The Weekly Crier
News highlights from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Updated every Monday.

News Highlights from May 1-May 8, 2000

An Estonian-Finnish joint venture on May 5 launched a helicopter shuttle between the Estonian and Finnish capitals, a service it said will further enhance tourism and bilateral business. 
       A spokesman for the company, Copterlines, said two 12-seat Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopters will make 24 flights a day, five days a week. 
       There are already daily airline flights to and from Helsinki and Tallinn, and half a dozen ferries ply the Baltic Sea route. But Tonis Lepp, the Estonian manager of Copterlines, said speed would be the helicopters' main advantage. 
       The aircraft take off from city-center heliports and take just 18 minutes to make the 85-kilometer journey across the Gulf of Finland; check-in and customs procedures have also been simplified, Lepp said. 
       "Our goal is for there to be no more than 35 minutes between getting out of a taxi in one city and getting into a taxi in the other city," he said. 
       Ferries usually run overnight, and several Tallinn-Helsinki catamarans take an hour or more to make the trip. Airplane flights, considering time required to get to airports and into the city centers, can take several hours. 
       Lepp said Copterlines was targeting businessmen who needed to visit their Estonian- or Finnish-based companies frequently. Tourists and diplomats would also be among an expected 30,000 helicopter passengers a year, he said.
       A one-way ticket costs about 150 dollars.
       Before the shuttle could go ahead, an agreement allowing only the national airlines—Finnair and Estonian Air—to fly the Tallinn-Helsinki route had to be changed. Amendments permitting the helicopter flights were signed in April. 
       Lepp said the service showed how far Estonia has come since it regained independence. Before, Estonia was closed off from the West and Soviet officials restricted travel to and from the Baltic state. 
       Estonia and Finland have since forged close trade, political and cultural ties. Finland is Estonia's No. 1 trading partner and it's second largest foreign investor, after Sweden. 

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said on May 2 that Russia has singled out her country for diplomatic pressure to drive a wedge between the Baltic states and thwart their Western integration. Her comments during the week prompted an angry response from Moscow. 
       The Latvian president, speaking at a news conference during a three-day state visit to Estonia, accused Moscow of trying to restore its Soviet-era influence in the region by undermining Baltic unity.
       "The more united the three Baltics stand in their foreign policy, the more they move away from their earlier state of forced incorporation in the Soviet, or Russian, sphere of influence," she said.
       She underlined the Kremlin's opposition to Baltic membership in NATO, which all three nations have made a top foreign policy goal. Russian officials have said Baltic membership in NATO would constitute a threat to Russian security.
       Vike-Freiberga claimed Moscow also feared Baltic membership in the European Union because it would further erode Russia's influence in the region—though the Kremlin has not said publicly it objects to Baltic membership in the EU. 
       "It would not be in Russia's interest for these countries to stand united, particularly in their movement towards the West, towards the EU and NATO," she said.
       The Baltics cooperated closely during their drives for independence from Moscow ten years ago and continued to work closely in pursuing pro-West, pro-reform policies after regaining independence following the 1991 Soviet collapse.
       The Baltics also have worked together on military matters, including establishing a single peacekeeping battalion, setting up a Baltic military college and also in building a joint, pan-Baltic military radar network.
       Moscow at various times has criticized Estonia and Latvia for allegedly mistreating their large ethnic-Russian communities and for prosecuting agents of Stalinist-era crimes.
       The Latvian president said Russian officials had a pattern of criticizing one Baltic state at a time—never all at once—in order to upset their cooperation .
       "For a while complaints are made about Estonia, and for a period there is an intensity of comments about the situation in Latvia," she said. "There seems to be a program about making remarks about interstate affairs in regard to Latvia which go well beyond those commonly acceptable in international diplomacy."
       Vike-Freiberga said most recent Russian criticism has been aimed at her country. She said she thought Latvia was being targeted now because it was the geographic center of the three small, Baltic-coast nations. 
       "Geographically and strategically, Latvia is an appropriate wedge," she said.
       While she said many signals from Russia were ominous, Vike-Freiberga said she didn't perceive an imminent military threat from Russia. 
       "In my estimation Russia does not pose at the moment a threat to Latvia, Estonia or Lithuania, but is engaging in high rhetoric," she said. 
       Earlier in the week Latvian President Vike-Freiberga told BBC television that Russian rhetoric is becoming increasingly aggressive and could be perceived as a threat to its neighbors. 
       She pointed specifically to the text of a new Russian military doctrine, saying it was a throwback to the era of East-West conflict. 
       "The tone of these declarations from Russia really harks back to the Cold War," she said. "It harks back to confrontation, to imperialistic tendencies, to a confrontational style which is not exactly what we have been looking for in the new century." 
       The Russian Foreign Ministry and many politicians in Moscow blasted the Latvian president for her comments. 
       "The statements...are unprecedented in their anti-Russian tone and follow the worst Cold War traditions," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We could not help but be alarmed that this rude and unfriendly rhetoric towards our country...."

