Baltic News
News highlights from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Friday—December 13, 2002
COPENHAGEN (CITY PAPER) Baltic leaders heralded their invitations to join the European Union as fulfillment of what once seemed an impossible dream—while others say they're not convinced membership is such a wonderful prospect. “Mr. Repse is in Copenhagen drinking champagne and I am here in Riga drinking Cognac—need I say more?” Peteris Vinkelis, a gleeful advisor to Latvian Prime Minister Einars Repse told Reuters after the invitations were extended Friday in the Danish capital. 
        After complicated talks in Copenhagen—negotiations that at times looked like they might fail—the EU finally asked the three Baltic states and seven other candidate nations to join in May, 2004. The admittance of the 10 news members will make the 25-member EU the largest single trade bloc in the world, with a population of over 450 million and a GDP of some 10 trillion dollars—about equal to the U.S. GDP. Leaders agreed to pay some 42 billion dollars in aid to the newcomers over three years. "Today marks an unprecedented and historic milestone," said a joint communiqué from leaders of the current 15 members. "This achievement testifies to the common determination of the people's of Europe to come together in a Union that has become the driving force for peace democracy, stability and prosperity on our continent." 
       Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania only managed to shake off communism in 1991, two years after the rest of eastern Europe, and their economies were in worse shape—so they were seen as long shots at the start of the race into the EU. But the Baltics wasted little time adopting market reforms after regaining independence during the Soviet collapse, and their economic performances soon surpassed many of those those that won freedom earlier. With a combined population of just over 7 million, the Baltics are also smaller morsels for the EU to swallow—compared to Poland, which, with its 40 million people, is likely to absorb huge chunks of the EU's expansion budget. 
       Joyful EU supporters harkened back to the five dark decades under Soviet rule, when the Baltics seemed largely forgotten and appeared to have no hope of ever taking their seats as the European table as independent nations. Reflecting widespread EU enthusiasm among politicians, the city council in Vilnius announced Friday it would start renaming streets after EU- and NATO-member states to commemorate Lithuania's Western integration 
       But not everyone's celebrating. 
       EU skeptics liken the EU to the Soviet Union, saying it's too bureaucratic and prone to bullying small nations. An anti-EU symbol here is a hammer and sickle amid EU stars; some graffiti spray painted along side streets reads "EU=USSR." "It's a sad day. EU membership will mean the complete loss of our sovereignty," said Uno Silberg, who heads Estonia's No to the EU Movement. Pro-EU officials scoff at the parallel: "It's not the same," Latvian Foreign Minister Sandra Kalnieteshe told the BBC. "We were occupied, incorporated (by the Soviet Union) and I would say it was a kind of rape. And now we are approaching a marriage of love. That will be the difference." 
       The EU invitations come just weeks after the Baltics were also asked to enter the U.S.-led NATO alliance. EU and NATO entry were the two top foreign policy priorities after the Baltics broke free of Moscow's grip. Trivimi Velliste, a former Estonian foreign minister, says the EU and NATO complement each other, one promising growth and the other security. "The EU is good life," he said. "NATO is life." 
       Many opened champagne to celebrate pending membership in NATO—seen as offering a protective wing for the Baltics to snuggle under. But reactions Friday among the average man and woman on the street seemed more subdued, with many still questioning the benefits of EU entry. Pro-EU Estonian legislator Toomas Ilves said qualifying for NATO—while challenging—wasn't quite as painful as overhauling state institutions and adopting 80,000 pages of EU laws. Hence some of the grudges about the EU. "Joining NATO is like buying a very expensive suit of armor that you have to get in shape to be able to wear," he said. "Joining the EU is like having every bone in your body broken, then you get a new skeleton."
       Last-minute EU membership talks focused on a range of issues, including the level of EU aid to Baltic farmers and whether hunters in this heavily forest, sparsely populated region could keep shooting lynx; they were told they could. Lithuania had to agree, with some reluctance, to close its one atomic power plant, the Soviet-built Ignalina, because it poses an environmental threat. Some Lithuanians say that will lead to higher electricity costs. 
       Advocates say the advantages of joining outweigh any minuses. Businesses may have to grappled with EU red tape, backers argue, but the trade-off will be better access to EU markets and more incoming investment; valuations of Baltic companies, as will as local stock prices, are expected to rise. Tests of whether average Balts buy such arguments from their overwhelmingly pro-EU Baltic governments will come in 2003, when all three states are expected to hold EU-membership referendums. There's at least a chance they could fail. EU polls pegged Estonia and Latvia as the most skeptical of all candidate nations, with only a third of those asked saying entry would be "a good thing;" other surveys say around 55 percent would vote yes in referendums when the time comes. Pro-EU forces can take comfort in the state of the opposition: it features just a string of ragtag groups. And while governments can be expected to spend millions pushing for yes-votes, anti-EU groups have little to no funds. Most analysts say it's unlikely Baltic voters, even doubters, will choose to shun one of the world's most powerful multinational blocs. But skeptics vowed to put up a good fight before any referendums. 

