STOCKHOLM, June 23 (Reuters) -- Four years ago, a farmer digging in his fields in Sweden's Baltic island of Gotland came across a Viking coin.
      He called a friend from the local museum, and together they soon uncovered another 150 Viking relics. But the crops growing in the fields hindered their work and they gave up.
      The following summer, with crops that year infected by lice, they resumed their search -- and on July 16, 1999, came across the biggest Viking-period treasure hoard so far discovered.
      It had been lying there for about 1,100 years.
      The Spillings hoard, described by archaeologists as a once-in-a-lifetime discovery, includes 14,295 silver coins, 486 silver armlets, and dozens of other artefacts, weighing a total of 85 kilos (187 lbs).
      "It was totally crazy," said Bjorn Engstrom, the farmer who owns the land. "I was there for five days when they dug up the treasure. I didn't leave the field," he told Reuters.
      "The first night we camped there in a tent so nobody could come and take it."
      Engstrom, 42, whose family has owned the land since only 1966, was not able to keep any of the silver himself.
      DRAGONS AND THE LAW
      Buried treasure was believed to be guarded by dragons in the days of old, but nowadays Sweden's law on historical monuments sets strict penalties for anyone searching for treasure with metal detectors, or failing to report any buried gold, silver or copper to the police or local museum.
      Anyone discovering and dutifully reporting treasure gets a reward in line with the value of the metal. Engstrom is still waiting for his, as archaeologists have studied only a fraction of the Spillings hoard, named after his farm.
      The complete hoard, including some bronze relics also discovered at the same site, will be on show in Stockholm's Museum of National Antiquities until September 1 before returning to Gotland.
      Archaeologists believe the treasure was buried in about 870.
      The site appears to have been a farm even then, said Majvor Ostergren, project leader at the County Museum of Gotland.
      "But this treasure is too big to be on a traditional farm," she told Reuters. "People there must have been something special."
      The site's proximity to one of Gotland's main natural harbours, may be one clue.
      TRADERS AND RAIDERS
      As well as their fearsome reputation for plunder, the Vikings were also great traders.
      They penetrated to Constantinople, now Istanbul, but then the capital of the Byzantine empire and one of the world's richest cities, providing soldiers for the emperor and trading with the Greek merchants.
      The extent of their trading links was revealed in 1954 on the little island of Helgo near Stockholm, where a sixth century Buddha from northern India was found in a Viking site.
      Although Gotland had few resources of its own, its position in the middle of the Baltic between Sweden and Latvia made it an ideal base for trade. The Vikings could bring in furs and amber from Scandinavia and the Baltic coast, and ship them along rivers into Germany or down to Constantinople.
      That explains why of the 1,400 coins from the hoard that have been examined so far, four are Nordic, one from Byzantium, 23 are Persian, and the rest are Islamic.
      In the ninth century, the silver money of the Arabs was the most common coinage in Scandinavia. The first Swedish coins were not struck until about 995.
      The earliest coin in the hoard dates from 539 and is Persian, before the Islamic conquest. The latest is from 870.
      COINS OF THE KHAZARS
      One of the most important coins in the hoard, dating from 830 to 840, sheds light on a place far away: its markings show its provenance is the kingdom of the Khazars, a realm in southern Russia between the Black and Caspian seas.
      Its Arabic inscription reads "Moses is the messenger of God" -- apparently a Jewish variant on the Islamic credo "Mohammed is the messenger of God."
      Only four other coins are known to have this inscription.
      The Khazars were believed to have converted to Judaism -- possibly the only nation to do so -- after their ruler invited Christian, Islamic and Jewish theologians to demonstrate the merits of their different faiths to his court.
      Although many written sources describe the Khazars as Jews, few objects have been found in excavations in Russia to confirm these reports. The Khazar coin is thus important evidence.
      But for visitors to the exhibition who are neither numismatists nor historians, the most fascinating exhibits are the hundreds of silver armlets.
      The armlets are linked in bunches, indicating that they were used as money with a set weight, rather than jewellery.
      Many are etched with a snakeskin pattern, and carry a serpent's head at one end. The striking simplicity of these austere but exotic bracelets suggests that the art of the Vikings lives on in modern Scandinavian design.

      MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he did not believe that membership in NATO would improve the security of those countries seeking to join the Western alliance.
      "We don't think that the expansion of NATO improves anybody's security," Putin said, speaking a news conference in the Kremlin.
      Russia has softened its position on NATO englargement, which it had vociferously opposed. Under Putin, Russia recently has improved its own ties with the Western alliance.
      Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, three countries that were occupied by the Red Army and then forced to join the Soviet Union, all made joining NATO a priority following the 1991 Soviet collapse. They hope to join by this fall.
      Putin said Russia would not oppose membership for those three countries.

      RIGA, Latvia, Jun 25, 2002 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Members of Parliament from NATO and partner countries have concluded a three-day seminar (June 16-18) in the Latvian Parliament that explored the key security issues in the Baltic region and beyond. The 52nd Rose-Roth seminar, sponsored by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the Saeima (Parliament) of the Republic of Latvia, brought together about 80 participants, including legislators, political leaders, experts and diplomats, to discuss NATO enlargement, relations with Russia, the regime in Belarus, the status of Kaliningrad, and the future of the North Atlantic Alliance.
      Prime Minister Andris Berzins of Latvia, who addressed seminar participants, spoke about the reforms that Latvia has undertaken in the past ten years and how Latvia is increasing its defence budget and orienting its military to be a dependable partner of NATO in the future. Defence Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis explained how building trust and cooperation with Latvia's neighbours can ensure this country's security after the unhappy experience of the last century. Brig. Gen. Michael Clemmesen, commandant of the Baltic Defence College, confirmed that military reforms in the Baltic countries compare favourably with those in the other candidate countries and the three new allies.
      The seminar, however, showed that security today is not just a military concern. In his keynote presentation Robert Nurick, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, pointed to how difficult it is to divide security threats by region or discipline. Mr. Nurick noted that most security issues in the Baltic region are linked to issues beyond the region; that it is impossible to talk about the NATO-Russia relationship without considering the debate about NATO's future; and that it is impossible to talk about the future of NATO without considering the role of other institutions, such as the European Union.
      These considerations were substantiated by the discussions on Belarus and Kaliningrad. Michael Kozak, the US Ambassador to Minsk, noted that Western engagement in Belarus must continue, also because an unstable, undemocratic neighbour can seriously affect Baltic regional security. Helena Demakova, a Latvian MP, called for directing sanctions against the elites in power in Minsk, while at the same time engaging a weak but surviving civil society.
      Vladimir Bagalin, Head of the Foreign Relations Committee of the regional council in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, cited the need to find an accommodation with the EU on issues like a visa regime and economic relations, so that Kaliningrad does not become isolated either from the rest of Russia or the rest of Europe.
      Ultimately, this seminar highlighted that security threats are broader and more diffuse than before. Mark Galeotti, a British expert on organized crime, talked about the rise of Russian organized crime groups, while Signe Rotberga, head of the Riga office of the UN Drug Control Programme, showed how those criminal networks have helped to create a growing drug problem.
      Gwen McClure, a Criminal Organisations and Drugs expert at Interpol, gave a worldwide perspective on this problem, stressing in particular terrorists' dependence on international crime networks for funding and other support.
      Participants also addressed the issue of how NATO should change so that it can meet the new security threats, such as international terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Nurick noted that the NATO-Russia relationship is an integral part of the debate about NATO's own future, while Randy Scheunemann, a board member of the US Committee on NATO, stressed that NATO cannot take on new missions if the Europeans refuse to invest in the required capabilities.

      RIGA, Jun 26, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania decided on Wednesday to coordinate their policies on agricultural quotas and subsidies in their negotiations on European Union (EU) entry.
      The move came after Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins and Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirirdas Brazauskas met in a small town, Visaginas, in Lithuania and discussed the process of their EU and NATO entry.
      During the discussion, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins recommended the three Baltic countries hold referendums on EU entry in August 2003.
      At the end of their meeting, the three leaders issued a joint communique on cooperation in tourism.

      COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- If Irish voters reject a European Union treaty for a second time they risk delaying the EU's eastward expansion "for years to come," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, whose government assumes the EU presidency next week, said Thursday.
      "There is no Plan B," Fogh Rasmussen told EU affairs correspondents visiting the Danish capital. "If the Nice treaty is not ratified ... we risk postponing EU enlargement for years to come."
      "We have a historic opportunity to unite our continent ... we cannot afford to miss it," he stressed.
      Ireland voted against the Treaty of Nice in a referendum last year fearful that the blueprint to expand the 15-nation bloc into eastern Europe would undermine the country's traditional neutrality since it also gives the EU a defense role through the creation of a 60,000-strong peacekeeping force.
      On Friday, Denmark unveils its agenda for the second half of the year when it chairs the EU during what is supposed to be the home stretch to its most ambitious expansion.
      The top priority is concluding almost three years of membership negotiations with Cyprus, Malta and eight East European nations by December. But Denmark's six months at the EU helm officially begins Monday as skies darken over the expansion plan.
      There is a French-German spat over funding of farmers and poor regions in the candidate nations linked to differences over the timing of an overall reform of the EU's agricultural subsidy program.
      Also, United Nations talks on reunifying Cyprus are in a stalemate raising the prospect that the EU may import a nasty Greek-Turkish dispute by admitting only the island's southern Greek part.
      But nothing looms larger than another Irish vote on the treaty -- negotiated in five chaotic days in Nice, France, in December 2000 -- providing for the union's eastward expansion.
      A second referendum may be held in October, near the time of an EU summit meeting that is to take stock of EU expansion chances.
      The final go-ahead to admit Cyprus, Malta, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in 2004 may come at a December summit in Copenhagen.
      Farm subsidies and regional aid account for 80 percent of the EU budget -- which totals 98.6 billion euros (dlrs 96.7 billion) this year.
      However, spending on eastern farmers and poor areas has not even been discussed in the membership talks because EU governments disagree on how generous to be.
      Germany, Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands want a far-reaching reform of farm subsidies, while France -- the biggest beneficiary of farm subsidies -- views the subsidies as sacred and resists reforms.
      The EU executive Commission has proposed spending 40 billion euros (dlrs 39.2 billion) in subsidies on farmers and poor regions of the 10 candidate nations in the 2004-2006 period.
      EU governments have postponed debate on this until after Sept. 22 to keep the issue from becoming entangled in campaigning for Germany's general elections.
      Besides fixing subsidies for farmers in the east, the EU governments expect a previously scheduled review of overall spending next month.
      Diplomats said it will include cutbacks in a various farm subsidies and capping annual payouts to farmers at 300,000 euros (dlrs 294,000) each with any savings going to rural development.
      Bertel Haarder, Denmark's European affairs minister, said the reform debate must not give EU governments cause to block expansion.
      "Denmark supports farm spending reform but ... we will not allow enlargement to be taken hostage by countries that cannot agree on a reform of the Common Agricultural Program," he said.

      HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- The Helsinki Stock Exchange said Friday that it has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Riga Stock Exchange as the Finnish bourse expands its presence in the three former Soviet Baltic republics.
      The HEX group will acquire 92.98 percent of the shares in the Riga bourse and a majority stake in Latvia's central securities depository in which the RSE holds a 27 percent stake.
      The transaction still requires regulatory approval, which is expected in July, HEX said. The Helsinki Exchange's original offer was to buy a minimum 75 percent of the Riga Exchange.
      The groups agreed not to disclose financial terms.
      In February, HEX merged with the Tallinn Stock Exchange in the neighboring Baltic state of Estonia after purchasing a 62 percent share in the market. It also was negotiating purchases in Vilnius, Lithuania.
      "We've been in steady contact with Lithuania. Now that the Riga purchase is concluded, we can focus more on that expansion," HEX chief executive Jukka Ruuska said.
      The Helsinki Stock Exchange had a daily turnover last year of 814 million euros (dlrs 700 million), while the average daily trading volume in Riga was 3.7 million euros (dlrs 3.2 million).