The "I LOVE YOU" computer virus widely affected computers in the Baltic states on May 4, hitting offices and companies across the region, including banks, heating utilities and presidents' offices. 
       "It's been a big nuisance to many companies, especially in jamming up e-mail systems," said Linnar Viik, an Internet technology advisor to Estonia's prime minister.
       Viik added, however, that he had no reports of the virus causing major damage to companies or national utilities. 
       Computers were infected by receiving e-mails entitled "I LOVEYOU." The so-called "love bug" spread by infiltrating a computer's address books and sending copies of itself to that person's contacts.
       In Estonia, many businesses reported receiving their initial infection from the office of President Lennart Meri.
       Lithuania reported a mutant variant of the bug, a virus that invited e-mail recipients out for a cup of coffee.
       A Lithuanian-language note in the subject line of the infected e-mail read, "Susitikim shi vakara kavos puodukui"—which in English means, "Let's meet tonight for a cup of coffee." 
       Viik, the Estonian IT advisor, said that within a half-hour that the bug struck the first computers in Estonia, local radios began warning people not to open the suspect e-mails. He said that may have prevented even wider infection.
       Local servers also activated filters that screened out e-mails with any subject line similar to "I LOVE YOU," said Viik. He said that stopped many computers from ever receiving the virus-carrying message.
       He said one side effect was that some legitimate love letters, if they had similar wording in the subject box, may not have gotten through.
       "It may not have been a good day to send a real love letter," he said. "But I'm sure servers will hold on to those, and forward them later."
       
Latvia's parliament on May 5 approved a new center-right government led by the recent mayor Andris Berzins. He has promised to maintain Latvia's pro-reform course and work for Latvian entry into the EU and NATO. 
       The 100-seat Saeima parliament voted 69 to 24 to approve the government with Berzins at it's helm. 
       The vote was delayed after virtually all the deputies, and Berzins, gathered around television sets outside the parliament hall to watch the final minutes of a world ice hockey championship game between Latvia and Russia; Latvia upset the powerful Russian team 3-2. 
       The coalition includes all the parties that made up the previous government—the centrist Latvia's Way and People's Party, and the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom—plus the small, centrist New Party. Combined they have 69 seats. 
       President Vaira Vike-Freiberga nominated the 48-year-old member of Latvia's Way last month to replace outgoing Prime Minster Andris Skele, of the People's Party, who resigned after infighting within the ruling coalition. 
       Berzins, a former history teacher, has been one of Latvia's most popular politicians. He won praise as Riga mayor for reviving the capital's business district and is regarded as affable and a good team-player. 
       Privatization could be one thornier issue facing the government. 
All the coalition parties support selling large state-owned companies, but they differ about the pace of the selloffs and about the right sticker price for the firms. 
       Latvia has been plagued by weak and unstable governments since regaining independence, with no administration lasting more than two years. The newest government will be the ninth in nine years. 
       When she nominated Berzins for the prime minister's post last month, Vike-Freiberga said she wanted him to put together a stable coalition that would last until parliamentary elections in 2002.

