bailey will oversee about 150 employees from a variety of U.S. agencies who are based at the embassy.
Bailey, 53, said in an interview earlier that she's not sure when she will leave for her three-year tour of duty in Latvia, an Eastern European country that declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. And as for specific goals there, she said she'll take her direction from the White House.
Bailey, whose official residence will be in the capital city of Riga, said she's unfazed by Latvia's cold, dark winters and is eager to help build stronger ties to that country.
During the interview at her Glenview home over the holidays, she said she was preparing remarks for her swearing-in ceremony, getting tutored once or twice a week to learn the Latvian language, and studying the country's history and culture.
She also was working to relinquish oversight of a local charity she founded, Operation Open Arms, which provides family environments for children whose parents are in prison.
Asked to explain her successful fund-raising techniques, Bailey responded with a laugh, "My children will tell you it's because I talk on the phone so much."
An unexpected call
Bailey, who volunteers little about her political activities, said in response to questions that she has been to President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, and "got to taste real Texas barbecue." She also attended Bush's first inaugural party and plans to attend his second.
Last spring, she said, she received an unexpected call from the White House asking if she was interested in an ambassadorship. At a visit to the White House to discuss the opportunity, she said Latvia was suggested, and she was thrilled with the idea.
She said she later attended an intense briefing from the State Department on Latvia and the role of ambassador. "I am just so honored by the opportunity to be able to serve my country," she said.
Bailey grew up in Burlington, Ind., where her father owned a seed company and volunteered for Republicans, and her mother taught school.
A graduate of Franklin College in Franklin, Ind., she moved to Louisville in the 1970s, teaching first grade for several years at Kentucky Country Day School.
She married Louisville businessman Irving W. Bailey II in 1995; he will accompany her to Latvia and transition from managing partner at Chrysalis Ventures, a venture capital firm, to a senior adviser to the firm.
Irving Bailey is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Providian Corp, which was sold to Aegon in 1997.
`Citizen ambassador'
Both Democratic and Republican presidents have a long history of appointing political contributors to ambassadorships.
Bailey referred to her position as a "citizen ambassador," and cited others, including Louisvillian Robert Worth Bingham, a former Courier-Journal publisher who was an ambassador to Great Britain from 1933 to 1937.
During his first term, Bush appointed 36 contributors or fund-raisers to ambassadorships, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, including two Kentuckians: W.L. Lyons Brown, former chairman and chief executive officer of Brown-Forman Corp., to Austria; and Bush family friend and Republican donor William Farish, a horse breeder and owner of Lane's End Farm near Lexington, who returned last year from Great Britain.
Top contributors
And as party contributors, Cathy and Irving Bailey are near the top of GOP lists.
Since 1999, they have contributed a total of more than $550,000 to Republican candidates at the federal level and to national party causes, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' database.
Cathy Bailey, a national Republican committeewoman before her ambassadorship and head of GOP fund-raising efforts in Kentucky last year, was among the GOP's elite group of fund-raisers, qualifying as both a "ranger" and "super ranger."
She said events she helped organize last year — including fund-raisers featuring the president and first lady Laura Bush — brought in about $3.5million, including $2.5million for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign and $650,000 to $700,000 for the national party.
McConnell said, "When she takes on a project, she convinces people to succeed. As ambassador, she will be leading a team of people in a country to implement the president's policies."
Some Democrats are envious of her fund-raising prowess.
"I don't know Cathy very well, but she's obviously very effective, and I wish we had one like her on our side," said Jack Conway, who was state chairman for the Kerry-Edwards campaign. "Obviously her close relationship with Sen. McConnell makes it easy for her to tap Republican contributors. Democrats need to be thinking strategically about how we can raise the resources we need to be competitive in the state."
William Stone, a Louisville businessman and former Jefferson County Republican Party chairman, said of Bailey, "Everyone who is anyone in the Republican Party knows who she is."
Many of them attend the Baileys' annual Derby party, sort of a mini-Republican convention. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Mercer Reynolds III, of Cincinnati, who headed Bush's national re-election fund-raising effort and was appointed ambassador to Switzerland, have attended along with congressional Republican delegation members and Republican members of the Louisville Metro Council, Stone said.
Ed Glasscock, managing partner of the law firm Frost Brown Todd and a Republican contributor, described Bailey as "a national star in fund-raising circles. Her commitment of time and energy is unmatched, and she still has time to give to many charitable organizations."
Latvian finance minister optimistic EU will help after storm
AFP 1/18/2005
Copyright 2005, Agence France Presse.
RIGA, Jan 18 (AFP) — Latvian Finance Minister Oskars Spurdzins is optimistic the European Union will give the Baltic country financial help after it was hit by the worst storm in 40 years, state radio reported Tuesday.
"I am optimistic about help from the European Solidarity Fund," Spurdzins told Latvian state radio early Tuesday after meeting with European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
"Now we have to tally all the damage, and of course, we can't receive help for everything," Spurdzins said.
"We will probably have to ask for help together with other countries, which were also affected by the storm," he said.
Northern Europe, including the Baltic states, was lashed on January 9 by a storm packing winds of up to 144 kilometers per hour (86 miles per hour).
A country qualifies for help from the European Solidarity Fund if it has suffered a catastrophe that has a serious impact on people's lives, the environment and economy, and if damages resulting from the storm are equivalent to 0.6 percent of gross domestic product.
In Latvia's case, that would be equivalent to 38 million lats (54 million euros, 71 million dollars), using 2003 gross domestic product as the basis for calculation.
"Roughly calculated, damage could amount to about 30 to 50 million lats," Spurdzins said Monday afternoon before leaving for Brussels.
Latvia's electricity grid was heavily damaged, with at least 40 percent of the country blacked out in the immediate aftermath of the storm.
The Latvian government declared a national energy crisis on January 9, allowing it to mobilise all emergency services to repair damage to the power network.
The crisis was declared over on Thursday last week by the head of an emergency committee set up after the storm, and the government formally lifted it on Monday.
Latvian Constitutional Court to hear case against school language law
AP WorldStream Wednesday, January 19, 2005 6:06:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — A case challenging the constitutionality of
a law that requires most public schools, including those catering
to native Russian speakers, teach in Latvian, will be heard in
April, the Constitutional Court said Wednesday.
The court turned down the case on a technicality when it was
first filed last May by left-wing lawmakers Boris Cilevics and
Vitalijs Orlovs of the National Harmony Party. But after 20 members
of the country's 100-seat Saeima, or parliament, petitioned the
court to hear the case it relented.
"We fully agree that the subject is extremely complicated and
of course politically, any prognosis is possible," Cilevics told
the AP.
He said he and his fellow plaintiffs would spend the three
months leading up to the trial examining what effects the school
reform has had.
"My general assessment at the moment was that the impact of the
reform was negative, but we have to take a close look at it," said
Cilevics. "But, as I stress to some colleagues, this is not a
political debate. What we need is an accounting of the (reform's)
effects that is as exhaustive as possible."
The education reform sparked a series of protests by
Russian-speaking students and their parents, the largest of which
drew nearly 30,000 people on May 1, the day the former Soviet
republic joined the European Union.
Partly to counterbalance the imposed dominance of Russian in
many areas during decades of rule by Moscow, the Baltic state
declared Latvian the sole official language after it regained
independence amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
That decision, and other steps taken to entrench Latvian, has
angered Latvia's Russian speakers -- mostly ethnic Russians -- who
make up more than a third of Latvia's 2.3 million residents. The
language rule for schools has been among the most hotly debated
reforms.
Russians call the requirements discriminatory and an attack on
their way of life, charges echoed by Moscow. Latvians counter that
they are meant to help integrate minorities, adding that those who
don't learn Latvian will find it hard to secure good jobs.
The Kremlin has accused Latvia of violating the rights of
minorities, while Latvia, in turn, claims Russia is manipulating
the issue in a bid to spoil Latvia's image abroad.
The EU has said Latvian language laws conform to European
minority rights standards.
Lithuania seeks new crude suppliers as YUKOS falters
Reuters World Report Wednesday, January 19, 2005 10:21:00 AM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
By Darius James Ross
VILNIUS, Jan 19 (Reuters) — Lithuania said on Wednesday that
it was seeking new oil suppliers for its Mazeikiu Nafta refinery
as Russian oil conglomerate YUKOS was falling behind in
deliveries.
"We are holding discussions with three companies," Economy
Minister Viktor Uspaskich told Reuters, declining to name the
firms or their location. He added that YUKOS was not among them.
Uspaskich said YUKOS was falling behind schedule in
supplying crude to to Lithuania's Baltic coast oil complex.
"I see that according to the supply schedule so far in the
first quarter, YUKOS is behind, and supplies are not similar to
the same period last year."
Once Russia's biggest oil exporter, YUKOS has been crippled
by a $27 billion back tax charge, widely seen as an attempt by
the Russian government to punish its founder, Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, for his political activities.
Uspaskich said he had doubts about how long the Russian firm
would remain a strategic partner because it was "losing its
place in Russia and in the world."
Early this week, Uspaskich held preliminary talks with YUKOS
officials about the Lithuanian government buying a controlling
stake in Mazeikiu. But Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas said
the deal would only go through if there were a stable supply
schedule, also voicing his doubts about YUKOS' reliability.
Lithuania's government owns 40.66 percent of Mazeikiu, while
YUKOS holds 53.7 percent. Both said recently they would like to
increase their stake in the refiner by 10 percent.
YUKOS took over the refinery from cash-strapped U.S. group
Williams in 2002, returning it to profit in 2003.
Mazeikiu reported sharply higher nine-month profits in
October, boosted by additional volumes from Russia and higher
refining margins. It refined 6.28 million tonnes of feedstock in
the first nine months, 1.26 million tonnes more than January to
September 2003.
Along with the Butinge oil terminal and a gas pipeline, it
is Lithuania's main energy asset and its fate has always been a
sensitive issue for the country.
Border treaty with Latvia could be signed in Moscow — Lavrov
ITAR-TASS Jan 19 2005
Copyright 2005, ITAR-TASS
MOSCOW, January 19 (Itar-Tass) — A border agreement with Latvia could be signed in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
He told a news conference on Wednesday that Russia “has proposed signing with Latvia an agreement on the border in Moscow on May 10, on the day of the summit Russia-European Union”.
“Border accords with Latvia and Estonia are long since ready, and our colleagues from the EU more than once stated interest in signing.”
Russia proposes simultaneously passing bilateral declarations with Latvia and Estonia on the basis of relations.
“We have already signed a similar document with Lithuania,” Lavrov said.
Such document should determine all basic principles on which relations will be built, naturally including rights of ethnic minorities. We expect receiving a reaction of our colleagues from Latvia and Estonia to drafts of these documents,” Lavrov said.
“We want our relations with the Baltic countries to be good neighbourly and mutually beneficial, based on generally accepted norms and obligations that our countries have in an international plane. We are interested in the development of mutually beneficial cooperation and in settlement of all problems that we have, including the signing of a treaty on the border and agreeing on principles of our relations.”
Lavrov said he was “ready to visit the capita of Estonia in a nearest time for discussion of these questions”.
Too late for Latvia’s veterinary checkpoints?
The Baltic Times January 20 2005
Copyright 2005 The Baltic Times
By TBT staff
RIGA — One of the biggest stories in Baltic customs last year was Latvia’s failure to establish EU-certified veterinary custom checkpoints at its two biggest ports and two eastern terminals. For a country on the union’s eastern border, this was a major oversight.
But finally, after months of preparation and waiting, veterinary inspection stations in Riga and Ventspils ports and Rezekne and Daugavpils railway stations opened on Jan. 17 to subdued fanfare, since experts unanimously agree that the seven-month delay would inevitably lead to a loss of valuable transit business for the country.
Opening the checkpoints first needed European Commission approval, since they are designated to handle imports of non-EU animal-based food products. Approval came in mid-November, according to Latvia’s Food and Veterinary Service, but launching operations at the four stations was delayed since publication of the EC’s decision in Official Journal of the European Union had to come first.
However, Ilze Meistere, the veterinary service’s spokeswoman, said the border checkpoints decided to begin working anyway.
“Latvia’s competent institution made a decision to use its rights and allow the recognized border control points to start working before the decision was published – since the border points have been approved but publication of the decision has been delayed for bureaucratic reasons,” she said.