Thursday—December 12, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) A tanker carrying some 50,000 tons of fuel oil has run aground off the Lithuanian coast, though officials say its hull didn't appear to be damaged and that it wasn't leaking. The Princess Pia, sailing under a Panamanian flag and owned by the Argentinean-based Boldwin Maritime, became stuck on the seabed at around 17:30 Wednesday. 
        It had just set sail for Singapore from Klaipeda, a port city 300 kilometers northwest of Vilnius. Authorities said a tugboat had been guiding it out of the main Klaipeda harbor when the tanker inexplicably took a wrong turn and ran aground. Tugboats failed to dislodge the 250-meter vessel Wednesday; officials said they'd pump all the oil from the ship as a precaution before again trying to free it. 
        The 23-year-old Princess Pia is double-hulled, which is considered safer than the one-hulled tankers that environmentalists say are prone to leaking. The threat posed by single-hull tankers was highlighted by the sinking of the Prestige last month, causing an ecological disaster along Spain's coast.

Wednesday—December 11, 2002 
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian police have charged a 19-year-old student with hacking into several key servers, including one belonging to a firm that plans computer security for government agencies. Police arrested Lauri Nomme last month and he's expected to remain in jail for at least several more days; he was formally charged with three counts of computer theft Tuesday, according to police spokesman Indrek Raudjalg. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, or a monetary fine. Raudjalg said additional indictments could be handed down later against the student at Tallinn's Technical University.
       The charges were among the first filed for computer-related crimes
since this Internet savvy nation regained independence. After communism, Estonia went from having almost no computers to developing one of Europe's most advanced IT infrastructures. Over two-thirds of bank customers in Estonia, for instance, regularly carry out transactions online. Police set up a new computer-crimes division this past July, "and so we expect to have more such cases in the future," the spokesman said. 
       Raudjalg said investigators found incriminating evidence on Nomme's home computer, which also indicted he'd broken into a local high-school server. But Raudjalg declined to confirm reports in Wednesday's Postimees daily that the teenager stole passwords giving him access to confidential state data—including of Estonia's Boarder Guard. "The investigation's ongoing," he said. Police are usually quick to release anyone arrested for nonviolent crimes pending trial. But Raudjalg said authorities feared Nomme might try to destroy evidence if he got to a computer.

Tuesday—December 10, 2002
COPENHAGEN (CITY PAPER) The Baltic states have wound down membership negotiations with the European Union—intensive, complicated talks that have been ongoing for several years—and were expected to win historic invitations to join the 15-nation bloc this Thursday. The Baltic governments, and other candidate countries from around eastern Europe, engaged in sometimes-heated, late-night negotiations in Copenhagen to come to a final settlement on money that would be paid to and by the the EU. Final discussions revolved around the amount of money that would be earmarked to fund enlargement in 2004-06; the 10 candidates urged that as much as 43 billion dollars should be paid out, while some key EU donors wanted to spend less. Combined, the Baltics could get well over 5 billion dollars, though they would also have to pay membership fees into the EU. Some news agencies reported that Baltic officials were holding out for higher farm subsidies to the apparent annoyance of EU officials—who said the matter had already been decided and was no longer open for debate. Last minute talks also ranged down to whether Latvians could continue to hunt wild lynx cats; the EU agree that they could. Final membership terms should be known within the next day or two.