Baltic stock market officials on May 2 signed a letter of intent to link their exchanges to the Nordic Stock Exchange (NOREX). The Baltic exchanges have said they would like to join NOREX stock market alliance—which currently includes the Stockholm and Copenhagen bourses—by sometime in 2001. 
       Baltic officials hope that tying up with NOREX, which effectively operates as a single exchange, would hook the Baltic bourses into a worldwide network of brokerages, raise awareness of Baltic stocks and make it easier for foreign investors to buy Baltic shares. 
       The Baltic states set up stock markets within several years of regaining independence in 1991. Prices started to skyrocket in 1996. But world financial turmoil triggered panic selling in 1997, with prices tumbling by more than 50 percent. 
       Spooked, many investors have stayed away ever since, though many share prices since the beginning of 2000 have risen—most dramatically in Estonia. 
       Many Baltic analysts say moves to join larger, more dynamic Western exchanges are crucial for the local stock markets, which they say threaten to peter out and die without interest from major foreign investors.
       Baltic stock market officials say the main obstacle to joining NOREX is slow legislative action in their respective parliaments, including delays in adopting updated securities laws.
       Baltic bourses considered unifying with the London or Frankfurt stock markets, but concluded the Nordic link was the most logical.
       The Nordic countries are the main trading partners for the Baltic states, and Nordic investors hold majority stakes in many key Baltic corporations, including the largest Baltic banks. 
       (For a detailed account of the Norex hookup, see Out of the Doldrums, on this website.)

News Highlights from April 24-May 1, 2000

Latvia's Supreme Court released convicted Soviet war criminal Vasily Kononov from custody on April 25, saying there should be a new investigation of the evidence. 
       Latvia's Supreme Court allowed the 77-year-old to return to his Riga home, though he is not permitted to leave the country. The former Soviet partisan had been in detention since his arrest in 1998. 
       Kononov was given a six year jail sentence early this year for ordering the execution of nine civilians who he suspected of pro-Nazi sympathies; prosecutors said his victims included a pregnant woman and several children. 
       Pending a final ruling on whether his conviction should be quashed, the court called for clearer proof the victims were unarmed civilians; it also asked for expert testimony on whether the offenses are rightly considered war crimes. 
       The killings took place in Latvia in 1944, the last year of a three year German occupation. Kononov at the time led a small band of pro-Soviet partisans.  
       Kononov has maintained his innocence, claiming that those who died got caught in the crossfire in a battle between pro-Soviet and Nazi-backed forces. 
       Moscow has also stepped forward to defend Kononov, and the case has strained Russian-Latvian relations. 
       But Russian officials praised the Riga court's decision to release Kononov. The Russian Ambassador to Latvia Alexander Udaltsov said it was "a serious step towards justice." 
       The ambassador met Kononov at his apartment to present him with a Russian passport. TV footage showed Kononov sitting in his apartment smiling and at one point kissing his new passport. 
       Some Latvians said they're dismayed by Kononov's release, saying the country had caved in to Russian pressure to release to a proven war criminal. 
          (For further background information on Stalinist trials in the Baltics, also see Off to Court.)

Estonian officials on April 28 denied they intend to use a proposed law to undermine the pro-Moscow wing of Estonia’s Orthodox church—locked in a bitter dispute over property and legal status. 
       The Orthodox church split into pro-Moscow and pro-Estonian camps after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. In recent years, the sides have clashed over which is the rightful heir to church property, including land and many churches. 
       The draft law would require the pro-Moscow branch to officially register itself with authorities by 2003. Lawmakers say they simply want to give legal status to the Russian church, which has so far refused to register itself. 
       "Right now the pro-Moscow church is in a gray area," said Ringo Ringvee, from the Estonian Interior Ministry's office of religious affairs. "Legally, they don't exist—but they do exist. This is an abnormal situation." 
        But pro-Moscow clergy say the government heavily favors the Estonian branch of the Orthodox church; they say registering would mean accepting their status as defined by the Estonians and forfeiting all their property claims. 
       The Estonian wing, dominated by ethnic-Estonians, has registered itself and courts have already ruled it is sole heir to virtually all church property nationalized in the years after the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940. 
        The ruling infuriated the pro-Moscow, mostly ethnic-Russian congregations, which say the decision stripped them of legal rights to churches and office buildings they have used for almost five decades.
       In a recent statement, the pro-Moscow branch criticized the draft church-registration law, saying it was aimed at eventually dissolving their wing of the church altogether. 
       Ringvee, the Estonian official, adamantly denied there were moves afoot to break up the pro-Moscow branch or to subordinate it to the Estonian wing. He said the charges were "absurd."
       But he couldn't say what the consequences would be if the pro-Moscow church failed to register under any new law, conceding that the branch could, in theory, be asked to vacate church premises it now occupies. 
        "Three years is a long time and we all hope they will register," he said. "But I don't believe there will be any forceful action if they don't. They've been in a gray area, and that could just continue after 2003." 
       Tension over property and legal status were complicated further in 1996, when the Turkey-based Patriarchy of Constantinople took the Estonian branch officially under its jurisdiction. 
       The move infuriated the Patriarchy of Moscow, which had presided over Orthodox believers in Estonia for 50 years. There were fears the harsh words between Constantinople and Moscow could even lead to a full-blown schism. 
        The Russian Patriarchy continues to have jurisdiction over Estonia's pro-Moscow church. 
       Estonian-Russian relations have also been affected. Moscow says the dispute is an example of anti-Russian discrimination. Estonia counters that Russia is manipulating the issue and has sought, via the Moscow Patriarchy, to exert political influence over the Baltic state. 
      Most Estonians are Lutheran. There are between 20,000-50,000 ethnic-Estonian Orthodox believers, and around 100,000 ethnic-Russian Orthodox.