Meistere added that the commission and other EU member states have been informed of the decision.
The question now is whether import/export companies will bother returning to the four locations, particularly the ports in Riga and Ventspils. Latvian Logistics and Customs Broker Association President Aivars Taurins has said that food cargo handled at the locations before May 1 would probably not return even after the upgrading of the facilities.
“It is five times harder to get cargo back than to find new clients,” he said.
Riga Mayor Gundars Bojars concurred, saying last year that it was unlikely that this segment of the transit business would return to Riga Port, where he is chairman of the board. He said last summer that the financial losses would be significant, since food cargo was the most expensive and had the highest margins for the stevedores and forwarders.
The mayor added that the port’s loss was one U.S. dollar per ton of food cargo, but the aggregate loss to Latvia’s economy would be even greater.
Food handling accounted for some 4 percent of turnover at the port in 2003, according to reports.
Originally EC recognition was granted to veterinary inspection points in Terehova, Paternieki and Grebneva.
Estonian president: Russia prepared to annul notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
AP WorldStream Thursday, January 20, 2005 1:05:00 PM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By MIKE ECKEL
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to
renounce a notorious 1939 pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet
Union that divided up much of eastern Europe between the two
powers, Estonia's president said Thursday.
Speaking on Estonian national broadcaster Eesti Raadio after
meeting at the Kremlin with Putin, President Arnold Ruutel said the
Russian president had told him he would renounce the 1939
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
"He said that Russia as the legal successor of the Soviet Union
supports annulling the pact and considers this the right thing to
do," Ruutel said. "I believe it's very important for us and the
Russian society to note that Russia has done this."
A statement released by the Kremlin said the two leaders
discussed the May celebrations in Moscow to mark the 60th
anniversary of the Nazi defeat in World War II, but made no mention
of the pact. Kremlin spokespeople refused to comment.
The 1939 nonaggression pact named for Nazi Foreign Minister
Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav
Molotov was signed in secret and carved much of Eastern Europe up
between the two countries, including the Baltic countries of
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which were placed under the Soviet
sphere of control.
Soviet forces occupied the Baltic states in June 1940 but were
driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army retook the
Baltics in 1944 and the three countries were reincorporated back
into the Soviet Union.
Russia has invited Estonian and other Baltic leaders to Moscow
on May 9 for the World War II anniversary celebrations, but only
one leader, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, has agreed to
participate. They became independent in the Soviet breakup of 1991.
Last week, in announcing she would travel to Moscow,
Vike-Freiberga called on Russia to denounce the pact, saying that
in 1945 only half of Europe could rejoice in the defeat of the
Nazis and the end of occupation.
"I will be extending a hand of friendship to Russia,"
Vike-Freiberga said last week. "Latvia invites Russia to display
the same degree of conciliation to Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and
to condemn the crimes of the Second World War, regardless of who
committed them."
According to Russia's Foreign Ministry, Vike-Freiberga's
statement placed equal blame for World War II on the Soviet Union
and Nazi Germany, a position it called "absurd."
"We consider this statement as another attempt to distort the
history of the Second World War," Foreign Ministry spokesman
Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.
"It is difficult to take such demarche as a testimony of
readiness 'to extend a hand of friendship' to Russia," he said.
Russia has tense relations with the Baltic nations. The three,
new members of the European Union, often accuse Russia of bullying
and of failing to adequately acknowledge the Soviet occupation.
They have asserted their ethnic and linguistic identities,
upsetting their significant ethnic Russian minorities and prompting
accusations of unfair treatment from Moscow.
Russia only recently ratified a border treaty with Lithuania and
has yet to do so with Latvia and Estonia. Both have stated their
willingness to recognize existing borders with Russia, but Russia
has refused to sign any treaty, tying such an agreement to the
plight of Russians in the two Baltic countries.
— — —
Associated Press writer Timothy Jacobs contributed to this story
from Riga, Latvia.
Kremlin: Notorious WWII pact that carved up Europe subject only to "historical evaluation"
AP WorldStream Saturday, January 22, 2005 6:24:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By MARA D. BELLABY
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) — The notorious 1939 pact between Nazi Germany and
the Soviet Union that divided up much of eastern Europe is open
only to historical re-evaluation, a Kremlin spokesman said
Saturday, suggesting that Moscow isn't prepared to support a
legally binding renouncement of the agreement.
"At present, only the historical evaluation of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact is possible," Dmitry Peskov, deputy press
secretary to President Vladimir Putin, told The Associated Press.
"There is no possibility of its juridical evaluation due to
current realities."
He did not elaborate, but the statement appears to dampen
expectations, created this week by Estonian President Arnold
Ruutel, that the Kremlin was ready to disown the pact during the
May celebrations in Moscow to mark the 60th anniversary of the Nazi
defeat in World War II.
Speaking Thursday after a Kremlin meeting with Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Ruutel told Estonian national broadcaster Eesti
Raadio that Putin had told him that Russia, as the legal successor
of the Soviet Union, supported annulling the pact "and considers
this the right thing to do."
The Kremlin's statement after the meeting, however, didn't
mention the pact, and Kremlin spokespeople initially refused to
comment.
The 1939 nonaggression pact named for Nazi Foreign Minister
Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav
Molotov was signed in secret and carved much of Eastern Europe up
between the two countries, including the Baltic countries of
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which were placed under the Soviet
sphere of control.
Soviet forces occupied the Baltic states in June 1940 but were
driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army retook the
Baltics in 1944 and the three countries were reincorporated back
into the Soviet Union. They became independent in the Soviet
breakup of 1991, and all three joined the European Union last year.
Peskov said that "from the Russian point of view, the best step
in the development of Russian-Estonian relations would be the
signing of a political declaration on the fundamentals of relations
and a border delineation treaty" during the 60th anniversary
celebrations.
Russia has tense relations with the Baltic nations and has
ratified a border agreement only with Lithuania. The Baltic nations
often accuse Russia of bullying and of failing to adequately
acknowledge the Soviet occupation. They have asserted their ethnic
and linguistic identities, upsetting their significant ethnic
Russian minorities and prompting accusations of unfair treatment
from Moscow.
Russia has invited the three leaders to Moscow on May 9 for the
World War II anniversary celebrations, but only one, Latvian
President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, has agreed to participate and she
has called on Russia to denounce the pact.
Iranian ambassador to Latvia appointed
Tehran Times, January 23 2005
Copyright 2005, Tehran Times
TEHRAN (IRNA) — Iran's Ambassador to Sweden Hassan Qashqavi was appointed on Saturday as Iran's accredited ambassador to Latvia.
Qashqavi's appointment was proposed by Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and approved by President Mohammad Khatami, said the Press and Information Department of the Foreign Ministry.
The diplomat earlier served as Iran's ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Qashqavi also an MP in the fourth and sixth parliaments.
The Republic of Latvia (formerly the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic) is situated in northeastern Europe.
William Safire: Win some, lose some [excerpt]
Dallas Morning News Monday, January 24, 2005
Copyright 2005 The Dallas Morning News
By William Safire
Winner: Baltic freedom. My most provocative dateline in the '80s put the story ahead of the lede: "Riga, Soviet — occupied Latvia." Because the U.S. never recognized the Hitler-Stalin pact, in 1991 we encouraged the Baltic "captive nations" to become the wedge that began the breakup of the Soviet Union. Al Gore and Strobe Talbott later backed up that breakaway by proposing NATO expansion, despite Moscow's protests – the good deed of Clinton foreign policy.
Latvia promises to fight money laundering
AP WorldStream Wednesday, January 26, 2005 11:45:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvian banks could face tough U.S.
sanctions if lawmakers, bankers and prosecutors don't crack down on
widespread money laundering in the Baltic country, Prime Minister
Aigars Kalvitis said Wednesday.
Law enforcement agencies from several foreign countries are
investigating alleged money laundering in Latvian banks, and the
United States has threatened sanctions if the country does not
tighten banking laws and prosecute offenders, Kalvitis said.
Sanctions could lead to a substantial loss of business for the
banks, he said.
The U.S. Embassy in Riga said in a statement that American
concerns about money laundering were "well documented," but did
not detail what sanctions might be imposed.
"Our dialogue with Latvia has intensified and now includes
regular contact between Latvian and U.S. law enforcement and
financial regulatory authorities to address a problem of growing
mutual interest," the statement said.
Kalvitis, who took office in November, sharply criticized
Latvia's Prosecutor General's Office for not prosecuting any money
laundering cases or sanctioning any banks even though it is
suspected that several billions of U.S. dollars (euros) has passed
through Latvian banks.
But the Prosecutor General's Office said authorities have
already successfully prosecuted one money-laundering case and that
nine are currently in court, three are awaiting trial and eight are
being investigated.
Kalvitis said the problem was so widespread that Latvia, a
country of about 2.3 million people, ranks fourth in the world in
the number of U.S. dollar transactions going through its banks.
On Tuesday, Kalvitis established a special task force, headed by
himself, to coordinate an anti-money laundering campaign, a move
lauded by the U.S. Embassy.
Several factors, including legal loopholes, a largely cash-based
economy and a large percentage of bank accounts belonging to
non-residents contribute to Latvia's money laundering problems.
U.S. or Latvian authorities didn't specify the type or money
laundering occurring in Latvia, though organized crime groups
involved in drug trafficking are known to operate in the country.
Putin attends Auschwitz ceremonies
AP WorldStream Thursday, January 27, 2005 10:27:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By JUDITH INGRAM
Associated Press Writer
BRZEZINKA, Poland (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin
acknowledged Thursday that anti-Semitism and xenophobia had
surfaced in Russia, tackling an issue that the Kremlin had long
failed to confront directly.
He also signaled that Moscow would not revise its view that the
Soviet Union was solely a victim of World War II -- refusing to
accept arguments that it, too, held some responsibility for the
conflict, due to the signing of a secret Soviet-Nazi pact that
divided up Eastern Europe.
Addressing a conference devoted to the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of the Auschwitz death camp near Krakow, Poland, Putin
said that many in the world should be ashamed of new manifestations
of anti-Semitism six decades after the defeat of fascism.
"Even in our country, in Russia — which did more than any to
combat fascism, for the victory over fascism, which did most to
save the Jewish people -- even in our country we sometimes
unfortunately see manifestations of this problem and I, too, am
ashamed of that," Putin said, to long applause.
Russian Jews had expressed hope that Putin would use the
occasion to address the issue of anti-Semitism. Earlier this month,
a group of nationalist Russian lawmakers called for an
investigation aimed at outlawing all Jewish organizations and
punishing officials who support them, accusing Jews of fomenting
ethnic hatred and saying they provoke anti-Semitism.
The Foreign Ministry and the prosecutor general have condemned
the letter but the Kremlin has yet to react. Isaak Sloutzker, a
77-year-old Russian Jew who traveled to Poland from Veliky Novgorod
to attend the commemorations, said: "I'd like to hear a
condemnation of xenophobia by the Russian president."
Putin joined other world leaders and other dignitaries later
Thursday at the commemoration of the liberation of the death camp
in Brzezinka, which was known during the war as Birkenau -- part of
the Auschwitz complex where some 1.5 million people, most of them
Jews from across Europe, perished.
The camp was liberated by Soviet troops, and Putin paid tribute
to the approximately 600,000 Soviet soldiers who died fighting Nazi
troops in Poland.
Putin used his speech to respond to calls by leaders in the
Baltic states for Moscow to renounce the secret addendum to the
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact, which Nazi and Soviet leaders concluded in 1939 to divide up
much of Eastern Europe including Poland in case war broke out.
Shortly after German troops entered Poland in September 1939,
Soviet troops occupied the country's east. Soviet forces then
occupied the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in June
1940 but were driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army
retook the Baltics in 1944, and reincorporated them into the Soviet
Union. The Baltic states gained independence only after the 1991
breakup of the Soviet Union.
If Russia were to renounce the secret pact, it would tacitly be
acknowledging some responsibility for World War II -- a stance seen
as sacrilege in a country that lost some 27 million people during
the conflict. Questions about the Soviet motivations for war are
still regarded as diminishing the patriotic Soviet war effort,
still referred to as the Great Fatherland War.
"Standing on this tormented soil, we should firmly and
unequivocally say that any attempts to rewrite history and put
victims and their killers, liberators and occupiers on an equal
footing are immoral and unacceptable for those people who consider
themselves Europeans," Putin said, referring to the Baltic states'
recent entry into the European Union.