Monday—December 9, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Nikolai Tess, 80, failed to appear in a Latvian court Monday to face charges that he helped deport 138 people, including a five-month-old baby, after Red Army troops occupied this small Baltic nation in the 1940s. His lawyers, as they'd done during two other scheduled trial openings, said their client was too ill to show. The defense team has repeatedly requested that the proceedings be halted on health grounds, arguing that the strain of the trial could kill Tess; they say he suffers from a severe heart ailment and is bed-ridden in the hospital.
       Prosecutors say they are prepared to present deportation papers signed by Tess as evidence; the infant and also an 80-year-old woman were on his list of deportees, they said. The events allegedly took place in 1949, five years after Soviet forces invaded Latvia at the end of World War II. Tens of thousands of Latvians at the time were exiled to Siberia, where many died in the harsh conditions. 
       His indictment renewed Russian criticism of proceedings against ex-Stalinist agents, around 10 of whom have been indicted or convicted since Latvia regained independence. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement last year referred to Tess by name and mentioned others suspects. It said the men were "helpless...disabled war veterans" who couldn't be held accountable for actions that weren't illegal at the time under Soviet law. Latvians dismissed the criticism, saying the prosecutions were based on international law and aimed primarily at shedding light on the dark Stalinist era. "How can you justify the deportation of children and old people? What did a five-year-old baby do to deserve being deported?" said Dzintra Subrovska, a prosecutor spokeswoman. 

Thursday—December 5, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland indicated Thursday that she backs calls to seek damage payments from Moscow for five decades of often harsh Soviet rule. She said Estonia could set up a commission this month to accept requests for compensation from survivors jailed or deported to Siberia—usually after being packed in cattle trains—following the 1940 Red Army invasion. Spokesmen for Prime Minister Siim Kallas's office, however, said the issue was not on the agenda—calling into question whether Estonia would push the initiative forward.
       Lithuania in 2000 asked Moscow to pay it 20 billion dollars for Soviet-era abuses; the Lithuanian figure was equivalent to eight times its national budget. Lithuania's laundry list of damages included the deportation of 100,000 people and the destruction of dozens of churches in the mainly Catholic nation.
       Russia flatly rejected Lithuania's damages bill, saying it wasn't to blame to for Soviet actions. It also suggested that the Baltic states benefited from Soviet rule, including from the construction of new roads and ports. Lithuania countered by pointing to payments paid by Germany to World War II victims, even though later German leaders didn't participate in Nazi atrocities 
       Most concede it's highly unlikely Russia will ever pay the Baltic states any compensation at all. Marko Mihkelson, a leading Russian affairs analyst in Estonia, said Thursday that the timing for any such compensation claims couldn't be worse; he said bilateral relations were only beginning to improve. "We had five or six years in a Cold War-like situation and we were just coming out of this now," he said. "Any little thing like this can ruin these positive trends."

Tuesday—December 3, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER) A report released by the World Population Foundation predicts that Latvia's population, at current demographic trends, will reduce from its current 2.4 million to just 1.7 million people in 50 years. In all three Baltic states, there are more deaths each year than births. But the WPF report singled out Latvia as having the worst demographic figures in northern Europe. 

Friday—November 29, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvian TV has chosen last year's Eurovision winner Marija Naumova and BrainStorm's lead singer Renars Kaupers to host the 2003 Song Contest in Riga. The two were earlier rumored to be the frontrunners for the prestigious job. Over 150 million viewers are expected to watch the show, one of Europe's biggest television events of the year. (For full reports on Latvia's Eurovision win this year, plus articles on Naumova and Kaupers, see CITY PAPER's full Song Contest site at http://www.balticsww.com/eurovision.html )

Tuesday—November 26, 2002
Analysis—Parlez Vous into the EU—Recent confirmation that Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas is studying French has prompted admiration but also suspicion that he's bucking for a new job-at European Union headquarters in Brussels. Kallas has been taking private language lessons in his office several days a week over the past year, spokeswoman Hanna Henrikus said.
       Estonians who oppose membership in the 15-nation EU have long argued that one reason leaders like Kallas are so enthusiastic about joining is because they could land lucrative jobs in the bloc's head office once Estonia's in. But Henrikus emphatically denied Kallas had a job in mind at the EU, where French is one of the main working languages. Influential France also strongly favors candidates for top EU posts who can speak French. "It's not true. He just really likes France and French culture," Henrikus said when asked whether Kallas might have his eye on a future EU position. "The idea is to learn something new. He's very interested in foreign languages." She added that Kallas-who, in addition to his native Estonian, also speaks English, Finnish and Russian fluently-understood that speaking some French would help foster better bilateral relations with Francophone nations. 
      The apparent rush to pick up some French isn't limited to Kallas. His immediate predecessor as prime minister, the staunchly pro-EU Mart Laar, is reportedly also studying French. Employees at Estonia's foreign ministry have also been required to achieve some level of proficiency in French. 
      Estonian ministers, including the prime minister, make less than 50,000 dollars a year. EU officials, even lower level ones, can make several times that. 
       At least two avid EU backers won't have a problem making the grade in French: Former Estonian President Lennart Meri spent part of his childhood in Paris and speaks fluent French; and current Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga spent much of her adult life in Canada and her French is said to be virtually flawless.