      BALTIMORE, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A 23 year old Namibian leading efforts to help families of those in his community stricken by HIV/AIDS, an 18 year old radio journalist in Vietnam whose stories on environmental and social issues have reached over 30 million people, and a young Peruvian working to provide poor children in the Amazon rainforest with books, are among young people from around the world to receive 15 special awards through YouthActionNet.org.
      An interactive website created by and for youth, YouthActionNet.org works to inspire and promote youth leadership worldwide. Launched in 2001 by the International Youth Foundation (IYF), a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization headquartered in Baltimore, MD, YouthActionNet celebrates the vital role that youth are playing in leading positive change throughout the world. YouthActionNet.org forms a vital part of the "Make a Connection" program, a global initiative of IYF and Nokia to provide opportunities for young people to connect to their communities, to their families and peers, and to themselves.
      Ranging in age from 18 to 24, recipients are being awarded $500 each to support their work in leading positive social change. IYF announced the YouthActionNet awards competition in January 2002. Since then, 200 young leaders from 53 different countries have applied for the Awards. Final selections were made by the YouthActionNet Task Force, a group of eight young people from around the world who have played an instrumental role in the site's development and who continue to guide its efforts. Awards are being given though YouthActionNet on a semi-annual basis, with applications currently being accepted for the next round of awards to be announced in December.
      In many cases, award winners plan to use the funding they receive to strengthen and expand their efforts. In Vietnam, for example, 18 year old Ha Thi Lan Anh has been active as a radio journalist through the Young Journalists Group (YoJo), whose broadcasts are heard by roughly 30 million people nationwide.
      With support from YouthActionNet, she will organize workshops aimed at educating street and working youth about their rights and how to use technology and the power of media to create social change.
      In Namibia, Ndasimana Akuumba will use the funding he received to expand his efforts to help the families of those stricken with HIV/AIDS. At the age of 21, Ndasimana set out to educate men in Namibia with HIV/AIDS on how to write a will in order to protect their wives' and children's future. He now plans to publish an educational pamphlet and expand training sessions to additional villages.
 
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      HAADEMEESTE, Estonia (AP) -- Estonian firemen, often heralded for their bravery, are now winning accolades for a less conventional sort of rescue operation: saving toads.
      Firetrucks in the southwest part of this Baltic Sea coast nation, suffering a two-month drought, have been delivering eight tons of water daily to several breeding ponds of the endangered natterjack toad, officials said Friday.
      The operation is focusing on some 15,000 tadpoles of the rare toad species, hatched earlier this spring, which will die if the small sandpit reservoirs dry up, said Mati Kose, an adviser with the environmental ministry.
      Kose said there were just 500 to 2,000 adult natterjacks left in the ex-Soviet Baltic republic.
      "If they die, it'd be a disaster," he said. "This toad is near extinction, and this tiny part of Estonia is one of its last strongholds."
      Natterjacks, or Bufo calamita by their Latin name, live in several other northern European nations, where they also are a threatened species.
      The greenish-brown amphibian, the size of a fist, is celebrated here for its high metallic croak that can be heard miles away. Kose said many Estonians in rural areas were nostalgic about the sound, associating it with their childhood.
      The adult toads already have been gathered up with spoons and glass jars and moved to wetter areas. But the tadpoles can't be transported until they mature and can survive out of the water, Kose said.
      Fire engines from Haademeeste village, 100 miles south of Tallinn, Estonia's capital, have been spraying water into the pits for two weeks and are expected to continue for two more -- when the tadpoles should be developed toads with legs.
      Kose said numbers of natterjacks, which thrive in sandy marshes near the sea, plummeted over the decades because human development overran their habitats.