Latvian President Vaira Vike Freiberga, as anticipated, officially named Riga Mayor Andris Berzins as her candidate for prime minister. She called on Berzins to end the cycle of weak, continuously collapsing governments.
       If the Riga mayor wins the approval of the Saeima parliament, as expected, his government would be the ninth in nine years.
       Vike-Freiberga said she talked with Berzins about the need to keep governments together for longer than a year or two. The six-party parliament is badly fragmented, making it difficult to hammer together workable coalitions.
       Berzins, of the centrist Latvia's Way, would replace Prime Minister Andris Skele, who resigned in early April after strife among the governing coalition parties—Latvia's Way, the centrist People's Party and the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom.
       Skele stepped down after Fatherland and Freedom and Latvia's Way said they could no longer be a part of a government with him at the helm. But all three parties said they were willing to again form a government together.
       Berzins is expected to announce his ministerial selections soon. He should have a government in place and approved by the second week in May. 
       The People's Party and Fatherland and Freedom threw their support behind Berzins the week before. Combined, the three parties have 61 seats in the 100-seat legislature, and so he should win approval easily. The People's Party has 24 seats; Latvia's Way, 21; and Fatherland, 16.
       The 48-year-old Berzins has won praise as mayor for reviving the capital's business district. He is seen by many as the perfect antidote to Skele, who had a reputation as abrasive and heavy-handed—traits that contributed to his downfall as prime minister.

A judge on April 27 restarted the war crimes trial of Aleksandras Lileikis under a new law allowing trials in absentia. 
       Lileikis, 92, is charged with genocide for handing scores of Jews over to be executed when he headed the Vilnius security police during the 1941-44 Nazi occupation. 
      Another Nazi trial, of 92-year-old Kazys Gimzauskas, was reopened two days before. Gimzauskas, who is also accused of genocide, was a deputy to Lileikis in the same Nazi-backed police force. 
       Lileikis' defense lawyer, Algirdas Matuiza, told the court that the relaunched proceedings were a farce and politically motivated. 
       Lileikis' trial initially got underway in 1998, but was repeatedly delayed and then finally halted in 1999 after doctors said Lileikis was too ill to appear in court and that his life could be threatened if the trial continued. 
        The Gimzauskas trail began and was stopped around the same time, also on health grounds. 
       The cancellation of the two trials at the time prompted criticism from Jewish groups, which said Lithuania wasn't doing enough to bring the alleged Nazis to justice. 
        But new legislation passed in February now allows war crimes trials to go ahead without the accused present. Ailing defendants can follow proceedings via short-circuit TV or simply be represented in court by lawyers. 
       If convicted, Lileikis and Gimzauskas wouldn't have to serve any sentences handed down until their health improves, according to the new law. Genocide carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. 
       Defense lawyers for both Lileikis and Gimzauskas claim their clients are not only seriously ill but also mentally unfit. By law, defendants being tried in absentia must be able to follow and understand the proceedings against them. 
       After examining Lileikis last week, however, doctors said he was mentally fit—though they confirmed his general physical health was poor. But a new psychiatric evaluation was ordered for both Lileikis and Gimzauskas. 
       Lileikis emigrated to the United States after the war and lived in Norwood, Mass., where he worked in a publishing house. He returned to Lithuania in 1996 when U.S. courts moved to revoke his citizenship for lying about his Nazi past. 
        Gimzauskas emigrated to the United States in 1956 and lived in St. Petersburg, Fla. He returned to his native homeland in 1994—also after a U.S. court moved to strip him of his citizenship. Like Lileikis, Gimzauskas also now lives in the Lithuanian capital.
       (Also on this site, see War Crimes Case Stirs Bitter Memories, a feature about Lileikis and his alleged crimes.) 

