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News highlights from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

News Highlights from October 19—October 26, 1998

• Rates of accidental death among children in Latvia, Estonia and Russia are the highest in Europe, some five times higher than in European Union countries—according to a report released on October 21 by a London-based research institute.
         The two Baltic countries and Russia have higher rates of accidental death among children than the other Central and East European countries, including Romania and Albania.
          The report by the European Center for the Health of Societies in Transition said that death by accidental drowning and poisoning accounted for the bulk of the deaths, especially among children under five.
          The report said that if accident rates among children in Latvia, Estonia and Russia were brought down to EU levels, the lives of 32,000 children would be saved each year.
          The report did not arrive at specific conclusions about why child mortality from accidents was so high in the three countries, but suggested that an almost total lack of safety awareness programs was a factor.
          Observers have noted earlier that a severe absence of safety awareness runs throughout all post-Soviet societies and likely contributes to high accident rates across the board.
          Traffic fatality rates in the Baltic countries are also among the highest in the world, some three to four times higher than average rates in Scandinavia.

• Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said in a speech in Washington on October 21 that NATO should clarify its position vis-à-vis Baltic membership.
          Adamkus echoed concerns expressed across the Baltics that NATO’s so called open-door policy was ill-defined.
          “We would like to hear something more definite, a description of how NATO feels about the reality of today,” Adamkus told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “If the door is closed, we would like (NATO policy makers) to tell us.”
          All three Baltic states have made NATO membership one of their highest foreign policy goals. But while NATO has already invited Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to become members, apprehension has been expressed about Baltic membership because Moscow opposes it so vehemently.

• Russia claimed on October 22 that it had captured and expelled what it said was an Estonian spy.
          Moscow officials said they caught 48-year-old Ville Sonn outside a Russian military instillation near the Russian-Estonian border and that he had admitted to being an Estonian spy.
          “It was determined that he was fulfilling tasks for Estonian special services,” a Russian statement said.
          Russia, however, said it released the Estonian because he had confessed and because Moscow wanted to maintain good relations with Estonia.
         In a brief statement by the Estonian foreign ministry, a spokesperson denied that Sonn was working on Estonia’s behalf and also suggested that the alleged spy was mentally ill.
         “In the present circumstances, we are dealing with a person who is mentally unbalanced,” the official said. “To speak of any spy scandal would be inappropriate.”
         Several years ago, Sonn wrote an article in an Estonian newspaper claiming that he had once worked as an agent for the KGB. His apparent association with Soviet intelligence in the past prompted speculation in the Estonian press that the alleged spying incident was concocted by Moscow to discredit Estonia.

• One year after dramatic crashes on Baltic stock exchanges, prices are still showing few signs of recovery.
         For most of last year, prices on Baltic markets, especially on the Tallinn Stock Exchange, were outperforming markets everywhere in Europe. Prices of some blue-chip stocks more than doubled from the beginning to the middle of 1997.
         But the steep price rises ended abruptly on October 23 of last year when share values on the Estonian exchange plummeted by more than 15 percent in just a few hours of trading. Over the next month, prices dropped by almost 50 percent.
          The Latvian and Lithuanian markets followed the downward trend set on the Estonian exchange, which had long been the engine driving movement on regional share markets.
          Analysts say the 1997 crash was prompted by fears about Baltic current account deficits and about worries that all three countries might have to devalue their currencies. While those fears were short-lived, the crisis in Asia and growing wariness among investors about all emerging-market economies helped keep prices at basement level.
          Many Baltic observers hoped share prices would shoot back up in 1998 as foreigners moved in to buy stocks that were now clearly undervalued. But increasing anxieties about the world financial situation and about the deepening crisis in Russia has precluded any run on Baltic stocks.
          Since January of 1998, prices on all three Baltic exchanges have fallen by 50 percent or more.