Russia, and the Soviet Union, had a long history of
state-sponsored anti-Semitism, including the restriction of most
Jews' residence to the so-called Pale of Settlement on the Russian
Empire's western margin, brutal pogroms at the turn of the 19th to
20th century, and Soviet-era discrimination against Jews.
The state no longer perpetuates anti-Semitism following the
Soviet collapse but many Jews and rights advocates accuse Russian
leaders of being silent in the face of xenophobia -- expressed in
the occasional desecration of Jewish cemeteries and more frequent
skinhead attacks against dark-skinned foreigners.
Latvian bank association head slams prime minister
AP WorldStream Monday, January 31, 2005 9:55:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The head of the Association of Latvian
Commercial Banks accused Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis of
exaggerating the scope of the money laundering problem in Latvia.
Teodors Tverijons said in an interview published Monday that
money laundering was not as widespread in the Latvian banking
system as the prime minister claimed last week. He criticized
Kalvitis for publicizing the problem, saying it would only hurt the
Latvian banking industry.
"First the problem should be investigated, then the culprits
called to responsibility, and only then the problem should be
publicized," Tverijons was quoted as saying in Latvia's
Russian-language daily Chas. "There is no need to shame Latvia."
Kalvitis said last week the U.S. government had threatened
sanctions that could lead to a substantial loss of business for
Latvian banks if nothing is done to tighten banking laws and
prosecute offenders.
The U.S. Embassy in Riga said in a statement that American
concerns about money laundering were "well documented," but did
not detail what sanctions might be imposed.
Tverijons said Kalvitis' assertion that Latvia ranked fourth in
the world in U.S. dollar transfers was wrong. In fact, said
Tverijons, the number is much lower, as Latvia ranked only fifth
out of the 10 new European Union member states in U.S. dollar
transactions.
Kalvitis formed a special task force, headed by himself, last
week to coordinate an anti-money laundering campaign, a decision
lauded by the U.S. Embassy.
Several factors, including legal loopholes, a largely cash-based
economy and a large percentage of bank accounts belonging to
nonresidents contribute to Latvia's money laundering problems.
U.S. and Latvian authorities did not specify the type or money
laundering occurring in Latvia, though organized crime groups
involved in drug trafficking are known to operate in the small
Baltic nation.
Passenger trains collide in Latvian capital, two dead
AP WorldStream Wednesday, February 02, 2005 7:00:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Two passenger trains collided near the
central train station in the Latvian capital on Wednesday, killing
two people and injuring another 16 passengers.
Latvian Interior Minister Eriks Jekabsons said that two
passengers were killed when a train arriving from Ogre, 34
kilometers (21 miles) southeast of Riga, collided with a passenger
train from Moscow that had already unloaded its passengers and was
traveling to the rail depot.
Solveiga Smiltene, a spokeswoman for the State Fire and Rescue
Service, said she could not confirm the deaths but said there were
still three people, including the conductor, trapped in the twisted
wreckage, two of whom were thought to be dead.
Smiltene said there were 16 people injured and that the trapped
conductor was badly injured but conscious. Rescuers were able to
reach him to give him a pain killer, but were unable to extricate
him, she said.
About 50 rescuers were at the scene trying to remove the trapped
conductor and two passengers. The other three cars that derailed
were also being examined for passengers, Smiltene said. One of the
derailed cars landed atop the Moscow train.
Transport Minister Ainars Slesers said the accident was likely
caused after an engineer on the train from Ogre failed to heed a
signal telling him to stop.
Estonian PM stresses importance of border treaty with Russia
AP WorldStream Wednesday, February 02, 2005 11:00:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts
stressed Wednesday the importance of his country having a mutually
accepted border treaty with Russia and said the Baltic country is
ready to sign an agreement with its eastern neighbor.
"It (the border treaty) is a public agreement, which defines
the territory of Estonia's sovereignty," Parts said in a speech to
commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty. "And
with that agreement, Russia is to recognize this."
The Tartu treaty, named after the southeastern Estonian
university town where it was signed between Estonia and Soviet
Russia on Feb. 2, 1920, recognized the Baltic nation's independence
and defined its borders with its eastern neighbor.
After the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940, the treaty
ceased to exist. The borders were hastily redefined amid the 1991
collapse of the Soviet Union, but a formal treaty was never signed.
In the past few months, Russia has signaled that it is willing a
sign a border treaty with Estonia and neighboring Latvia, both of
whom the European Union and NATO last year.
Latvian commission says conductor's oversight caused crash
AP WorldStream Thursday, February 03, 2005 7:45:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — A Latvian commission investigating the
collision of two passenger trains that killed four people and
injured 24 in the capital said Thursday it was caused by a
conductor's failure to obey a signal for him to stop.
A local train arriving from Ogre, 34 kilometers (21 miles),
southeast of Riga, collided Wednesday with a train from Moscow that
had already let off its passengers. The train from Ogre derailed
and one of its cars ended up atop the Moscow train.
Biruta Sakse, a spokeswoman for the state-owned railway company
Latvijas Dzelzcels, said the commission set up to investigate the
accident concluded it was the fault of the conductor aboard the
train from Ogre after examining the evidence and consulting
experts.
Police said Thursday that four people — two men and two women —
died in the crash and 19 were hospitalized. Most were treated and
released Wednesday.
A 20-year-old conductor's assistant, a man and woman, both 24,
and a 56-year-old woman died in the crash.
Rescuers were able to extricate the train conductor who
investigators believe was responsible for the accident from the
twisted wreckage after a 10-hour struggle. He was hospitalized in
critical but stable condition after having surgery.
It was the second fatal transportation accident in Latvia in
recent weeks. In December, a bus traveling from Moscow to Riga
crashed into a tree, killing nine and injuring 17 others.
President Vike-Freiberga's Book The History of Latvia: 20th Century Is "Too Biased"
NOVOSTI 2005-02-03 19:31
Copyright 2005 Novosti
MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti) — Recently presented to the general public by Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, The History of Latvia: 20th Century book has
been clearly written to order, deputy head of the Duma committee for relations with compatriots Vladimir Churov told RIA Novosti in the interview on Thursday.
"The opinions in the book carry a clear political bias," he stressed. The attending inscription reads that the book has been published "with the support of the Commission for
Democracy at the U.S. Embassy in Latvia, the Foreign Ministry and Embassy of Latvia in Russia".
"The two underlying themes of 'The History' of Latvia are unacceptable," the parliamentarian said. "First, it is the obsessive and ungrounded desire to put on a par the Hitler
occupants and Soviet soldiers, who have liberated the most of Europe from the 'brown plague," Mr. Churov said.
Second, the authors broadly practice keeping mum about "the atrocities committed by the Latvian SS men in territories beyond Latvia — the Pskov region, near Leningrad
and in Belarus," the parliamentarian said.
As insistent is the desire to diminish the contribution made by, above all the Germans, as well as Russians and Jews, in the economic and cultural development of the
lands, which in the 20th century formed the Latvian state.
"We are not yet ready to write a common comprehensive history," he continued. "It should begin with the joint preparation of biographies of historical figures telling on the
common history of Latvia and Russia - General Balodis, President Ulmanis, poet Rainis, architect Eisenstein and others. 'The History', written by one side and to the order
of the governmental authorities, merely cannot be objective," Mr.Churov said.
The publication merits reciprocation, he said. "As far as I know, Russian historians are now working on the same period of history and events," Mr.Churov said.
Last night the presentation of the book was held in Moscow.
Commenting on the presentation, the Russian Foreign Ministry recommended its authors to visit, except the museum of "occupation" in Latvia, other Riga museums, say of
music and literature, the State Art Museum, Museum of Navigation, Russian Drama Theater.
"They can tell the authors much more about Russian culture and the Russians' contribution to the development of lands, which are now Latvia", the Russian Foreign Ministry
stressed.
Russia Foreign Ministry: Latvia's President Insulted People Who Defended the World from Nazism
NOVOSTI 2005-02-04 10:47
Copyright 2005, Novosti
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) — The Russian Foreign Ministry regrets the insulting remarks of the Latvian president about the people who defended the world from
Nazism. This is said in the commentary by the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry on the recent statements by Latvian president Vaira
Vike-Freiberga concerning the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War against German Nazism, received by RIA Novosti. This date is to
be marked in Russia on May 9, 2005.
"On May 9 Russian people will lay Caspian roach onto a newspaper, drink vodka and sing chastooshkas, as well as recall how they had heroically conquered the Baltic
area," - this is how Mrs.Vike-Freiberga sees the scenario of the forthcoming festive events and activities.
"This public utterance by the head of the Latvian state causes deep regret," Russian Foreign Ministry stated.
In the Russian diplomats' opinion, "it is hard to comment on the slighting, insulting attitude towards the people who defended the world from Nazism."
"It is a pity that the statements by the president of Latvia containing the estimates of the WWII increasingly acquire an 'everyday-life character.' This has been becoming a
norm of late," the Russian Foreign Ministry's officials emphasized.
Russian Historians: "One Ought Not To Equal Stalin Regime to Nazi Germany"
Novosti 2005-02-04
Copyright 2005, Novosti
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) — Russian historians have called upon Latvia to look for compromise rather than pile up charges against Moscow.
"It is time to look for common approaches to historical events, to pass from accusations to unifying opinion, to seek compromise," said Alexander Chubaryan, the director of
the World History Institute, when appearing Friday at a Moscow conference dedicated to the crisis-stricken period before the Second World War.
The views divided chiefly on the point of the Baltic republics' admission to the USSR in 1939-1940.
Latvian historian Inesis Feldmanis believes the USSR, like Germany, was an aggressor.
As to Russian experts, they find it groundless to talk about equal responsibility by Germany and the USSR for the escalation of the pre-war crisis and, the more so, for the
outbreak of WWII.
"Events connected with the signing of the Soviet-German treaty of August 23, 1939 (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) ought to be analyzed not only from political, ideological and
legal angles but with regard to historical realities of the time," said Chubaryan.
"Stalin's moves to annex the Baltic republics were forced by the mounting threat from Germany which routed France in 1940," said Alexander Orlov of the defense ministry's
institute of military history. "We had to prevent by all means the establishment a German bridgehead in the vicinity of the Soviet borders. This is an advanced outpost
strategy," explained Alexander Orlov.
Russian historians reminded their Latvian colleagues of a global conflict Hitler and his Nazi entourage conceived and of the aims they pursued. The ultimate purpose was not
to win a victory over the USSR but to exterminate people," said Mikhail Magkov of the World History Institute.
He pointed to the necessity of showing a scientific rather than political approach when studying new documents pertaining to the theme. "Past events should be traced by
historians, not exploited by politicians," he concluded.
FEATURE-Baltics bristle at WWII victory celebrations
Reuters World Report Saturday, February 05, 2005 9:03:00 PM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
By Patrick McLoughlin
RIGA, Feb 6 (Reuters) — Latvia's president leans forward in
her chair in Riga castle, her 14th century official home, to
emphasise a point in a history lesson that has sparked fresh
tensions in the Baltics and a diplomatic row with Moscow.
President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has joined other world
leaders in accepting an invitation from Russian President
Vladmir Putin to attend celebrations in Moscow on May 9
commemorating the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat.
But she also issued a communique saying the fall of the
Nazis did not result in the liberation of Latvia.
"Instead the three Baltic countries of Latvia, Estonia and
Lithuania were subject to another brutal occupation by another
foreign, totalitarian empire, that of the Soviet Union," it
said.
She told Reuters in an interview that her statement was a
necessary and timely history lesson for Russia and the world.
"There was to me a need to come out with a reminder of ...
our dissatisfaction with the interpretation that Russia was
spreading about this event right now," she said.
Her agreement to come to Moscow was meant to improve ties
with Latvia's former ruler even as Riga turns increasingly
westwards. Instead her letter, which was also sent to Putin, has
revealed Latvia's simmering distrust of Russia.
Moscow responded angrily to Vike-Freiberga's declaration.
"It gives the impression Ms Vike-Freiberga is deliberately
provoking Moscow into withdrawing the invitation and ... as the
president herself hints, into denying her a visa," Viktor
Kalyuzhny, Russia's ambassador to Latvia, told Reuters.