Monday—November 25, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) George Bush congratulated the Baltic states on their invitations to join NATO during a weekend visit to Lithuania. Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at a square in Vilnius on Saturday, Bush vowed that the Baltic nations would never be abandoned in times of crisis. "In the face of aggression, the brave people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will never again stand alone," he said. In response, thousands of Lithuanians who'd gathered to hear him, began chanting "aciu! aciu! aciu!" which means "thank you" in Lithuanian. Bush added, "This is a great day in the history of Lithuania, in the history of the Baltics, in the history of NATO and in the history of freedom." (See previous story below on the historic invitations issued by NATO to the Baltic states last week.) During his short stopover in Vilnius—the first ever visit by a U.S. president to Lithuania—Bush also held a brief meeting with all three Baltic presidents. He presented his host, Lithuanian president and former U.S. citizen Valdas Adamkus, with a basketball signed "My very best" by Michael Jordan; Adamkus lived in the Chicago area for several decades and remains an avid Chicago Bulls fan.

Tuesday—November 19, 2002
KURESSAARE (CITY PAPER) One of the largest humanity crimes trials since the collapse of the Soviet Union began Tuesday in Estonia, with eight former Stalin-era agents facing charges that they deported over 400 islanders in the 1940s. The trial on Saaremaa, where the events occurred after the Red Army occupied Estonia, has been widely anticipated among the island's close-knit, 40,000 residents. Saar County Court in Kuressaare—200 kilometers southwest of Tallinn—even rented a conference hall to accommodate all the attendees, including 200 witnesses; days earlier, a circus performed there. "This trial's about justice, not revenge," said Henno Kuurmann, spokesman for investigators who spent three years on the case—drawing on KGB secret police files found after Estonia regained independence during the 1991 Soviet collapse. 
       The ex-agents, in their 70s and 80s, are accused of dispatching purported enemies of the new communist regime on ferries and cattle trains fit with bars to Siberia, over 2000 kilometers away; children were among those exiled. Some 20,000 Estonians—mainly well-to-do farmers—were deported nationwide at the time, in March 1949. Many later perished in the harsh conditions.
      The accused have publicly declared their innocence, with several arguing that they didn't violate any laws in effect at the time in the Soviet Union. "You know, life was different then," one defendant, Albert Kolga, was quoted as telling Estonia's Postimees daily last month. "I didn't break any laws." 
If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of life in prison. Saaremaa deportee Juta Vessik argued that the men should be given some jail time—despite their ages. "Let them try jail for themselves," the same edition of Postimees quoted her as saying. "After all, they deported old people—even babies." Only one out of half-a-dozen agents convicted here, Karl-Leonhard Paulov, went to jail. The 77-year-old died this past February after serving one year of an eight-year term. 
       The accused are Vladimir Kask, 76; Pyotr Kislyi, 81; Viktor Martson, 81, Heino Laus, 75; Stephan Nikeyev, 78; Rudolf Sasask, 76; August Kolk, 77, and Kolga, 78. Kask, Sasask and Laus didn't show in court Tuesday, citing ill health. Tuesday's trial was devoted to procedural matters; the 300-page indictment would be read out word for word later this week and the defendants would then enter pleas, according to Kuurmann. He said all would likely plead not guilty.
       At least 15 million people were killed and some 40 million deported _ including more than 200,000 from the Baltics—by the vast communist secret police apparatus during Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's iron-fisted rule. After regaining, all three Baltic states, including Latvia and Lithuania, vowed to prosecute anyone who took part Soviet atrocities. No other ex-Soviet republics have held similar proceedings. Russia has repeatedly denounced the trials as revenge against ailing old men and it has sent its Baltic-based diplomats to observe trials of those carrying Russian passports. It's also helped cover the defense costs of some accused. Kuurmann said several of the men indicted in Saaremaa do hold Russian passports, though he said he couldn't immediately name them. He said diplomats from Moscow's embassy in Tallinn attended Tuesday's trial. 