• Official results of the recent Latvian parliamentary election were announced by the country’s electoral commission on October 23.
          There were no major changes from the preliminary count.
          As expected, the top vote-getter in the October 3 election was the center-right People’s Party, which drew 21.19 percent of the ballots cast. The winning party, led by ex-Prime Minister Andris Skele, secured 24 seats in the 100-seat parliament.
         Coming in second in the parliamentary poll was the centrist Latvia’s Way with 18.05 percent of the vote, which translates into 21 legislative seats. In third place, was the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom, which received 14.65 percent of the vote.
          Most observers have been betting on a coalition between the People’s Party and Latvia’s Way, plus one smaller party, probably the New Party, which won 7.31 percent of the vote. But coalition talks have been extremely difficult, with parties becoming bogged down in bitter disputes over who should lead a new government.
          The third-place Fatherland and Freedom is also a possible coalition partner. But the right-wing party’s tough stand on citizenship for Russian-speakers may not be compatible with the more moderate programs of the People’s Party and Latvia’s Way.
         The other two parties making it over the five percent threshold to win parliamentary seats have virtually no chance of joining a coalition government. The far-left Harmony coalition won 14.12 percent and the left-wing Social Democrats won 12.81 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission.
         The new parliament is slated to convene on November 3. Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis has expressed frustration about the lack of progress in coalition talks and has said he will name a prime ministerial candidate by November 3 whether or not the main parties have signed a coalition agreement.

 

News Highlights from October 12—October 19, 1998

• Latvia has hailed its invitation to join the World Trade Organization, which was extended by the WTO on October 14. Latvia had been clamoring to join the free-trade club for years and is now the first Baltic nation to get an official invite.
          Latvians said the nod from the WTO shows Latvia is running neck-to-neck with Estonia, which has often been pegged as the most progressive economy in the in the region and which was the first and only Baltic country to win a coveted invite to start talks on European Union membership.
          Both Estonia and Lithuania, welcomed the WTO vote to accept Latvia as a member and said they were also looking forward to hearing from the WTO soon. But it is unclear whether they will get invitations within the current year.
          Estonian officials said an obstacle to their membership was the fact that their trade regime was too liberal for many WTO members. Estonia has virtually no trade tariffs and this makes its WTO membership terms more complex, officials said.
          Latvian Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs said full WTO membership, which will be granted after Latvia's parliament ratifies special WTO protocols, will help woo more foreign investment. He said the increased investment and greater access to markets around the world could add a percentage point or more to Latvian growth figures.
          The foreign minister said accession to the WTO came at a good time, when Latvia was scrambling to find trading markets to replace Russia. Latvian exports to Russia in some sectors have dropped by more than 50 percent in recent months.

• Estonian President Lennart Meri on October 14 appointed Raul Malk, most recently Estonian ambassador to Great Britain, as the country's new foreign minister.
          The 46-year-old Malk, a career diplomat, replaces the outgoing foreign minister, Toomas Ilves. The flamboyant Ilves, an American citizen until 1992, resigned his post last month to devote more time to campaigning for elections in March of next year.
          Ilves was given high marks as foreign minister, especially for his role in winning Estonia an invite to start talks on EU membership. But his close association with opposition parties led to friction within the government and prompted frequent calls for him to step down. His poll ratings have been high, and he is expected to attract significant support in upcoming elections.
          Malk, an extremely affable, easy-going man, is widely respected for his academic, studious approach to international affairs. He was a compromise candidate for the foreign minister's post, and will be asked to maintain the country's foreign policy course, which means membership in the European Union and NATO will remain high priorities. But Malk, who has also served as one of Estonia's main negotiators with Moscow, may also try to focus on relations with Moscow more than his predecessor; Ilves does not speak Russian, and some accused him of devoting too little attention to Russian affairs.

• Latvian legislators have approved a constitutional amendment which, in addition to guaranteeing basic human rights, also enshrines the supremacy of the Latvian language.
          The amendment, adopted by a 74-to-0 vote on October 15, is primarily intended to bring Latvia's constitution in line with European human rights norms and boost its chances of membership in the European Union, Latvian officials said.
          Among other provisions, the amendment ensures equal treatment under the law, guarantees the presumption of innocence in trials and specifically guarantees minorities the right use their mother tongue.
          But declaring Latvian the country's only state language has also upset many Russian-speakers, who make up over 40 percent of Latvia's 2.5 million population. Most speak little or no Latvian.
          The constitutional amendment comes as Latvia's parliament considers a controversial law which would mandate the use of Latvian in many public and even in some private activities.
          Moscow has criticized Latvia's language policies, and has urged the Baltic nation to give Russian equal status. But Latvia says Kremlin policies favoring Russian during 50 years of Soviet rule have endangered Latvian and that the country has every right to protect the local language.
          In practice, lawyers in Latvia said that the new constitutional amendment would help higher courts in the country deal with legislative discrepancies.