ESCALATING ROW
The escalating row shows what powerful emotions World War
Two and its aftermath stirs in the Baltic states which, despite
their rapid economic growth since independence in 1991 and their
membership since last year of NATO and the European Union, are
still haunted by decades of post-war Soviet rule.
In Riga's old town the national radio building bears the
scars of shellfire, there is an occupation museum witnessing the
enforced rule by the Germans and Russians and outside the
capital there are memorials at concentration camp sites and
Jewish killing fields.
Older people have especially long memories and grievances in
countries which won for themselves short-lived independence in
the 1920s and 1930s, only to see that wrested away when they
were annexed by the Russians in 1940.
Some Riga citizens initially greeted the German army, which
subsequently invaded, not with bullets but with flowers.
"The Soviets killed thousands. The first mass graves were
created by the communists in their first year in Riga," said
Latvian member of parliament Paulis Klavins, a 77-year-old who
fought for the Germans.
"Our people didn't know who Hitler was. If the Devil had
come in tanks we would have greeted him as a liberator."
But when the war was finished and the Russians returned they
deported more than 42,000 Latvian men, women and children to
Siberia where many died. The exact number is not known.
For outsiders it is difficult to see how anybody could
openly support the German army and local men who fought in it.
But in Estonia a statue of a soldier in German uniform,
commemorating those who fought against the Soviet army, was
taken down only last August under pressure from Jewish groups.
Symbols remain targets for pursuing grudges. In Riga, the
defacing of a Russian war memorial drew protests from Moscow.
In accepting Putin's invitation, Latvia's president — a
retired academic born in Riga and in the post-war chaos grew up
in German refugee camps -- extended "a hand of friendship."
But her move broke ranks with the presidents of Estonia and
Lithuania who have been agonising about whether to go. They had
a pact to reply jointly and there were angry words.
"Participation at Russia's victory parade where hymns to
Stalin will be sung ... would be confirmation that Russia's
arrogant and un-European stance is a correct one and that we are
submitting to it," said Lithuania's former head of state
Vytautas Landsbergis. He says the Latvian leader was "misled."
Younger Baltic people say that as the war and rule by other
regimes recedes into the history books, the fractious relations
with Russia, which still has close economic links and sends oil
exports through the region, must improve.
Complicating that process — in Latvia especially — is that
of society retains close ties to Moscow. In Riga, native Russian
speakers comprise half the population. Many older ones do not
even speak Latvian and do not have Latvian citizenship.
"Vladmir Putin is a good man and our strong leader," said
Helena, a Russian-speaking Rigan businesswoman in her late 30s.
"Why do I need to speak Latvian? Everyone here speaks Russian."
Eastern EU deputies demand communist symbols ban
Reuters World Report Thursday, February 03, 2005 9:03:00 AM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) — European Parliament members from
eastern Europe called for a ban on communist symbols such as the
hammer and sickle on Thursday if the European Union decides to
outlaw Nazi symbols, such as the swastika.
Lawmakers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
Lithuania and Slovakia said any ban should also cover communist
symbols, because of killings and torture suffered by people in
the former Soviet Union or countries under Moscow's domination.
"If there is to be a pan-EU ban of the swastika ... we would
like to see symbols of the communist regime banned as well,"
Hungarian deputy Jozef Szajer told a news conference.
The deputies wrote to EU Justice, Freedom and Security
Commissioner Franco Frattini to press their demand.
EU justice and interior ministers are to discuss a possible
ban on Nazi symbols in the light of a recent scandal over
Britain's Prince Harry wearing a swastika at a costume party, as
part of proposed rules to ban racism and xenophobia across the
25-nation bloc.
Frattini's spokesman said the commissioner did not think it
would be appropriate to include Soviet-era symbols in that ban.
Some are still used by legal communist parties in the West.
"In the context of discussions on fighting racism and
xenophobia, including anti-Semitism, this may not be the most
appropriate context for discussing a ban of Soviet symbols,"
Friso Roscam Abbing told the daily news briefing.
(Additional reporting by Marie-Louise Moller)
Baltic Jews, politicians, and school children mark Auschwitz liberation
AP WorldStream Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:21:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Baltic leaders attended ceremonies in Poland
on Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp while Jewish groups,
government officials and students commemorated "Holocaust Day" in
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Estonian President
Arnold Ruutel, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas
joined other world leaders at the ceremonies in Poland as their
countrymen gathered to mark the region's own Holocaust history that
claimed the lives of more than 90 percent of the prewar Baltic
Jewish population.
Many Latvian Jews and government officials, including Foreign
Minister Artis Pabriks, attended ceremonies Thursday in the
capital, Riga, and at a holocaust memorial in the nearby town of
Salispils, 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the capital, the
site of another Nazi-run concentration camp.
Discussions were held about the Holocaust in the Estonian
capital, Tallinn, on Thursday and later a candlelight vigil was
planned at a monument in Klooga, 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest
of Tallinn, the site of an Estonian concentration camp where nearly
all the Jewish prisoners were killed over a two-day period in 1944.
Schools throughout the Baltics showed films or held forums as
part of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex — where more
than 1.5 million people perished -- was liberated by advancing
Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945. Since 1996, Germans have set the
day aside as Holocaust Remembrance Day to focus on the crimes
committed in their name.
This marks the third year the date has also been recognized as
Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Baltics.
The Holocaust claimed the lives of nearly 300,000 Jews in
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
FACTBOX-Many nations far from meeting Kyoto goals
Reuters North America Tuesday, February 08, 2005 6:17:00 AM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
OSLO, Feb 8 (Reuters) — The U.N.'s Kyoto protocol on
curbing global warming will enter into force on Feb. 16
with many nations far from meeting targets for 2012 set
under the plan.
Under Kyoto, developed countries are meant to cut
emissions of carbon dioxide, largely from burning fossil
fuels in power plants, factories and cars, by an average
5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
The United States, the world's top polluter, and
Australia have pulled out. Following is a list of countries
which originally agreed to Kyoto targets, starting with
those furthest above the 1990 baseline.
Emissions of greenhouse gases:
| pct change total 2002 tonnes per pct of world
| 2002 vs 1990 emissions capita 2000 total 2000
| mln tonnes mln tonnes
Spain +40.5 399.7 7.0 1.2
Portugal +40.5 82.0 5.9 0.2
Monaco +31.7 0.1 N/A 0.0
Ireland +28.9 68.9 11.1 0.2
Greece +26.0 135.0 8.5 0.4
Australia +22.2 526.0 18.0 1.4
New Zealand +21.6 75.0 8.3 0.1
Canada +20.1 731.2 14.2 1.8
United States +13.1 6,934.6 19.8 23.1
Japan +12.1 1,330.8 9.3 4.9
Austria +8.8 84.6 7.6 0.3
Italy +8.8 553.8 7.4 1.8
Finland +6.8 82.0 10.3 0.2
Norway +6.1 55.3 11.1 0.2
Belgium +2.9 150.3 10.0 0.4
Netherlands +1.1 213.8 8.7 0.6
Liechtenstein +0.1 N/A N/A 0.0
Denmark -0.4 68.5 8.4 0.2
Slovenia -1.1 20.4 7.3 0.1
Switzerland -1.7 52.3 5.4 0.2
France -1.9 553.4 6.2 1.5
European Union -2.5 4,123.6 N/A N/A
Sweden -3.5 69.6 5.3 0.2
Iceland -4.2 3.2 7.7 0.0
Croatia -11.5 28.0 4.4 0.1
Britain -14.5 634.9 9.6 2.3
Germany -18.5 1,014.6 9.6 3.2
Luxembourg -19.8 10.8 19.4 0.0
Czech Republic -24.9 142.9 11.6 0.5
Slovakia -28.4 51.9 6.6 0.1
Hungary -31.0 78.0 5.4 0.2
Poland -32.2 382.8 7.8 1.2
Russia -38.5 1,876.0 9.9 5.9
Belarus -44.4 70.4 5.9 0.4
Ukraine -47.4 483.5 6.9 1.4
Romania -48.0 136.6 3.8 0.4
Estonia -55.2 19.5 11.7 0.1
Bulgaria -56.0 62.4 5.2 0.2
Latvia -62.8 10.8 2.5 0.0
Lithuania -65.7 17.2 3.4 0.0
(Sources: U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, based
in Bonn, for data on 1990-2002 in first two columns; carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases, excludes emissions/removals
from land-use change and forestry. Data for 2000 per capita
carbon dioxide emissions and percentages of world total from
U.N. Development Programme's 2004 Human Development Report)
INTERVIEW-Inflation could delay Latvia joining euro, says PM
Reuters World Report Tuesday, February 08, 2005 8:27:00 AM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
By Patrick McLoughlin
RIGA, Feb 8 (Reuters) — Latvia could miss its target of
joining the euro in 2008 if inflation were not successfully
forced down from current levels of around 7 percent, Prime
Minister Aigars Kalvitis said on Tuesday.
He said the government was confident inflation would be
successfuly tackled. But it had limited tools in its fight and
price rises might not come down fast enough.
"If it happens then maybe it (joining the euro) will be
delayed," Kalvitis told Reuters in an interview.
"But it is also difficult to use any instruments to decrease
inflation," he said. "We have a very low budget deficit ... this
year we are planning 1.5 to 1.6 percent (of gross domestic
product) and I expect it to be lower than we are planning."
His comments appear slightly at odds with the central bank
which says Latvia is fully on track with its euro timetable. The
bank is forecasting inflation at 4.5 to 5 percent for 2005.
Latvia, one of 10 countries that joined the European Union
last May, plans to join the euro in 2008 and is eyeing the entry
criteria it must satisfy before it will be allowed into a club
that currently has a dozen mbmers.
Fellow Baltic countries Lithuania and Estonia entered the
ERM-2, the ante-room before adopting the euro, last year and
hope to join the euro zone in 2007.
To qualify, Latvia must among other things meet inflation
criteria. This requires its average inflation rate in the 12
months leading up to assessment not to exceed the average of the
three lowest-inflation rates among EU member states by more than
1.5 percentage points.
INFLATION SPIKES
But Latvian inflation averaged 6.2 percent in 2004 and in
December inflation rose 0.3 percent from November, giving an
annual headline inflation rate of 7.3 percent.
Prime Minister Kalvitis said that Latvia's inflation did not
stem from government expenditure "mistakes," but from other
sources such as one-off inflationary pressures from joining the
European Union last year as well as energy price rises.
He said inflation was a "serious problem" for the Baltic
state and the government was watching the problem closely.
Asked if inflation were not brought under control quickly
enough it could derail the euro timetable he said: "Yes. That's
possible."
His comments follow those of the head of monetary policy for
Latvia's central bank, Helmuts Ancans, who last week told
Reuters that inflation would come down quickly and that
inflation could be in the range of 3 percent in 2006 and 2007.
"We are reasonably optimistic...that our current strategy is
feasible and 2008 could be the year we introduce the euro,"
Ancans said.
But his Lithuanian counterpart warned last month that the
fellow Baltic state, which is one of Europe's fastest-growing
economies, could face a two year delay to its own goal of
joining the euro in early 2007 due to inflationary pressures.
Lithuania's inflation is about half of Latvia's.
Prime Minister Kalvitis said on Tuesday that sticking to the
2008 timetable was important but not critical for Latvia.
"No, it's not critical. It's important because our
neighbours Estonia and Lithuania are on track ... but at the
same time other countries like Hungary and Poland are far from
ready to join the euro."
He said he would not discuss whether he thought the central
bank should increase interest rates from current levels.
"We have no plans to get inflation much lower in the first
months of this year. Our plan is to get closer to the Maastricht
criteria by the end of this year."
Bank of America faces landmark online fraud case
FINEXTRA, Feb 7 2005
Copyright 2005 FINEXTRA
Miami — A Miami businessman is suing Bank of America over $90,000 he says was stolen from his online banking account by Latvian cybercriminals.
The 42-year old businessman says the cash was transferred from his account to Parex Bank in Latvia without his approval. About $20,000 of the money was withdrawn before the account was frozen. A subsequent Secret Service investigation detected the presence of the 'coreflood' keylogging Trojan on the businessman's computer.
Bank of America maintains that it cannot be held responsible for the loss since its systems were not hacked into and that all appropriate measures were taken to complete the transfer.
In a complaint filed with the Miami Circuit Court on Thursday, the businessman alleges that Bank of America was negligent and failed to protect him from a known online banking risk.