News Highlights from April 17 to April 24, 2000

An 85-year-old former Stalinist agent, Vasily Krisanov, died of a heart attack in Latvia over the weekend before his trial on genocide charges ever got underway, Latvian authorities announced during the week.
       Kirsanov was accused of taking part in the arrest and deportation of scores of people in the years after the Soviet Union occupied Latvia in 1940. One of his victims was reportedly a teenager arrested and later executed for belonging to Latvia's boy scouts. 
       Kirsanov, arrested last November, had recently been transferred to a hospital from a detention center after doctors said he was mentally unfit to stand trial. Another court was slated to make a final ruling about whether the criminal proceedings would be halted. By law, accused can't be tried if they're mentally unfit or too ill to attend hearings. 
       Since regaining independence, Latvia has convicted three men and another five are either in court or awaiting trial for Stalinist crimes. Latvia says the aim of the trials is primarily to shed light on the dark Stalinist era after decades of silence on the issue. 
       But the Kremlin has attacked Latvia and the other two Baltic states for the Stalinist trials. Russia says the Baltics are seeking revenge on sick old men, many of whom are Russian citizens. Kirsanov was a Latvian citizen.
       After his death, the Russian Foreign Ministry again slammed the proceedings, saying Latvia had caused the Kirsanov's death. 
       "While proclaiming a policy of building a law-governed democratic state, Riga in actual fact harasses helpless old people," the ministry said in a statement. 
       (For further background information on Stalinist trials in the Baltics, also see Off to Court.)

President Valdas Adamkus urged the government to speed up the pace of social and economic reforms in a highly critical state of the union address before parliament on April 20. Adamkus said Lithuanian policy makers had to work harder at a whole range of reforms if the country hoped to bring up living standards and win membership in the European Union. 
       After independence, Lithuania did implement wide-ranging reforms, but it has always been perceived as lagging behind its two Baltic neighbors. The 1998 collapse of the Russian market also hit Lithuania especially hard; many export-oriented industries were forced to cut production and lay off workers. Unemployment now stands at a post-Soviet high of 11 percent. 
       Adamkus said Lithuania suffered so much because it put off key reforms, such as restructuring the energy industry and breaking up inefficient monopolies. 
       "It is a paradox that the signs of crisis have become evident in the tenth year of our independence," he said. "It shows nothing else but the price that has to be paid for undone reforms."
       He said the economy had shown it was resilient and was starting to show signs of positive growth. But he criticized the government for not acting faster, including by not making the tough decisions earlier to rein in the yawning budget deficit. 
       "The Lithuanian economy, even though having suffered huge losses, has passed the test of the Russian crisis," he said. "Regrettably, we, the authorities of the state, failed to pass it. Not only did we fail to draft a realistic state budget last year, but also did not adjust it in time."
       Adamkus reiterated that membership in NATO and the EU were vital to Lithuania's future security and economic well-being—despite increasing euro-skepticism and anti-Western sentiment in some quarters. 
       "Lithuania can avoid the fate of a backward province only by catching the high-speed train of Europe and being a fully paid-up passenger on that train," he said.

Riga Mayor Andris Berzins has emerged as the clear frontrunner to become the next prime minister after Latvia's three largest parties all declared that he should replace outgoing Prime Minister Andris Skele. 
       President Vaira Vike-Freiberga must formally nominate Berzins, and she's expected to follow the lead of the three parties. But she also made some parliamentary leaders nervous by not immediately declaring her support for the Riga mayor. 
       Skele, of the People's Party, resigned the week before after Latvia's Way and the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom said they could no longer support the three-party coalition government if he remained at the helm. 
       Skele was seen as abrasive and domineering, and his sacking this month of Economics Minister Vladimirs Makarovs, a Fatherland member, over disagreements about privatization was the last straw for his coalition partners.
       Berzins, a 48-year-old former history teacher, has won praise as mayor for reviving the capital's business district. He is considered easy-going and a good team player, and many politicians see him as an antidote to the dour, uncommunicative Skele. 
       Latvia's 100-seat, six-party parliament is badly fragmented, making it tough to hammer together workable coalitions. The next government will be Latvia's ninth in nine years, though all the different administrations have agreed widely on the country's pro-reform, pro-West policies. 
       The People's Party has 24 seats; Latvia's Way, 21; and Fatherland, 16. They are seen as logical partners, with all of them backing roughly similar policies. 
       After Skele resigned, the three coalition parties announced they wanted any new government to include the same parties, but with a different leader. 
       While they now appear to agree on who should lead the government, dividing up ministerial posts may prove more difficult. Another sticking point could be agreeing on a common privatization policy. 

