Sveiki, all!

This week's mailer is a bit early -- we're off to the Latvian camp in the Catskills for Peters' practice with the New York Latvian choir. If you're in the neighborhood for the service at the Latvian Cemetery, the choir is holding its annual concert at 4:00 pm on Sunday, the 27th, at the camp's Assembly Hall.

In the news:

• Italian nationals have been taken into custody in Riga, suspected of laundering more than 3 million dollars; well, we suppose that it's a backhand complement as to the improved security of the Latvian banking system
• Dutch minister expects a compromise (without phase-ins) over labor movement within the EU (the other thorny subject besides the fate of current subsidies)
• The Russian Duma voted 230 to 2 to condemn NATO expansion and to exhort Putin to firmer counter-measures; once again, the same vague thug-like threats, suggesting Baltics need explaining-to regarding "negative consequences" of their seeking NATO membership
• Latvian legislature forms committee to investigate transitional government's alleged pact allowing KGB officers to remain in the country instead of being returned to Russia, like the military; we would note that a lot of military "retired", leaving them free to not return to Russia; estimates allege about 40,000 total retired Soviet military -- Latvia was the prime retirement location for Soviet military for decades

No link this week as we're a bit rushed; we'll return with a new link next week!

This week's picture is from our trip last summer, returning for the first time in 5 years to the site of Peters' grandfather's first watermill.

As always, AOL'ers, Remember, mailer or not, Lat Chat spontaneously appears every Sunday on AOL starting around 9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting until 11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this link (from their AOL browser): Town Square - Latvian chat. And thanks to you participating on the AOL Latvian message board as well: LATVIA (both on AOL only).

Ar visu labu,

AP WorldStream
Monday, May 21, 2001 1:43:00 PM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press

    RIGA, Latvia (AP) -- Police said Monday that they have detained two Italian citizens suspected of laundering more than dlrs 3 million through Latvian banks.
    The men, ages 45 and 46, were taken into custody last Friday at their Riga apartment, where authorities found dlrs 250,000 in cash and three false passports, state police spokesman Krists Leiskalns said.
    Police said the men allegedly used false identities and documents from phony companies over the past several months to set up accounts in Latvian banks in order to launder millions of dollars.
    "We don't know at this point where the money came from or where it went, but we have reason to believe it is illegitimate," Leiskalns said.
    Leiskalns said police began investigating the two men's activities in March and have been in contact with authorities in Italy to verify the existence of the firms holding the Latvian bank accounts.
    The suspects, who were not identified, could be formally charged with using false documents to open a bank account or extradited to Italy, Leiskalns said.

AP WorldStream
Tuesday, May 22, 2001 11:08:00 AM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press

    PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Dutch Foreign Minister Jozias Van Aartsen said Tuesday he expects a comprise solution to the problem of free movement of labor from countries expected to join the European Union in the next few years.
    "Our principal position is ... we don't like transition periods," Van Aartsen said during a public discussion organized by his Czech counterpart Jan Kavan. However, "The rule of the game is to find a compromise./"
    In April, the European Commission, prompted by concerns raised by Austria and Germany that an influx of cheap labor could lower wages and raise anti-immigrant sentiments, proposed a plan to keep Eastern European workers from obtaining employment permits in EU countries for up to seven years after their countries join the union.
    Van Aartsen said his country was not happy with this proposal. He said, however, that a new revised proposal drafted by Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, might be a step in the right direction.
    According to the Swedish plan, "free movement of people should be as liberal as possible," the minister he said. Those countries seeking an exception can notify the European Commission, he said.
    The plan was scheduled to be discussed by foreign ministers of the 15-nation bloc in June and during the next EU summit in Sweden.
    The EU has not set entry dates, but the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Malta and Poland may join as early as 2004. Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia are on a slower track.

COMTEX Newswire
Wednesday, May 23, 2001 4:03:00 PM
Copyright 2001 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

    MOSCOW, May 23, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Russia's State Duma on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a resolution against NATO's eastward expansion, calling on President Vladimir Putin to instruct the cabinet to step up resistance to NATO's enlargement.
    The Duma, or the lower house of parliament, approved the resolution by 230 to 2 vote with four abstentions.
    Lawmakers decided to ask President Vladimir Putin to instruct the government to work out a comprehensive plan of countermeasures against NATO expansion and inform the Duma about its contents.
    They also proposed the Duma's permanent delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly refrain from participation in its events on the territories of the countries seeking to join NATO.
    The Duma members expressed concern about NATO's plans to admit Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which may happen in 2002, the resolution said.
    They condemned plans to hold a session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius at the end of May.
    "This action should be considered as yet another step towards NATO by certain Baltic countries," the document said.
    It recommended that Duma members who travel to the countries which are potential NATO members "conduct active work to explain the negative consequences of the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization."

AP WorldStream
Thursday, May 24, 2001 12:30:00 PM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press

    RIGA, Latvia (AP) -- The Latvian parliament on Thursday established a special committee to investigate an alleged pact that allowed agents of the Soviet secret police, the KGB, to remain in the country after it regained independence.
    The 100-member legislature voted 59-15 to set up the committee; two lawmakers abstained and 24 were absent.
    The body will examine whether an alleged agreement between Latvia's 1991 transitional government and the KGB compromised state security by allowing high level agents connected to the Soviet military to stay in Latvia indefinitely.
    Latvia reportedly received key files and other KGB property in exchange for allowing agents to stay in the country, according to the Baltic News Service.
    In the topsy-turvy days around the 1991 Soviet collapse, all three newly independent Baltic governments were eager to maintain stability and cutting deals with the still powerful KGB may have been seen as a way to accomplish that.
    Neihboring Estonia and Lithuania have opened similar investigations in the past. The three countries had struggled for independence since they were occupied by the Soviets in 1940.
    The last Russian military personnel left Latvia in 1994 and lawmakers said top KGB operatives should have gone with them.
    "Those brought here only for the sake of working as agents should not have stayed. It's time we know what the KGB was up to back then," said Anita Brence of the nationalist Fatherland and Freedom party that backed forming the commission after heavy media speculation on the subject.
    Brence said the committee will have to find out how many agents could have been affected.
    Several lawmakers said any such agreement would be invalid, but they backed the committee to shed light on KGB activities in Latvia.
    Many Latvians have long believed that the KGB infiltrated pro-independence movements and tried to discredit independence-minded leaders.
    The parliament is expected to convene next week to appoint members of the committee and to determine how long it will have to investigate the agreement and other details.
    The KGB was eventually replaced in Russia mainly by the Federal Security Bureau.
 

The shallow lake behind the mill, Perlu Dzirnavas, once drove the works of a prosperous mill. On Peters' first visit, the family of the owner from whom Peters' grandfather had rented the mill had reclaimed the property. Now, five years later, they're gone, and there are new inhabitants, poor, but gracious and friendly. Out back, the lake looks as serene as ever.