The action could become a test case for determining bank liability in phishing frauds. Lawyers representing the victim have told the Miami Sun-Suntinel that the complaint could evolve into a class action suit to include other online banking customers who have had smaller sums rifled from their accounts.
Latvia about to see more protests in defense of Russian schools.
ITAR-TASS February 7 2005
Copyright 2005 ITAR-TASS
RIGA, February 7 (Itar-Tass) — Latvia is about to witness a new tide of protests in defense of Russian schools, a member of Riga’s City Council from the Human Rights in United Latvia faction, Gennady Kotov, said on Monday.
The first rally is scheduled for February 10, the day when city legislators will meet in session to consider the proposal of the left-wing opposition for easing the controversial law On Education.
Under Latvia’s education reform that began on September 1, 2004, at least 60 percent of subjects in high schools must be taught in Latvian.
The reform’s opponents argue it is undemocratic and harmful to the quality of education in Russian schools.
On February 10, around 500 Russian-speaking teenagers will take to the streets to protest against the law restricting the use of the Russian language in schools.
Russian speakers make up almost a third of Latvia’s population, but less than half of them have been given Latvian citizenship.
Baltics' War Of Words Heats Up
St. Petersburg Times Feb 7 2005
Copyright 2005 St. Petersburg Times
By Vladimir Kovalev
STAFF WRITER
St. Petersburg Times — A confrontation between the Baltic States and Eastern European countries, and Russia on how the significance of the end of the World War II should be interpreted intensified last week with harsh statements made by Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga.
"On May 9, Russian people will place a Caspian roach on a newspaper, drink vodka, sing folk songs, and recall how they had heroically conquered the Baltic area," RIA-Novosti cited her saying Friday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry made a quick and stinging response.
"This public expression by the head of the Latvian state is deeply regretful," it said in a statement issued Thursday. "It is hard to comment on a disdainful, insulting approach to people that defended the world from fascism. It's a shame that the announcements of the president of Latvia in relation to World War II are more and more assuming the character of a domestic squabble. This has become a norm in recent times."
Another step outside the limits that Russian political elite accepts is a book "The History of Latvia in 20th Century," recently written by Antonijs Zunda, the Latvian president's history adviser. The book puts the role played by the Soviet Union in an extremely bad light, according to Pravda.ru information web site.
Among other things the book describes a Nazi extermination camp in the Riga suburb of Salaspils as "a police prison and educational labor facility." Pravda.ru referred to the camp where more than 100,000 people are believed to have been executed as the "Latvian Auschwitz."
Moscow denies Baltic claims that the Soviet Union invaded the Baltic States, then sovereign states, in 1940. After Nazi Germany occupied them in 1941 to 1945, many Balts fought against the Soviet Union because it had persecuted many citizens during its administration. Moscow portrays its ejection of the Nazis as a liberation, while the Baltic States say they were not free until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990.
Speaking at a Moscow news conference last Wednesday, Zunda said: "In May 1945, Latvia did not restore its sovereignty and was drawn into another totalitarian regime," Interfax reported.
He noted, however, "Our president knows and recognizes the Russian people's special role in the destruction of fascism." the Kremlin-controlled news agency RIA-Novosti quoted an anonymous expert saying Latvia "is wasting its time" by confronting Russia.
"[This might be] a trite move aimed at exacerbating the situation to the maximum to achieve the results most acceptable to it," he was quoted saying.
Asked if Vike-Freiberga's statements could lead to the cancellation of the invitation for the Latvian president to participate in 60th anniversary Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9, the expert said this is not possible.
"It would be inappropriate," he said.
The heads of state of all three Baltic States have been invited to the celebrations, but Vike-Freiberga is the only president to accept the invitation to date. The three states became members of the European Union last May.
The expert said Russia had in December provided Latvia and Estonia with draft political declarations on relations with each other. However, they had made no response.
Without such declarations being signed, there is little chance of relations between Russia and the Baltic States being normalized, he said.
Valery Kalabugin, a political analyst based in Estonia, however, saw Russia as provoking continual confrontation the Baltic States. This is because the Kremlin has not forsaken the idea of one day regaining control over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, he said.
"The Russian authorities are following a pattern of offering something sweet and then following it up by doing something unpleasant," Kalabugin said Friday in a telephone interview from Tallinn. "The Victory Day celebrations, are in themselves quite good, but Moscow's invitations [to the Baltic states] were followed by an offer to sign a declaration, which is clearly provocative."
The Baltic States expect Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, to acknowledge and apologize for the damage the Soviets did between 1940 and 1941 and 1945 and 1990 when they occupied the Baltic States; they expect Russia to do what Germany has done over crimes committed by Hitler's regime, Kalabugin said.
However, all that the draft declarations prepared by the Russian Foreign Ministry offer is to forget the past, dashing the hopes of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to get an apology. The draft declaration reads: "Expressing deep sympathy to the victims of social disorders and wars, Russia and [a space is left for the name of a Baltic State signing the document] believe it is most important that scientists of the both countries have conducted wide examinations of the past events of a common character, which demand an objective evaluation, pointing out by this that historic events should not be an obstacle to realizing the principles of ... democracy, or hinder the development of relations between the two countries."
Estonian President Arnold Ruutel seemed to share some sympathy for this type of approach at a ceremony marking the 85th anniversary of the Tartu border treaty between Estonia and the Soviet Union in 1920.
He had earlier said Estonia is ready to sign a border deal agreed with Russia in 1999, that would leave in Russia some districts annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 and added to the Pskov and Leningrad regions.
"[The draft border agreement of 1999] reflects the reality that was formed during 50 years of occupation of Estonia," Interfax quoted him saying. "The Tartu treaty fixed the eastern border of Estonia for decades until the secret deal between Stalin who ruled the Soviet Union and fascist Germany, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, that determined the fate of many independent nations and borders."
"We have to be aware of these facts, but at the same time [we should] look into future," he said.
Meanwhile, setting off another potential source of confrontation, European Parliament deputies from Eastern Europe demanded that a ban on Communist symbols, including the hammer and sickle, be introduced if the European Union outlaws Nazi symbols such as the swastika, Reuters reported Friday.
Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Lithuanian and Slovakian members of the parliament said such an approach to Communist symbols would be fully justified because of killings and torture suffered by people in the former Soviet Union or in countries under Moscow's domination. The lawmakers sent their request to Franco Frettini, the EU justice, freedom and security commissioner.
It would not be appropriate to include Soviet-era symbols in the ban because some are still used by legal Communist parties in the West, Reuters cited Frettini's press service as saying Friday.
Lithuanians celebrate 15th anniversary of declaration of independence
AP WorldStream Friday, March 11, 2005 9:54:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By LIUDAS DAPKUS
Associated Press Writer
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Norwegian NATO fighter jets roared
over the Lithuanian capital Friday as people across the Baltic
country celebrated the 15th anniversary of Lithuania's declaration
of independence from the Soviet Union.
People thronged the streets and squares of Vilnius, the capital,
as lawmakers issued solemn speeches in parliament.
"That day was significant not only to Lithuania. It was felt up
to the Ural mountains and farther. But we had to withstand the
first angry reaction," said European Parliamentarian Vytautas
Landsbergis, who helped lead his country's push for independence.
On March 11, 1990, Lithuania's Supreme Council drafted what
amounted to the country's declaration of independence from the
Soviet Union.
The decision angered Moscow, which responded with strict
economic sanctions on Lithuania that brought industry and
transportation in the country of 3.5 million people to a
standstill.
But to most Lithuanians, it marked the beginning of the end of
the five-decade Soviet occupation of their country.
"The document marked a turn of history. It brought an end to an
era of oppression, misery, humiliation and started a new
independent state," said Ceslovas Jursenas, vice chairman of the
parliament.
A bloody crackdown by Soviet troops against independence
activists who had formed a human barrier to protect Vilnius'
television tower in January 1991, leaving 13 dead and almost 1,000
injured, helped galvanize the independence movement in Lithuania
and the neighboring Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia.
The three countries were formally granted their independence
from the Soviet Union later that year.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia first became independent countries
in 1918 but were involuntarily incorporated into the Soviet Union
in 1940.
Last year, the three countries joined both NATO and the European
Union, institutions that many here see as guarantors of Baltic
security and independence.
To many Lithuanians, March 11 is one of the most important dates
on the calendar.
"I am very proud of my country and historic past of
Lithuania," said Laurynas Simkus, 14, who was carrying the red,
green and yellow Lithuanian flag in Vilnius' Independence Square.
"I was born in the free state and am thankful to my parents who
fought for Lithuania to be independent."
But others view it differently, saying independence brought with
it problems.
"We fought the occupants to see a better Lithuania, but look
what many people have now. Many of us live even worse than we did
15 years ago," said Jonas Gailius, who said he was unemployed.
Russia to focus on "discrimination" in Baltics
AP WorldStream Monday, March 14, 2005 8:38:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Monday it would fight what it called
double standards at this year's U.N. Human Rights Commission
meeting, throwing a spotlight on allegedly unfair treatment of
Russian-speakers in Latvia and Estonia.
"Russian representatives intend to actively use the commission
tribune to draw the attention of the international community to the
negative humanitarian situation in Latvia and Estonia, in
particular, to the policy of open discrimination against the
non-titular population by the given states," the Foreign Ministry
said in a statement marking the opening of the commission's annual
session on Monday.
Moscow routinely accuses Latvia and Estonia of discriminating
against their large Russian minorities while the Baltics accuse
Russia, their former, Soviet-era master, of bullying.
Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said on NTV television that
Moscow would use the U.N. conference to protest a situation in
which "a total of a half-million Russian-speaking residents are
deprived of citizenship, experience serious problems with school
education, are discriminated against and losing jobs in Latvia and
Estonia."
Soviet forces occupied the Baltic states in June 1940 but were
driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army retook the
Baltics in 1944, and the three countries were reincorporated into
the Soviet Union, where they remained until its collapse in 1991.
Over the weekend, Fedotov warned the United States and the
European Union against seeking a U.N. vote condemning Moscow for
its human rights record in Chechnya. The Foreign Ministry backed
that up Monday by saying it would push for a "balanced and tough"
resolution on human rights and terrorism.
Moscow has cast the war in Chechnya as part of global efforts to
combat terrorism, and has angrily rejected Western calls for peace
talks with rebels. It also has dismissed rights groups' reports
about massive abuses against civilians in Chechnya.
2004 was deadliest year in a decade for world's journamlists
AP WorldStream Monday, March 14, 2005 9:39:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifty-six journalists around the world were
killed in 2004 because of their jobs, the deadliest 12 months for
reporters in a decade, the Committee to Protect Journalists
reported Monday.
Of the 56, the committee said, 36 were targeted for murder,
continuing a long-term trend in annual surveys of the safety of
journalists.
"The majority of them are murdered," said Ann Cooper,
executive director of the committee, in an interview with AP Radio.
"Local journalists such as eight killed in the Philippines. They
were hunted down and killed."
The profession became more hazardous in other ways as well, as
government intrusions on a free press increased in Russia and all
the other former Soviet republics except the three Baltic states,
and 122 journalists -- 42 of them in China -- were imprisoned for
their reporting. A reporter was jailed for job-related reasons in
the United States for the first time in three years.
For China, Cooper said. "That's a record. It's been the world's
leading jailer of journalists for several years."
In releasing the report, "Attacks on the Press in 2004," the
advocacy group said:
"Nowhere are new, harsh realities more evident than in Russia,
where a purge of independent voices on national television and an
alarming suppression of news coverage during the Beslan (school)
hostage crisis marked a year in which President Vladimir Putin
increasingly exerted Soviet-style control over the media."
Only in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, tiny Baltic states
subsumed into the Soviet Union in 1940, have traditions of strong
press freedom been established, the report said.
In the other 12 former Soviet republics, it said, controls on
the press are more stringent than at any time since the closing
years of Soviet communism. The rise of a pro-Western government in
Ukraine following street demonstrators gives hope for change there,
however, the report said.
The 56 dead journalists were the most since 66 died in 1994.
Many of those were victims of fighting in Algeria's civil war in
which a military-backed government prevailed over Muslim
extremists.
In early December the committee reported 54 deaths in 2004 but
spokeswoman Wacuka Mungai said the group confirmed two more deaths
by the end of the year.