News Highlights from April 10 to April 17, 2000

Yet another Latvian government collapsed on April 12, the ninth in as many years since the restoration of independence. Despite the governmental turmoil, the country's strongly pro-reform, pro-West bent isn't expected to change. 
       Latvia's Prime Minister Andris Skele resigned after two of three parties in his ruling coalition, Latvia's Way and the Fatherland and Freedom party, announced they could no longer work with him. 
       The shakeup had at least as much to do with style as substance. Skele, with a business background, was seen as an intelligent administrator capable of balancing budgets. But he was also seen as abrasive, heavy-handed and a poor team player.
       When he took power last summer, bets were already being taken about how long an administration could last with him at the helm; reports about infighting within the government started almost from Day 1. 
       The last straw seemed to be Skele's sacking the week before of Economics Minister Vladimirs Makarovs, a Fatherland and Freedom member, over disagreements about privatization. 
       Skele and Makarovs clashed over the sale prices for large state-owned companies, such as the power utility Latvenergo and the Latvian Shipping Company. Skele favored lower prices, which he said would attract investors.
       Analysts said friction was also caused by competing interest groups vying for a piece of the state-owned firms; some were allied with Skele and some with members of other coalition parties.
       All the parties involved in the outgoing government, including Skele's own People's Party, said they were now pushing to put together a new government with the same three parties. 
       The 100-seat Saeima parliament is badly fragmented, making a stable coalition hard to put together. The Skele government controlled 61 seats: The People's Party has 24; Latvia's Way, 21; and Fatherland, 16.
       These three parties are still seen as logical partners. They all advocate broadly similar policies, they are all strong backers of NATO and EU membership, and they're the only combination capable of attaining clear legislative majorities.
       Most of the three other parliamentary parties are considered too small or leftist to take the lead in forming a government. They include the leftist Social Democrats and For Equal Rights, and the small centrist New Party.
       Observers say the next prime minister could come from the ranks of Latvia's Way, regarded as the least confrontational of the three main parties. The process of forming a new government is expected to take a month. 
       Early elections aren't considered a likely option since any poll would likely usher in a parliament that is as divided or more so. 
       President Vaira Vike-Freiberga formally nominates the new prime minister, though she is likely to follow the lead of parties which say they have the numbers in parliament to form a majority government. 
      The president on April 12 thanked outgoing Prime Minister Skele, pointing to his role in bringing the budget under control and in spurring stronger GDP growth. But she also alluded to criticism of him as divisive and uncommunicative. 

Lithuania's Catholic Church issued an official apology on April 14 for not doing enough to prevent the massacre of some 220,000 Jews during the 1941-44 Nazi occupation.
       "We are sorry the church did not show enough resistance in times when nationalist egoism was overtaking the values of the Bible," said a statement. "The memory of the church is depressed by the violence and hate." 
       Over 90 percent of Lithuania's Jewish community perished during Nazi rule. Since regaining independence in 1991, critics have argued that Lithuania has not done enough to examine this tragic era in its history. 
       Earlier this year, the Lithuanian Catholic Church also apologized for the collaboration of some of its clergy with the KGB during fifty years of rule by Moscow.