Monday—November 18, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Nazi hunting groups placed advertisements in several newspapers in Lithuania over the weekend offering a 10,000-dollar reward for evidence leading to the prosecution of anyone who participated in the Holocaust during World War II. "Jews of Lithuania did not disappear! They were mercilessly massacred in Vilnius, Kaunas, Siauliai and over 100 other places of mass murder," read the text of the large black-and-white ad, featuring a photograph of Nazis beating Jews to death. The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Miami-based Targum Shlishi Foundation designed and paid for the advertisement, which included contact telephone numbers of the Lithuanian prosecutors office. Efraim Zuroff, head of the Wiesenthal Center's Jerusalem office, announced the project to offer money-for-evidence this summer during a visit to Lithuania; he dubbed the project "Operation Last Chance."

Thursday—November 14, 2002
PANEVEZYS (CITY PAPER) A 24-year-old female prisoner Thursday won what was billed as the world's first prison beauty pageant—dubbed Miss Captivity—to select Lithuania's most attractive woman currently serving jail time. (See contest photo here.) The slender, black-haired inmate, held back tears as she accepted her crown inside the Panevezys Penal Labor Colony and before a nationally televised audience. "I can't believe it...it's like a dream," she said. "I hope it will change my life for the better." The winner used the pseudonym Samanta and declined to give her real name, saying she didn't want to jeopardize her plans to start a modeling career after she's released; she also wouldn't say why she'd been sentenced to four years in jail. The high-security facility holds nearly 500 inmates, including convicted murders; it's in the city of Panevezys, some 150 kilometers north of Vilnius. 
       Miss Captivity 2002 fought off challenges from seven other finalists, selected from 38 applicants. The final included a swimsuit competition where inmates appeared in flashy black-leather bikinis with matching knee-high boots; there was also a wedding gown and evening wear section. Top Lithuanian fashion designers made the contestants' clothes, and local dignitaries served as judges. In addition to the questionable honor of being crowned Miss Captivity, the winner and runners-up will be presented with 10,000 litas, some 2,500 dollars, in prizes—though they can only receive them after completing their jail terms.
       Television producer Arunas Valinskas organized the contest in cooperation with prison officials. Authorities excused participating detainees from working in the penitentiary's sewing factory during the week of the contest. (See a photo of the winner, here.)

Wednesday—November 13, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania signed an agreement with the United States Wednesday to buy the sophisticated Stinger anti-aircraft missile system—the first Baltic state to purchase the high-tech weaponry. Under the agreement, signed in Vilnius by Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius and U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania John Tefft, Lithuania will acquire 60 missiles and 8 launching pads for 31 million dollars. Tefft said the purchase was a "big step both to assure the defense of the people of Lithuania and to prepare Lithuania's armed forces to participate fully in NATO operations." Lithuanian officials said the Stingers will reinforce Lithuania's overall airborne defense capabilities and also help protect Lithuania's sole nuclear plant, the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, from attack. Stinger missiles are close-range, land-to-air missiles equipped with infrared rays that enable warheads to find their target by seeking out heat emissions. 

Friday—November 8, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Einars Repse is no longer packen' a pistol—as he's done for years—now that he has become Latvia's new prime minister. The 41-year-old bachelor, approved as premier on Thursday, has said he doesn't see the need to carry a small holstered gun beneath his pin-strip suit since he now has a team of permanent bodyguards. His spokesmen said that he carried a gun for much of the recent political campaign, apparently fearing that his years high up in Latvia's banking sector made him any number of enemies. No high-level politicians have been assassinated in Latvia, though a few businessmen and one judge have been gunned down over the past several years. 

Thursday—November 7, 2002  
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvian parliamentarians approved a new center-right government Thursday. Their approval came, as expected, just days after 41-year-old former Central Bank president and New Era leader Einars Repse was nominated as prime minister. The 100-seat Saeima legislature okayed Repse and his Cabinet by 55 votes to 43; there was one abstention.
       The pro-business Cabinet is one of the youngest in Latvian history, reflecting Repse's own relative youth and his youthful following. A handful of ministers are in their thirties, including 31-year-old Finance Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and Interior Minister Maris Gulbis, who is also 31. BNS reported that the average age of the Cabinet members was 39.
       New Era, which has 26 seats, formed a government with the center-right First Party, the centrist Green and Farmer's Union and right-wing Fatherland and Freedom—giving the coalition 55 seats. 