She also said a Brussels-based group, the International
Federation of Journalists, which reported 129 media professionals
killed in 2004 uses a different way of counting, including
accidents and persons who may have been involved in political work.
Iraq remained by far the most dangerous country for journalists,
and 2004 featured a dramatic shift of the risk of death in combat
to native Iraqi journalists. Most of the 23 reporters killed were
Iraqis, and the committee said nine of the 23 were murdered.
"The toll made the war in Iraq one of the deadliest conflicts
for journalists in recent history," the report said.
Most of the reporters jailed were locked up on vague
"anti-state" charges, such as sedition, subversion and working
against the interests of the state.
Besides China, Cuba with 23, Eritrea with 17 and Myanmar with 11
accounted for more than three-quarters of the 122 imprisoned.
Latvian president deemed most charming but can't drive away with prize
AP WorldStream Tuesday, March 15, 2005 7:21:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — President Vaira Vike-Freiberga may be the
most charming woman in Latvia, but as long as she holds the
country's top job, she can't accept a free car, a local dealer of
Italian Fiats learned Tuesday.
Vike-Freiberga was deemed Latvia's most charming woman in a
Valentine's Day poll conducted by local car dealer Auto Italia. The
winner was to receive a new Panda from Fiat.
But as an elected official, Vike-Freiberga cannot accept any
gift worth more than 50 lats (71 euro; US$96). The Fiat Panda retails
for 7,000 lats (9,960 euro; US$13,384).
A spokeswoman for Auto Italia, Jana Cirule, said the company was
waiting to hear back from the State Chancellory about whether there
might be a legal way to give Vike-Freiberga the car. If not, Cirule
said, the car could be auctioned off with the proceeds going to
charity.
Aiva Rosenberga, a spokeswoman for Vike-Freiberga, said the
president was grateful for being chosen.
ANALYSIS-EU's old and new members split on Russia
Reuters World Report Tuesday, March 15, 2005 10:52:00 AM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
By Sebastian Alison
BRUSSELS, March 15 (Reuters) — Less than a year after the
European Union expanded to 25 countries, it has yet to work out
a coherent policy towards giant neighbour Russia, with wide
splits between old and new members, diplomats and analysts say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is happy to take advantage
of the divisions, courting his traditional partners within the
bloc while riding roughshod over the sensitivities of the Baltic
states, which were once part of the Soviet Union, and the
biggest newcomer Poland.
Putin's strategy will be on show when he dines in Paris on
Friday with French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero -- all seen as friendly towards the Kremlin leader.
Many former communist new members in eastern Europe, as well
as Nordic EU states, want a much tougher line towards Moscow's
record on democracy, human rights, the rule of law and relations
with neighbours such as Ukraine or Georgia.
Michael Emerson, senior research fellow at the Centre for
European Policy Studies in Brussels, said splits were inevitable
in an expanded EU of 25 members.
"(Putin) may think it diplomatically adroit to go to the
dinner at the Elysee Palace and at the same time make pretty
offensive comments towards the Baltics, but I don't think it's
sustainable as a policy," the former EU envoy to Moscow said.
Putin's sympathisers are not confined to the so-called "old
Europe," which opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq. British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
also claim a special relationship with the Kremlin chief.
By courting big West European leaders over their heads,
Putin risks further alienating new EU members, fearful of what
they see as Russia's reluctance to give up imperial ambitions.
"The Chirac/Schroeder/Berlusconi camp is ... putting a blind
eye to the telescope on Russian internal affairs," Emerson said.
"APPEASEMENT"
Germany is a huge buyer of Russian natural gas, and Italian,
French and British companies are big investors in Russia,
leading to fears among some new members that the big boys are
happy to ignore Putin's failings to protect economic interests.
Israeli minister Natan Sharansky, who as Anatoly Sharansky
was a Soviet dissident imprisoned until 1986, said the European
Union should be more strict with Russia.
"Of course the position that 'as long as we have our gas we
should not care' -- if that is the position -- is extremely
dangerous. That's exactly what the appeasement of dictators
meant in the past," he told Reuters in an interview.
"In the last two or three years we have a lot of alarming
signs of restrictions introduced on democracy, whether in
freedom of the press or in political competition. The free world
has to make these questions part of their policy relations with
Russia," he added.
Moscow's relations with the Baltic states and Poland are at
a low ebb ahead of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War
Two, which they see as the beginning of a 45-year Soviet rule.
"Since enlargement you have these sensitivities round the
table," an EU diplomat said. "It's clear you don't see relations
in the same way if you're in Paris or Rome or London as you do
if you're in the Baltics. It's a fact of life and geography."
BALTIC BOYCOTT
The leaders of Estonia and Lithuania are boycotting a May 9
Moscow party to celebrate the Red Army's victory over Nazi
Germany. Latvia and Poland will attend with misgivings.
The next day, Moscow hosts an EU-Russia summit at which the
two sides hope to reach agreement on basing their relations on
four "common spaces" of mutual interest.
But a dispute over the external security "space" means
agreement may be hard to reach.
At stake is Russia's reluctance to see Brussels play a role
in former Soviet states such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia
that are EU neighbours since enlargement but which Moscow sees
as part of its "near abroad."
An official of the EU's executive Commission said the bloc
has discussed "the necessity to speak to Russia with one voice."
But there is no sign of such a single voice at present and
it may be hard to reach in the future as well if Putin's
attempts to exploit internal EU splits continue, analysts say.
Heavy police presence as some Latvians remember those who fought against Soviets
AP WorldStream Wednesday, March 16, 2005 4:56:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — More than 50 police — some mounted on
horses, others accompanied by dogs -- stood watch as hundreds laid
flowers at the Freedom Statue Wednesday and honored thousands of
Latvians who served in a feared Waffen SS unit during World War II.
Organized by Visu Latvijail!, a group whose name means
"Everything for Latvia" and calls itself a patriotic group, more
than 100 people carried flowers to the statue, escorted by people
bearing Latvia's maroon and white standard.
Latvian leaders have argued that men in the SS unit, also known
as the Latvian Legion, were drafted or joined believing the Germans
were the lesser of two evils as Soviet troops invaded.
The Soviets occupied then-independent Latvia in 1940, Germany
took over from 1941-44 before the Soviets pushed back into the
Baltic state. About 250,000 Latvians ended up fighting alongside
either the Germans or the Soviets -- and some 150,000 Latvians died
in the fighting.
Nearly 80,000 Jews in Latvia, 90 percent of the prewar Jewish
population, were killed during the Nazi occupation. Thousands of
Russian prisoners of war also died in Nazi prisoner of war camps.
Latvia regained its independence as the Soviet Union collapsed
in 1991.
United States set to assume role in patrolling Baltic airspace
AP WorldStream Wednesday, March 16, 2005 6:23:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The United States will dispatch four
planes to this Baltic state later this year, part of NATO's regular
air patrols over the region, defense officials said Wednesday.
The U.S. contingent is set to arrive in late September at
Zokniai air base, to replace German forces.
The Lithuanian Defense Ministry said that four American fighter
planes will begin patrolling the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and
Estonia from October to December.
A contingent of 100 NATO troops are based in Siauliai, a city of
170,000 people about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Vilnius.
The Baltic states regained their independence amid the 1991
Soviet collapse and last year joined the European Union and North
Atlantic Treaty Organization. The United States is also a member of
NATO.
Since the Baltic states joined the NATO, Danish, Belgian and
British jets have all rotated through the region to patrol the air
space of the Baltic states.
Currently, Norway is patrolling the air space, but will be
replaced the Netherlands in March and then Germany. Poland is set
to take over the duties at the beginning of 2006.
REPORT-Latvian SS men mark fight against Soviet Red Army
Reuters World Report Wednesday, March 16, 2005 9:32:00 AM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
By Jorgen Johansson
RIGA, March 16 (Reuters) — Latvian Nazi Waffen-SS veterans,
who fought the Soviet Red army alongside German soldiers,
paraded in Riga on Wednesday and called on their president to
pull out of World War Two commemorations in Moscow.
The marchers, some of them wearing uniforms, insist they
were patriots when they fought alongside Hitler's SS special
security force to stop a Soviet invasion.
They said President Vaira Vike-Freiberga should not attend
May 9 celebrations of the Red Army victory against Nazi Germany.
Many Baltic people are happy to celebrate the Nazi defeat,
but feel the end of the war led to decades of Soviet occupation.
"I don't think it's a good idea the president goes ...
because it was the beginning of our occupation," said veteran
Antons, 79, who did want to give his full name.
"If I could, I would tell her to cancel," said Janis, 83.
More than 100,000 Latvians were drafted or volunteered to
join German forces during the 1943-1944 Nazi occupation.
Moscow has repeatedly branded the annual veterans' march a
shameful celebration of fascism.
Brawls and scuffles erupted on Wednesday between some of the
500 veterans and their supporters and anti-fascist protesters
shouting "Latvia -- Europe's shame" and "Fascists."
Mounted police and officers with muzzled dogs separated them
and said more than 20 people were arrested.
Latvia's president, worried about her country's image,
earlier urged people not to go to the march.
FUTURE IN THE WEST?
Vike-Freiberga's travel plans have strained relations with
fellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania whose leaders have
boycotted the Moscow event.
There was also an angry response from Russia for referring
to Soviet post-war occupation of the Baltics.
Latvia's head of state sees her trip as a move to improve
often fractious relations with Russia, but she wants Moscow to
acknowledge the suffering caused by the Soviet occupation of the
Baltic states.
Latvia — like Lithuania and Estonia — joined the European
Union last year and is among the fastest-growing economies in
Europe. Most young Latvians see their future with the West.
But the president's decision also broke a pact between
Baltic leaders to respond jointly to Moscow's invitation.
It was not too late to cancel her trip, said Lithuania's
former President Vytautas Landsbergis.
"It's a chance for the Latvian president to say she has
changed her mind which would result in a unified and strong
position for the three Baltic states," he told Reuters.
Some Latvians fear the personal rift between Baltic leaders
will make it easier for Moscow to reassert its influence.
"Is there a rift? Yes. There will still be contact between
governments, but on the presidential level it will be hard to
build up relationships," said Latvian lawmaker Paulis Klavins.
(Additional reporting by Darius James Ross in Lithuania)
Ethnic Latvian, Russian demonstrators quarrel as Waffen SS commemorate fallen
AP WorldStream Wednesday, March 16, 2005 12:38:00 PM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Hundreds of Latvian and Russian-speaking
demonstrators squared off in a war of words and patriotic songs
Wednesday as Latvian veterans of a German Waffen SS unit that
fought against the Red Army marked the memory of their fallen
comrades.
Nearly 100 aging Waffen SS veterans and their wives, flanked by
a heavy police presence that included horse-mounted police and
canine units, made their annual procession through the streets of
Riga's old city to lay flowers at the Freedom Monument on
Wednesday, a rite that is criticized in the country and abroad
annually.
Many of the veterans are in their eighties and their numbers
have steadily decreased each year, but the resentment lingers.
Tamara, a 65-year-old Riga woman who would not give her last
name, said she was wearing a yellow star of David on her coat
because she said the Legionnaires and their supporters were
fascists, a charge commonly made by Moscow.
"They killed Jewish people as well as many others. Virtually
every family lost one or two people in the war, primarily to the
fascists," she said.
Soviet forces occupied the Baltic states in June 1940 but were
driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army retook the
Baltics in 1944, and reincorporated them into the Soviet Union.
About 250,000 Latvians ended up fighting alongside either the
Germans or the Soviets -- and some 150,000 Latvians died in the
fighting.
Nearly 80,000 Jews in Latvia, 90 percent of the prewar Jewish
population, were killed during the Nazi occupation. Thousands of
Russian prisoners of war also died in Nazi prisoner of war camps.
Most Latvian Jews were killed in 1941-42, two years before the
formation of Latvia's Waffen SS -- which some Latvians claim shows
the unit could not have played a role in the Holocaust. But an
unknown number of Latvian Waffen SS soldiers may have been involved
in the murder of Jews as auxiliary police -- years before they
entered the front-line unit.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the procession
as "immoral and unacceptable," and was displeased that it
happened less than two months before the 60th anniversary of the
end of World War II.
"Perverse logic is the only possible explanation for the
situation where the (Waffen SS veterans) march in the center of the
Latvian capital while police use force against antifascists," the
ministry said.