News Highlights from April 3 to April 10, 2000

One of the most significant fossil discoveries in recent decades, of the missing link between fish and the first land vertebrates, may have been made in Estonia and Latvia, paleontologists announced on April 4.
       A team of four paleontologists—from Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Russia—identified two fragments of a 380-million-year-old fossilized jawbone as the long-sought missing link between ancient fish and four-legged animals. 
       Scientists agree that all 25,000 species of land vertebrates, including homo sapiens, descended from a small group of creatures that weren't yet quite land animals and no longer quite fish. But nobody had ever before unearthed the proof.
       One of the fossil fragments was discovered in a cave along the Piusa River in 1953; the other, larger fossil was found in Latvia in 1964 embedded in a sandstone cliff-face above the Gauja River. 
       The discovery was hailed in Latvia and Estonia as one of the greatest scientific finds ever in the two Baltic states. 
       Baltic scientists say their isolation behind the Iron Curtain prevented them from making contact with other world paleontologists, contact which might have allowed them to identify the fossils earlier. 
       There are still unanswered questions about the animal, dubbed Livonia multidentata after the region where the fossils were found and its distinctive five rows of teeth. To answer those questions, including whether it still had fins or already had short legs, the focus will next turn to finding a whole skeleton. 
       If a complete fossilized skeleton exists, it would most likely be in Latvia or Estonia, which, because of the earth's shifting plates, were at the equator and featured shallow, nutrient -rich tropical waters 400 million years ago. 
       But chances of finding a full skeleton are still slim. That leaves paleontologists making educated guesses about how it looked: probably like a small crocodile, though with gills and a fish-like tail

A 16-year old schoolgirl, Viktorija Cmilyte, defeated her older male competitors to win Lithuania's men's chess championship on April 1. Cmilyte, who won the women's bracket earlier this year, was given special permission to take part in the men's national championship.
       Cmilyte, who for several years has been considered one of Lithuania's top chess players, won five out of nine games to win the men's championship, drawing three matches and losing just one.

Prime Minister Andris Skele fired Economics Minister Vladimirs Makarovs on April 5 after bitter disputes over privatization. The prime minister accused Makarovs of undermining the privatization process. 
       The vast majority of state owned companies in Latvia were privatized in the years immediately after Latvia regained independence from Moscow in 1991.
       But the issue of privatizing several giant state companies, like the Latvian Shipping Company and state energy utility Latvenergo, has been highly contentious. 
       Skele, of the centrist People's Party, and Makarovs, of the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom, clashed over setting sale prices. Makarovs said prices for state firms should be set high, while Skele said high prices would scare off potential buyers.
       The sacking of the minister caused tensions within the coalition. 
       The government, which also includes the centrist Latvia's Way, currently controls 62 out of 100 seats in the Saeima parliament. Should Fatherland and Freedom quit the coalition, the government would have just 45 seats. 
       Fatherland and Freedom announced it would remain in the government for now, but demanded a clearer explanation from Skele about why he sacked Makarovs. 

News Highlights from March 27 to April 3, 2000

Latvia has baked its way into the Guinness World Book of Records by producing the world's largest pretzel, measuring 10 meters long and weighing over 125 kilograms.
     The giant pretzel was roasted by Latvia Ceramic in one of the company's extra-large ovens last year, but the record was only confirmed by Guinness at the end of March. Latvia's measured about 70 centimeters longer than the previous champion pretzel.
     One of Latvia's only other acknowledged world records, according to the Guinness book, is the more dubious one of having the highest number of traffic deaths per capita. In a country of just 2.5 million, over 600 people die on Latvian roads each year—a rate three or four times many Western European countries.       