Wednesday—November 6, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Russia has agreed to return a pre-war presidential badge to Estonia 62 years after Soviet forces spirited the symbol of Estonian state power out of the country when they invaded, officials confirmed Wednesday. Estonia repeatedly asked Moscow to hand back the large, gold-plated badge after this nation regained its independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991—but Moscow refused without explanation. The surprise announcement that the Kremlin would now give it up after ten years of Estonian lobbying was made Tuesday by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko at the end of a two-day visit to Tallinn. 
While Matviyenko—who headed a delegation of trade officials—didn't say why Russia had a change of heart now, Estonians heralded the decision. In an editorial headlined "Better Late Than Never," Estonia's Postimees daily newspaper said the Russian move was a friendly gesture in a bilateral relationship that's often been strained. Estonian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anneli Kimber said diplomats still must finalize details about how and when the badge—which Russian officials have kept for decades at the Oruzheinaya Palace museum within the Kremlin's very walls—will be turned over. "But we see this as a very positive move," she said Wednesday.
       After the Red Army occupied and forcibly annexed Estonia in 1940, hundreds of emblems of Estonian independence were destroyed or taken to Russia in a bid to consolidate Soviet power here. The presidential badge was seen by many as the most precious item lost. "This was one of the most important symbols of the Estonian state and it was robbed by the Soviets. It's good they'll finally give it back," said Toomas Hiio, a leading Estonian historian. 
       Pre-war Estonian President Konstantin Pats—who regularly wore the heavy, sapphire-jeweled badge around his neck at state functions in the 1930s—was jailed in 1940 and later died in detention; Russia returned his body to Estonia for reburial in 1990. The office of current Estonian President Arnold Ruutel said he could renew the tradition of wearing the badge when it's returned from Moscow. 
       Russia consistently refused requests to turn over historical artifacts, including the presidential badge and other artwork, that were pillaged from museums and private homes during 50 years of Soviet rule. Many Estonians have argued for years that their return would help the country reclaim its history and contribute to reconciliation with their giant eastern neighbor. 

Friday—November 1, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Edgar Savisaar, the leader of the center-left Center Party, was reelected mayor of Estonia's most influential city Friday. Savisaar will lead a two-party coalition, including the center-right Reform Party, and can rely on an dominant 43-seat majority in the 63-seat Tallinn council. Savisaar, once discredited for allegedly tape-recording his rivals in secret, has made a dramatic political comeback over the past several years. His Center Party—which also shares power nationally with the Reform Party—made the largest gains in the October 20 local election, while most center-right parties fared poorly. Savisaar, despite his controversial background, is touted as the odds-on favorite to become the country's next prime minister following March 2 parliamentary elections. 

Thursday—October 31, 2002 
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Judges handed down a guilty verdict Thursday against 81-year-old Juri Karpov, saying he helped deport 41 people, including several children, to Siberia after the Soviet Union occupied this Baltic state in the 1940s. Tallinn's City Court, citing his advanced age, gave him an eight-year suspended sentence and fined him 3,700 kroons (about 230 dollars). For his conviction of crimes against humanity, he faced a maximum penalty of life in prison.
       Prosecutors said the ex-Stalinist agent delivered whole families deemed enemies of the new communist regime to cattle trains specially fitted with iron bars and barbed wire for their human cargo. After a 2000-kilometer journey to their internment areas, three died in the harsh conditions of exile. The deportations took place in March 1949, when Soviet forces shipped over 20,000 Estonian to the far-flung corners of Russia. 
       Evidence presented in court included deportation orders with Karpov's signature—culled from a cellar KGB archive that was opened to the public after Estonia regained independence. While admitting he worked for the NKVD police—the precursor of the notorious KGB—Karpov maintained his innocence, saying the archive documents placed him at locations he'd never been. He said Thursday he'd appeal. "I did not belong to the circle of people informed about or preparing for the (deportation) operation," Karpov, wearing a blue double-breasted suit and sporting thick bifocals, told the court earlier this week.
       Karpov lives in Tallinn but holds a Russian passport—as do thousands of Russians who settled here during Soviet rule. He's one of some 20 ex-agents, mostly Estonian citizens, charged over the past decade. All three Baltics vowed to prosecute those who took part in Soviet atrocities, saying the main aim was to shed light on the Stalin era. None of the other nations that emerged from the Soviet collapse held similar proceedings.
       Russia has repeatedly denounced such trials as revenge against ailing old men. It's sent diplomats to observe trials of those carrying Russian passports and helped cover defense costs of the accused, including in Karpov's case. Spokesmen at Russia's embassy in Tallinn declined to comment Thursday on the court's verdict.

RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvia's population has shrunk by 12 percent over the past ten years as a result of Russians returning to Russia and a falling birth rate, Latvia's statistics office reported Thursday. From 1991 to 2001 the national population decreased by 321,000 people and now officially stands at 2,345,768. In 2001, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 13,300. On the bright side for those worried about the country's demographic situation, the pace of population reduction has slowed since 1995, officials said. Estonia and Lithuania have seen similar falls in population. 

Monday—October 21, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Updated Monday afternoon—The center-left Center Party, led by controversial former Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar, scored a decisive victory in Sunday's local election— demonstrating the party's strength going into national elections in March. In the all-important race in Tallinn, by far the largest and most influential city in Estonia, the Center Party won an outright majority of 32 seats on the 63-seat Tallinn City Council; it had over 38 percent of the popular vote. In the outgoing Tallinn administration, the Center Party was in a coalition with the center-right Reform Party; Savisaar was mayor. The Center Party now appears to hold all the cards and could choose to say thanks but no thanks to Reform, which also shares power with the Center Party in the national government. Reform came third in the Tallinn election, winning 15 percent of the vote, translating into 11 seats.
       Election campaigning seemed largely devoid of issues and was dominated instead by the personalities of party leaders, with Center trying to portray Savisaar as a man of the people looking out for the little guy. The Center Party had by far the most comprehensive and effective advertising campaign, with many analysts saying it vastly outspent all the other competing parties. Their main slogan, which was also plastered on billboards featuring Savisaar sitting at a chess board, was: "With Us, You Win!" It and other parties attempted to outdo each other promising subsidies to pensioners and children. Voters had expressed disgust about the prevalence of simplistic ads and turnout for the election was a relatively low 52 percent. 
       In the election, the newcomer center-right party Res Publica also roared onto the political stage, coming in second in Tallinn and doing well in dozens of other local races; it won 21 percent of the vote in Tallinn, or 17 council seats. The success of Res Publica—which campaigned on "ending politics as usual" and stamping out corruption—appears to have come at the expense of other center-right groups. Recent ruling parties Pro Patria and Moderates both failed to land any seats at all in Tallinn, considered a major humiliation for two parties that have played such pivotal roles in national government. Pro Patria won just 7 percent of the vote and the Moderates just under 5 percent. Res Publica's success in its first-ever election seems to herald its arrival as a force nationally and it is likely to be seen as one of the chief challengers to the clear front-runner Center Party heading into parliamentary elections. 
       The only other party to have won seats in Tallinn was the Russian-dominated Estonian United People's Party, which won around 8 percent of the vote and three seats. 
       Questions may also now arise about how the local results might affect the national coalition comprising of Center and Reform. Their unlikely cooperation in national government was partly based on their cooperation in Tallinn. But now that Center can go it alone without Reform in the capital city, it may try to at least gain more leverage within the Cabinet of Prime Minister Siim Kallas, who heads the Reform Party. Savisaar, who was forced to resign as Interior Minister in the mid-1990s for allegedly secretly tape recording his political rivals, is widely believed to have his eye becoming prime minister after the 2003 national election. Many analysts said his showing in the local election puts that goal well within Savsiaar's reach.  

Tuesday—October 15, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Move over Miss Universe, make room for Miss Captivity, one of the latest and least likely of beauty contests—to pick the most attractive female inmate currently serving jail time in Lithuania. The organizer of the event, television producer Arunas Valinskas, announced this week that he has finalized a deal with the country's sole female prison and already accepted applications from 36 would-be title holders. "We'll attempt to find beauty where you might think there is none," he told a news conference Monday. "The prisoners are, after all, women first and foremost."
       The prison, the Panevezys Penal Labor Colony, holds over 1,000 inmates, including convicted murderers; it's in the city of Panevezys, some 150 kilometers north of Vilnius. Prison officials said participating detainees would be excused from working in the penitentiary's sewing factory during the week of the contest.
       The competition, said to be the first of its kind in the world, would be shown live on Lithuania's private LNK TV. Valinskas said the likely contest date was Nov. 15 but that it was subject to change by several days. Top Lithuanian fashion designers would make the contestants' clothes and local VIPs would serve as the judges, selecting a winner based on "beauty and elegance," Valinskas said. In addition to what many might see as the dubious honor of being crowned Miss Captivity, the winner and runners up would qualify for 10,000 litas, about 2,500 dollars, in prizes—though they'd only receive them after completing their jail terms.