A second procession led by Latvian nationalist group, Klubs 415,
drew the ire of a Russian group, Rodina, or "Homeland."
The second procession of about 200 people was met by nearly 100
angry Rodina supporters, many of whom were sporting yellow stars of
David on their coats or black and white-striped prison uniforms.
Several hundred onlookers were also there.
Police expected the confrontation and had more than 100 officers
on duty, including some with dogs or on horseback. Twenty people
were detained.
The two groups shouted nationalist sentiments and sang patriotic
songs at each other over a thick wall of police officers.
Nearly one-third of the country's 2.3 million residents are
native Russian-speakers, many left over from the five decade-long
Soviet occupation that lasted until 1991.
Relations between Latvia and Russia have been chilly since
Latvia regained its independence, largely because Russia has
claimed that ethnic Russians in Latvia are mistreated. About half
of Latvia's native Russian speakers are considered "non-citizens"
and cannot vote or seek public office.
Despite their differences, threats of violent clashes between
ethnic Latvians and Russians since 1991 have never come to pass and
they coexist peacefully, frequenting the same shops and restaurants
and living in the same neighborhoods and apartment buildings.
Aigars Dabolins, 40, an ethnic Latvian who took part in the
Klubs 415 procession, said he did so to honor his grandfather, who
fought in the Waffen SS unit and was later sent to the Gulag by the
Soviet government.
"I'm a patriot," he said. "Russians are not all the same,
just as Latvians aren't. These are just Bolsheviks looking for a
confrontation."
Russia: Treatment of Russian speakers in Baltics a "blatant violation" of human rights
AP WorldStream Thursday, March 17, 2005 6:56:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By SAM CAGE
Associated Press Writer
GENEVA (AP) — Half of all Russian speakers in the Baltic states
of Estonia and Latvia are denied citizenship in "blatant
violation" of international human rights standards, a senior
Russian official said Thursday.
Speaking at the 53-nation U.N. Commission on Human Rights,
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov went on the offensive
against Russia's small neighbors during a session in which human
rights groups demanded criticism of Moscow's actions in Chechnya.
Fedotov told delegates that his government was "concerned about
the absolutely inadequate humanitarian situation prevailing in
Latvia and Estonia."
Moscow routinely accuses Latvia and Estonia of discriminating
against their large Russian minorities while the Baltics accuse
Russia, their former Soviet-era master, of bullying.
"The right to nationality is a fundamental human right,"
Fedotov said. "Here we are facing a blatant violation of a
universal international standard. We stress that this concerns not
foreigners but people who were residents of Latvia for their whole
life or its major part."
Soviet forces occupied the Baltic states in June 1940 but were
driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army retook the
Baltics in 1944, and the three countries were reincorporated into
the Soviet Union, where they remained until its collapse in 1991.
There are 480,000 stateless Russian speakers in Latvia and
162,000 in Estonia, Fedotov estimated.
"Massive statelessness among other factors continues to create
a deficit of democracy," Fedotov said. "We call upon the Latvian
authorities to implement as soon as possible the recommendations of
international experts on the necessity of granting Latvian
non-citizens the right to vote at municipal elections."
Moscow has cast the war in Chechnya as part of global efforts to
combat terrorism, and has angrily rejected Western calls for peace
talks with rebels. It also has dismissed rights groups' reports
about massive abuses against civilians in Chechnya.
"Russia stands for an uncompromising and firm fight against any
form and manifestation of terrorism," Fedotov said. "Misuse of
human rights rhetoric for justifying terrorists does not only
contradict legal, but also moral and ethic norms."
Fedotov has already warned the United States and the European
Union against seeking a U.N. vote condemning Moscow for its human
rights record in Chechnya. The 25-nation EU has sponsored Chechnya
resolutions in past years, but French Deputy Foreign Minister
Renaud Muselier has said that there currently are no plans to do so
again.
"We are convinced that it is, of course, necessary to observe
the law and take into consideration human rights standards while
countering terrorism," Fedotov added.
Latvian parliament to consider banning future Waffen SS veterans marches
AP WorldStream Thursday, March 17, 2005 10:37:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The Latvian parliament's legal affairs
committee said on Thursday it would recommend banning future
marches by Waffen SS veterans, a day after the annual march sparked
angry demonstrations.
Indulis Emsis, chairman of the legal affairs committee in the
Saeima, or parliament, said the committee would recommend that
future March 16 processions by Latvia's Waffen SS veterans, a
German unit that fought against the Red Army during World War II,
be forbidden.
"In our opinion, processions of this type should not be
allowed," he said, adding that such events "give extremist
organizations opportunities to gain media publicity."
It could take weeks or months for the Saeima to vote on whether
to ban future marches, but politicians, concerned the marches mar
Latvia's image abroad, have been trying to distance the government
from them for years.
Earlier this week, Latvia's president, Vaira Vike-Freiberga,
called on Latvians to honor their war dead on Nov. 11, the
country's Veteran's Day, not on March 16.
Nearly 100 aging Waffen SS veterans and their wives, flanked by
a heavy police presence that included horse-mounted police and
canine units, made their annual procession through the streets of
Riga's old city to lay flowers at the Freedom Monument on
Wednesday, a rite that is criticized in the country and abroad.
It prompted demonstrations by Latvian and Russian-speaking
nationalist groups.
The procession also drew a sharp rebuke from Moscow, which
condemned it as "immoral and unacceptable," and was displeased
that it happened less than two months before the 60th anniversary
of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Soviet forces occupied the Baltic states in June 1940 but were
driven out by the Germans a year later. The Red Army retook the
Baltics in 1944, and reincorporated them into the Soviet Union.
About 250,000 Latvians ended up fighting alongside either the
Germans or the Soviets -- and some 150,000 Latvians died in the
fighting.
Nearly 80,000 Jews in Latvia, 90 percent of the prewar Jewish
population, were killed during the Nazi occupation. Thousands of
Russian prisoners of war also died in Nazi prisoner of war camps.
Most Latvian Jews were killed in 1941-42, two years before the
formation of Latvia's Waffen SS -- which many Latvians claim shows
the unit could not have played a role in the Holocaust. But an
unknown number of Latvian Waffen SS soldiers may have been involved
in the murder of Jews as auxiliary police -- years before they
entered the front-line unit.
George Kennan, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, dies at 101
AP WorldStream Thursday, March 17, 2005 10:50:00 PM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
PRINCETON, New Jersey (AP) — Diplomat and Pulitzer Prize-winning
historian George F. Kennan, who gave the name "containment" to
postwar foreign policy in a famous but anonymous article, died
Thursday night at his Princeton home, his son-in-law said.
Kennan was 101.
"He was a giant. Many people have called him the most important
foreign service officer of the past half-century," said son-in-law
Kevin Delany of Washington, D.C. "He was a very thoughtful man
with an elegant writing style."
Identified only as "X," Kennan laid out the general lines of
the containment policy in the journal "Foreign Affairs" in 1947,
when he was chief of the State Department's policy planning staff.
The article also predicted the collapse of Soviet Communism decades
later.
"It is clear that the main element of any United States policy
toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but
firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies,"
Kennan wrote.
When the Communist Party was finally driven from power in the
Soviet Union after the failed hardline coup in August 1991, Kennan
called it "a turning point of the most momentous historical
significance."
In his 1947 article, Kennan disagreed with the emphasis on
military containment embodied in the "Truman doctrine." That
policy, announced three months before publication of Kennan's
article, committed U.S. aid in support of "free people who are
resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside
pressure."
Kennan thought a Soviet Union exhausted by war posed no military
threat to the United States or its allies, but was a strong
ideological and political rival. In later years, he came to believe
that the arms race, waged on the U.S. side in the name of
containment, had become the greatest threat to both the United
States and the Soviet Union.
Despite the "X" article and his work in formulating the
Marshall Plan, Kennan lost influence rapidly after Dean Acheson was
appointed secretary of state in 1949. After a difference of opinion
on Germany -- Kennan favored reunification, his superiors did not --
he took a leave of absence in 1950 to work at the Institute of
Advanced Studies in Princeton.
He was appointed ambassador to Moscow in May 1952 but was
declared "persona non grata" within a year. He resigned from the
foreign service in 1953 because of differences with the new
secretary, John Foster Dulles.
During his years out of the foreign service, Kennan won the
Pulitzer Prize for history and a National Book Award for "Russia
Leaves the War," published in 1956.
He again won the Pulitzer Prize in 1967 for "Memoirs,
1925-1950." A second volume, taking his reminiscences up to 1963,
appeared in 1972. Among his other books was "Sketches from a
Life," published in 1989.
Kennan returned to the foreign service in the Kennedy
administration, serving as ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1961-63.
In 1967, he was assigned to meet Svetlana Alliluyeva, the daughter
of Josef Stalin, in Switzerland and helped persuade her to come to
the United States.
In the 1960s, Kennan opposed American involvement in Vietnam,
arguing that the United States had no vital interest at stake. In
Kennan's view, Washington had only five areas of vital interest:
the Soviet Union, Britain, Germany, Japan and the United States
itself.
George Frost Kennan was born Feb. 16, 1904, in Milwaukee. An
uncle, George Kennan, was an expert on Czarist Russia who wrote
"Siberia and the Exile System" in 1891.
A year after graduating from Princeton University in 1925,
Kennan entered the foreign service. Early postings included
Switzerland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In 1929, Kennan was assigned to a program in Russian language,
history and politics in Berlin. When the United States resumed
diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in 1933, Kennan accompanied
Ambassador William C. Bullit to Moscow.
Kennan was assigned to Berlin at the outbreak of World War II in
1939, and was interned for six months after the United States
entered the war in 1941.
During late 1943 and 1944 he was counselor of the American
delegation to the European Advisory Commission, which worked to
prepare Allied policy in Europe.
Kennan returned to Moscow and remained there from May 1944 to
April 1946. At the end of that term, he wrote a long analysis of
the prospects for postwar Russia, the so-called "Long Telegram"
which became the basis for the "X" article.
In 1947, Kennan was appointed director of the policy planning
staff of the Department of State and directed much of the
groundwork for the Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild Europe with
a large infusion of aid.
Reflecting on the "X" article in 1987, Kennan wrote in
"Foreign Affairs" that he now regarded the Soviet Union as a
military threat but as no ideological or political threat to the
United States -- the reverse of the situation he perceived in 1947.
"It is entirely clear to me that Soviet leaders do not want a
war with us and are not planning to initiate one," he wrote.
In a New York Times article published in February 2004 as Kennan
turned 100, former ambassador Richard Gardner said: "All of us who
aspired to careers in the Foreign Service still look to Kennan as a
role model. Just look at the Long Telegram. How many ambassadors
today could write such a document?"
Kennan's honors included the Presidential Medal of Freedom in
1989, Albert Einstein Peace Prize in 1981, the German Book Trade
Peace Prize in 1982, and the Gold Medal in History from the
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1984.
Kennan is survived by his wife, Annelise, whom he married in
1931. They had three daughters and a son.
Latvian president to visit Sweden later this month
AP WorldStream Friday, March 18, 2005 9:40:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga will
make a two-day state visit to Sweden later this month, the
president's press service said Friday.
Vike-Freiberga will arrive in Sweden on March 31 and will meet
with Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and several other top Swedish
officials on the trip to discuss Baltic Sea and European Union
cooperation. Latvia was one of 10 countries that joined the EU last
year.
She will be accompanied by other Latvian officials, including
the ministers of economics, finance, and culture, as well as by 40
business people.
Vike-Freiberga will attend the opening of a Latvian tourism
bureau in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. She also plans to give a
speech at Uppsala University and to help unveil a memorial plaque
at a house in Uppsala where a famous Latvian writer, Zenta Maurina,
once lived. Maurina died in 1978.
EU trio bring Russia in from the cold
Reuters World Report Friday, March 18, 2005 5:01:00 PM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
By Richard Balmforth
PARIS, March 18 (Reuters) —
France, Germany and Spain sowed
the seeds of a new partnership with Russia at talks on Friday
intended to save Moscow from isolation, and said they were
united in a commitment to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons.
The talks with President Vladimir Putin produced a joint
call for Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and focused
on areas on which they agreed, glossing over potential points of
discord such as Chechnya and the state of democracy in Russia.
Putin, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero exuded harmony at a news conference -- even on the
question of ex-Soviet Ukraine where a West-leaning president
came to power early this year against Putin's wishes.