The European Union enlargement process was not slowing down despite anxiety among some candidate nations that it was, EU expansion commissioner Gunter Verheugen said in Estonia on March 31.
       "I see a growing nervousness in some quarters," Verheugen said at a news conference in Tallinn. "It is understandable, but not justified....The process is on track and the momentum is not lost."
       Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia and Cyprus began membership talks two years ago; Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Malta began negotiations earlier this year. 
        Some of the first-wave negotiators have worried their entry could be delayed because the EU might not have the administrative capacity to handle talks with so many candidates at once.
       Others have suggested that general enthusiasm for expanding the EU in Western Europe has diminished, and that the some EU-member states may even try to put the brakes on the process—fearing the costs of expansion. 
       "I can guarantee that nobody has such intentions. I strongly reject such misinformation as this," the EU official, on the a three-day visit to Estonia, said. 
       Verheugen also insisted the EU had the capacity to deal with the new candidates. He said political questions and increasingly difficult negotiation chapters, like farm subsidies, could complicate the process. 
       "But if we need more time, it will not be because there are not enough people to make the calls or draw up the documents or sign the papers," he said. 
       Estonian officials have also expressed concerns in the past that the EU could be overwhelmed with so many new candidates coming to the table. 
      But Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Ilves said he's seen no proof of that happening. 
       "The Estonian delegation has not yet encountered anything that would prove our negotiations are delayed because of the administrative capacity of the EU," Ilves said, flanking the EU official at the news conference. 
       Verheugen praised Estonia's own EU bid. 
       "Estonia is still on track and I have no reason to believe that Estonia will not be among the first new members of the European Union," he said.
       He also said the EU would do what it could to help Latvia and Lithuania catch up with Estonia. But he sought to allay Estonian fears it might have to wait for its Baltic neighbors. 
       "We have told Latvia and Lithuania how much we want them to catch up," said Verheugen. "At the same time, we have told them that there is no rule that we will accept the Baltic countries only as an entity of three." 
       Commissioner Verheugen said one of the highest EU principles related to expansion was what he called "the principle of merits," and he said this would be applied to the Baltic states. 
       "If a country is ready, it must not wait until other countries are ready," he said. 
       All three Baltic states have said EU membership is a top priority; they say joining the 15-member bloc will open up lucrative markets and enhance national security. 
       Estonia says its shooting for an ambitious 2003 entry date; Latvia and Lithuania say they're looking at dates a year or two after that. The EU has refused to be drawn on whether those target dates are realistic.
       Estonian Minister Ilves said Estonia wasn't overly focused on entry dates. 
       "We are not wracking our nerves over when the EU will start enlargement," he said. "We are concentrating on doing our homework. That is the top priority." 

NATO chief George Robertson assured the Baltic states on March 30 that that they continue to be viewed as candidates to one day join the alliance—comments which prompted a quick rebuke from Moscow.
       Robertson repeated NATO's open door policy vis-a-vis the Baltic states throughout his two-day visit to Latvia's capital, where he met with several national leaders, including Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. 
       Moscow has vehemently opposed Baltic NATO membership, saying it would be perceived as a threat to Russian security. 
       A Russian Defense Ministry official respond to Robertson's comments in Riga, saying NATO risked spoiling its relationship with the Kremlin over the issue.  
       "You cannot sit on two chairs," Leonid Ivashov, a Defense Ministry spokesman, said in Moscow.  "It is impossible to expand NATO and to simultaneously count on improvement of cooperation with Russia." 
       In Riga, the NATO Secretary General argued that NATO enlargement enhanced the security and stability of all countries in the region, including Russia. 
      Robertson refused to predict when Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia might enter NATO—though the Baltics say they hope to win invitations to join as soon as 2002, when NATO is slated to hold its next major summit.
       While consistently denying Russia could veto Baltic membership, NATO has so far said the Baltics aren't yet ready militarily to join. In Riga, however, Robertson praised Baltic efforts to modernize their fledgling armies.  
       Along with entry into the European Union, the Baltic states have long singled out NATO membership as one of their top foreign policy goals, saying the North Atlantic alliance would be the only sure guarantor of their independence.
       
Prime Minister Andris Skele has sold his highly controversial, 100 percent stake in a food processing conglomerate for 29 million dollars, hoping to put to rest charges that he had a blatant conflict of interest.  
       Ever since he became prime minister last July, Skele has been dogged by charges that used economic policy to help bolster the fortunes of the company, New Technology and Business Development Corporation—formerly called Ave Lat. 
       The umbrella group includes some of Latvia's largest food processing plants, like Laima, a leading producer of chocolate candy in the Baltic states, plus Latvia's largest diary and one of its largest breweries. 
       The concern was sold to Bolster Management, which had already been involved in managing New Technology and Business Development Corporation under a blind trust set up by Skele after he became prime minister. 
       The prime minister came under particularly heavy fire for his ownership of the group from Latvia's oil-transit sector, whose leaders have long seen Skele and his association with the food processing industry as a threat. 
       One of Skele's bitterest critics has been the mayor of the port city of Ventspils, Aivars Lembergs—considered the deacon of the country's powerful oil-transit sector. Lembergs and Skele have been arch enemies for years and have frequently been at loggerheads over major economic and political issues.
        They oil/transit-trade barons have blasted Skele's government for devoting too much time and money on producers at the expense of the transit-trade sector. Transit trade, especially of Russian oil bound for the West, accounts for over 10 percent of Latvia's GDP. 
       But aides to the prime minister denied Skele was ever involved in running the food processing group while in office.  

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