• Around 1000 farmers protested in front of the Estonian government building on October 13 to demand increased public support for agriculture.
          At one of the largest rallies in Estonia in recent years, demonstration organizers said farmers had been hard hit by falling prices, a collapse of markets in Russia and also by bad weather.
          "We are not asking for hand-outs," said the head of the Virumaa Meat Association, Urmas Laht, addressing the crowd from the back of a truck. "We only want just pay for our goods...prices are so low now, farmers can't even afford to die."
          Some protesters carried placards denouncing Estonia's radical free-trade policies, including the government's refusal to slap tariffs on agricultural imports. One sign read, "Stop State Stupidity," and another said, "The Market's not Suppose to be Anarchy."
          A petition handed to government officials called for changes to the country's liberal trade policies and also demanded that 1998 be declared an economic catastrophe for agricultural, which could open up access to special state funds.
          Government leaders say they are sympathetic, and promised that they would raise some funds for compensation to farmers, most likely through increased taxes on cigarettes. But they have also said that the need for strict budgetary policies ties their hands and prevents them from offering large-scale aid.
          GDP growth in Estonia has soared in recent years—topping 10 percent in 1997. But farmers have long complained that the boom has been concentrated in the cities and has not benefited them.

• Some five months before scheduled parliamentary elections in Estonia, there are still no clear front-runners among the major political parties.
          In a poll released by the Tallinn-based EMOR research agency on October 16, the Reform Party drew the most support, with 14 percent of respondents saying they would vote for the center-right grouping.
          The Center Party, headed by center-left populist Edgar Savisaar, came in second with 13 percent support. The center-right right Fatherland party had 8 percent support and the Moderates were just at the 5 percent threshold required to win parliamentary seats.
          The ruling Coalition Party and County People's Alliance, buffeted by a long series of corruption scandals and by questions about how effectively the government is managing the economy, drew just 12 percent support.
          The other respondents said they were still undecided or would cast ballots for smaller parties.
          Observers say that the outcome of the Estonian elections will almost certainly follow a pattern set in Latvia earlier this month, with no party winning outright. As in Latvia, the post-election period in Estonia is likely to be distinguished by difficult, even frantic efforts to put together a workable coalition government.

• Suspected Nazi war criminal Aleksandras Lileikis will have to show up in court despite his ailing health, a judge in the case said on October 15.
          Judge Viktoras Kazhys said a ruling earlier in the week by a court-appointed medical panel that the 91-year-old Lileikis could testify gave him no other choice. The panel said that Lileikis was fit enough to testify and to follow the judicial proceedings, but that the stress of a trial could endanger his life.
          Kazhys said a court date will be set for November 5 and that Lileikis would be subpoenaed to appear. The trial of Lileikis on charges of genocide was supposed to begin in mid-September, but was postponed to allow the medical panel time to make its ruling.
          So far, defense lawyers have successfully used the health issue to delay proceedings, and many expect Lileikis to again refuse to attend court on health grounds-even if subpoenaed. Lawyers say their client is suffering from 20 different ailments, including arterial sclerosis, and would have to be brought to court in a bed.
          Lileikis headed the security police in Vilnius during the 1941-44 German occupation, and is accused of handing scores of Jews over to Nazi execution squads. Over 90 percent of Lithuania's 240,000 Jews were killed during Nazi rule.
          Lileikis emigrated to the United States in 1955, and lived in Norwood, Massachusetts, where he worked for a publishing house. He returned to Lithuania in 1996 as a U.S. court took steps to revoke his citizenship and deport him.