"We are working very closely on the Iran question,"
Schroeder said, dismissing any suggestion of differences even
though Russia has been supplying Tehran with nuclear technology,
saying it is intended for civilian purposes.
"We are trying to convince the Iranians they must not
produce or possess nuclear arms. We are working closely
together," he said.
Putin himself pointed out that Russia, while pressing ahead
with the Bushehr nuclear station project in Iran, had signed an
agreement with Tehran for the return of spent fuel.
But he said Iran would have to show its "complete rejection"
of any attempt to acquire nuclear weapons. "We will attentively
follow the level at which Iran cooperates on the monitoring of
its nuclear technology," he said.
That may not be enough for the United States, which accuses
Tehran of trying to develop a nuclear arsenal and was angered by
an agreement last month under which Russia will provide Iran
with nuclear fuel. Iran denies it is developing nuclear arms.
The four also issued a joint appeal for Syria to withdraw
its forces from Lebanon to open the way for "free and
transparent elections" there.
CLOSE FRIENDS
The meeting came at a crucial time for Putin who is now a
year into his second and last presidential term and who, after a
political setback in Ukraine late last year, referred to his
concerns that Western forces were out to isolate Russia.
Schroeder and Chirac are Putin's closest friends in the
European Union and it was clear from the start that he would not
be chided over his record on democracy at the Elysee Palace
get-together.
There was no mention of Chechnya where Putin has been
pursuing hard-line policies to break the separatist rebellion.
Human rights bodies criticise Moscow for alleged violations by
Russian forces in the Muslim province in the North Caucasus.
The warm reception he was given contrasted with that of some
of new EU members from former communist republics in eastern
Europe. The Baltic states and Poland want a tougher line taken
with Moscow over its record on democracy, human rights and the
rule of law.
On Ukraine, Putin struck a moderate tone on the eve of his
visit there on Saturday -- his first since street protests over
a rigged election in favour of a Moscow-backed candidate brought
to power the pro-western Viktor Yushchenko.
He underlined historical links between Russia and its
smaller Slavic neighbour. But he said Moscow backed no political
force in Ukraine -- a signal to Yushchenko ahead of Saturday's
meeting that Moscow would not try to undermine his leadership by
stoking discontent among the huge Russian-speaking population.
Echoing words by Schroeder, Putin said it served no one to
promote instability in Ukraine.
Earlier on Friday, Chirac put the accent on transparency and
trust with France's old Cold War foe by whisking Putin off by
helicopter to a top secret air base at Taverny outside Paris.
Putin is keen to see as many world leaders as possible at
May 9 celebrations in Moscow to mark the Red Army's defeat of
Nazi Germany 60 years ago.
Preparations for the event have become mired in diplomatic
wrangling after Moscow was cold-shouldered by Lithuania and
Estonia. A third Baltic state, Latvia, is attending but with
misgivings.
Bulgarian president on two-day state visit to Latvia
AP WorldStream Monday, March 21, 2005 6:13:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov arrived
in Riga on Monday for two days of talks with some of the country's
top leaders.
Parvanov, who is making his first state visit to Latvia, a
Baltic country of 2.3 million people that joined the European Union
and NATO last year, will meet with Latvian President Vaira
Vike-Freiberga and Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis later Monday.
They're scheduled to discuss cooperation in education, science
and the arts.
The Latvian government has previously said it supported
Bulgarian membership in the EU.
Accompanying Parvanov on the trip were Bulgarian Education and
Science Minister Igor Damianov and the lawmaker Penka Peneva, who
heads the Bulgarian-Latvian cooperation group in Bulgaria's
national assembly.
Parvanov will take a walking tour of Riga's Old Town on Tuesday
and visit the city's Occupation Museum, which houses artifacts
documenting 50 years of Soviet rule.
Eastern trio seeks EU help over Russia gas pipeline
Reuters World Report Tuesday, March 22, 2005 3:13:00 PM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
By Marcin Grajewski
BRUSSELS, March 22 (Reuters) — Latvia, Lithuania and Poland
asked for European Union help on Tuesday in persuading Russia to
build a large natural gas pipeline through their territories
rather than under the Baltic Sea.
The prime ministers of the three new member states wrote to
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, seeking support
in the so-called Amber Project -- a pipeline that would connect
Russia and Germany via the three east European countries.
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom plans to launch its North
European pipeline to Germany in 2010, worth some $5.7 billion,
and tentatively plans to lay it under the Baltic Sea.
"We call on the Commission to attach utmost attention to
ensuring that the route of a new pipeline from the East to the
West should be chosen taking into account not only commercial,
but also security of supply and diversification criteria,"
Poland's Marek Belka, Lithuania's Algirdas Brazauskas and
Airgars Kalvitis of Latvia wrote.
"The Amber Project would cover the needs of four new member
states, reduce the gas transit risks, which are considerable ...
and will contribute most effectively to the integration of the
EU internal gas market," said the letter, obtained by Reuters.
The three leaders met Barroso to discuss the issue during an
EU summit in Brussels.
Diplomats from the three countries privately complain that
Russia prefers the more expensive undersea pipeline route for
political reasons.
Relations between Moscow and the former Soviet republics and
satellites have been deteriorating ever since those countries
joined the NATO military alliance.
The countries now count on Brussels' support in relations
with Russia, which prefers to discuss economic issues with EU
heavyweights such as Germany and France.
"The idea is to convince EU member states to be more active
in a dialogue with Russia on issues such as energy," Pawel
Swieboda, the Polish Foreign Ministry's European department
head, told Reuters.
He said for Poland, the Amber Project pipeline would replace
the second track of the Yamal pipeline that Russia had promised
in the early 1990s to build through Poland, but never built.
Moldova rejects Russian criticism over WWII veteran pensions for those fighting against Soviets
AP WorldStream Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:48:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By CORNELIU RUSNAC
Associated Press Writer
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldova's Communist president, Vladimir
Voronin, rejected Russian criticism of a proposal to pay a bonus to
all its World War II veterans, irrespective of whether they fought
for the Romanian or the Soviet Army, the president's office said
Tuesday.
Russia's Foreign Ministry described the measure on Saturday as
"an insult to the memory of millions of people who paid a huge
price for the liberation of the republics of the former Soviet
Union, including Moldova, from fascist enslavement."
But Voronin said his request to the government last week to pay
a 1,000 lei (US$80, 60 euro) bonus to veterans to mark the 60th
anniversary of victory over the Nazis, was in line with a 1993 law
which grants equal benefits to all Moldovan veterans.
"The Romanian army fought from 1944 in the war against fascism,
and Romania's King Michael was decorated by the Soviet leadership
with the 'Victory Order,' which was offered also to Josip Broz Tito
and Dwight Eisenhower," Voronin said in a statement.
Moldova was part of Romania until 1940, when it was annexed by
the Soviet Union under a pact between Hitler and Stalin. Fighting
alongside Germany, Romania then attacked the Soviet Union in 1941
and Moldova was reincorporated into Romania until 1945, when it
became a Soviet Republic.
In 1944, Romania's authoritarian government of Marshal Ion
Antonescu was overthrown by a coup led by King Michael, and the
country fought the rest of the war alongside the Soviet Union and
the Allies against Germany.
Convicted war criminals would not be eligible for the bonus,
Voronin added.
Russia is hosting major ceremonies in Moscow on May 9 marking
the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Leaders from the
Baltic states of Estonia and Lithuania have refused invitations to
attend but Romania's president Traian Basescu plans to travel to
Moscow.
Relations between Moldova and Russia have deteriorated recently
over the status of Moldova's breakaway region of Trans-Dniester,
which is largely Russian-speaking, as well as Moldova's aspirations
to move closer to the European Union and neighbor Romania.
Moldova gained independence in 1991 with the breakup of the
Soviet Union.
U.S. president to visit Latvia in May
AP WorldStream Thursday, March 24, 2005 10:42:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By TIMOTHY JACOBS
Associated Press Writer
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — U.S. President George W. Bush will visit
Latvia in May before heading to Russia to take part in ceremonies
marking the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, a
Latvian presidential spokesman said Thursday.
Bush will arrive in Riga on May 6 for talks with Latvian
President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and will take part in a summit the
following day that will include the two other Baltic leaders,
Estonian President Arnold Ruutel and Lithuanian President Valdas
Adamkus.
The Latvian president called Bush's decision to visit the
Baltics before the May 9 celebrations in Moscow highly symbolic,
said her spokesman, Andrejs Pildegovic.
The visit comes a week after Latvia celebrates the 15th
anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet
Union. Baltic independence was formally recognized more than a year
later, in September, 1991.
Bush's visit also comes one year after the three Baltic
countries joined the European Union and NATO, organizations that
leaders in all three countries view as the guarantors of Baltic
safety and independence.
Of the three Baltic presidents, only Vike-Freiberga accepted
Moscow's invitation to attend the May 9 ceremonies, saying she
wanted to improve relations with Moscow, which are still strained
because of the five-decade long Soviet occupation of the Baltics.
Both Adamkus and Ruutel opted not to go to Russia, saying Russia
still refuses to acknowledge its role as the driving force behind
the occupation.
After visiting Latvia, Bush will travel to the Netherlands,
Russia, and Georgia before returning to the U.S.
Estonian PM formally resigns
AP WorldStream Thursday, March 24, 2005 5:12:00 AM
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
By JARI TANNER
Associated Press Writer
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Prime Minister Juhan Parts handed in his
and his government's resignation to the president Thursday, as
political parties prepared for talks to form Estonia's fourth
government in six years.
Parts announced his surprise resignation Monday after lawmakers
passed a no-confidence vote against his justice minister.
Government spokesman Erki Peegel said Parts met President Arnold
Ruutel before noon (1000GMT) and handed in the resignation of his
Cabinet, which has been in power since April 2003.
Estonia has had three governments since 1999.
Earlier Thursday, the country's 101-seat assembly, the
Riigikogu, voted for Ene Ergma to continue as parliament speaker.
Ergma's election may play a role in the political maneuvering to
form a new Cabinet as she represents the Res Publica party, which
is headed by Parts and is a leading member in the resigning
center-right coalition.
The major parties are set to start formal government formation
talks following Parts' resignation. No major progress is expected
until after the Easter holidays, and talks are expected to be
difficult with parties disagreeing on main issues, such as taxation
and improving Estonia's health care system.
Ukraine leader to stay away from Moscow war events
Reuters World Report Saturday, March 26, 2005 9:36:00 AM
Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd.
KIEV, March 26 (Reuters) — Ukraine's president said on
Saturday he would not attend Moscow events to mark the 60th
anniversary of victory over the Nazis, a move that may add to
Russian irritation over a boycott by some east European leaders.
President Viktor Yushchenko said he could not fly to the
Russian capital when similar ceremonies marking the defeat of
Nazi Germany were scheduled to take place in Kiev.
"As we cannot postpone commemorations which will take place
in Ukraine on May 9, including a parade and other events, I
would feel most uncomfortable if war veterans are gathering here
and I am on a reviewing stand elsewhere," he told reporters.
"I think the Russian president, Vladimir Vladimirovich
Putin, and our other colleagues can easily understand that."
The May 9 commemorations have already opened up a split
among east European nations, reflecting Cold War legacies.
The presidents of Baltic nations Estonia and Lithuania have
said they will stay away on grounds that the end of the war
marked the start of five decades of Soviet occupation.
The president of Latvia, the third Baltic state, is
attending as is Poland's president, Aleksander Kwasniewski,
despite the misgivings of the Polish media and some politicians.
Ukrainian officials have said Yushchenko will attend a
summit in Moscow on May 8 of the Commonwealth of Independent
Nations, which will bring together leaders of 12 ex-Soviet
states.
World War Two commemorations honouring more than 20 million
Soviet war dead are a major event in Russia, one of the few
events able to unite people of all political persuasions.
Ukraine lost up to 8 million people in what is known in
ex-Soviet states as the Great Patriotic War.
But commemorations there invariably cause splits, as
thousands, mainly in western Ukraine, joined the Ukrainian
Insurgent Army (UPA) which fought both German and Soviet troops.
Others donned Nazi uniforms in a unit known as the SS Galicina.
Post-Soviet Ukraine leaders have tried unsuccessfully to
persuade Soviet war veterans and UPA fighters to attend war
commemorations together.