Monday—October 7, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER)—Updated since Saturday and Sunday reports with latest figures from the Latvian Election Commission; includes endnote on the full breakdown of parliamentary seats —The upstart New Era, a pro-business party founded less than a year ago, will almost certainly form the core of a new Latvian government after its triumph in parliamentary elections Saturday; it won some 24 percent of the vote, more than any other single party. The center-right group, headed by the brainy if slightly colorless former Central Banker Einars Repse, was taking the lead Monday in forming the next ruling coalition that would likely see Repse himself as prime minister. Its take of the vote translated to 26 seats, well short of a majority, so it will face days of tough negotiations to stitch together a workable administration from the fragmented 100-seat Saeima. New Era's campaign often focused on stamping out corruption in government, though it widely agrees with Latvia’s long-standing pro-EU and pro-NATO policies; Repse, a 41-year-old bachelor, is regarded as a no-nonsense fiscal conservative and an all-round financial whiz.
       The left-wing For Human Rights, which draws most of its support from the country's million-strong Russian-speakers, came in second place with about 19 percent of the vote—but it was the only distinctly leftist group to make it through. It has 24 seats and with no political allies in the legislature it will be relegated to the roll of permanent opposition for the next four- year session.
       The center-right People's Party, headed by industrialist Andris Skele, was third with some 17 percent of the vote; that amounted to 21 parliamentary seats. Repse has expressed strong doubts in the past about cooperating with the People's Party, which otherwise seems like a logical coalition partner for New Era. But Repse sounded more conciliatory as campaigning came to a close and he may be quick to put his reservations aside now that the prime minister's post is well within his grasp. He has accused People's of engaging in corruption and frequently blasted People's Party leaders in stump speeches. New Era would be even less likely to work in any way with the socialist-oriented, pro-Russia For Human Rights.
       One of the decisive losers in the Saturday election was Latvia's Way, one of three ruling parties in the outgoing government along with People's and the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom. With nearly 100 percent of the vote counted, it looked like it wouldn't even scrape together the 5 percent of votes needed to enter the legislature. That's a humiliation for a party that has been part of every single Latvian government since independence in 1991. Latvia's Way, headed by current Prime Minister Andris Berzins, was apparently penalized by voters for being so closely associated with the discredited establishment; it also had to enact many of the hard-hitting reforms that rescued the economy but left many struggling to make ends meet. "We have, it seems, completed our stage of the road and many want us to pass on the baton," Latvia Way's Ivars Godmanis was quoted as telling Reuters.
       Fatherland and Freedom appeared to make it just across the threshold giving it seats in parliament, drawing just over 5 percent of the ballots cast. In addition to New Era, there are two other newly founded parties that made it into parliament for the first time: the centrist alliance of Greens and Farmers, and the Christian Latvia's First Party—both of which won around 10 percent of the vote. Repse could reach out to these three smaller parties to try to put together a government without the People's Party. It would be virtually impossible, given the distribution of seats, for People's to take the lead itself in forming a majority government that would lock out New Era.
       Turnout for the parliamentary poll, the fourth since 1991, was nearly 75 percent.

Makeup of the new, 100-seat Saeima parliament:

Fatherland and Freedom (rightwing)............ 7 seats
Christian Latvia’s First Party (center-right) .. 10 seats
People's Party (center-right)......................... 21 seats
New Era (center-right) ................................ 26 seats
Greens and Farmers alliance (centrist) ........ 12 seats
For Human Rights (leftwing) ........................ 24 seats

The first five parties above are all potential coalition partners, all with roughly similar views on big policy questions. Which parties are in or out of a new government may come down to which party leaders can get along personally; New Era's Repse and People's Party leader Skele are thought to dislike each other.

Friday—October 4, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Latvians go to the polls Saturday to elect a new parliament—though the outcome is far from clear. Two center-right parties, the People's Party and New Era, have both shown up at the top of opinion polls with about 15 percent support each. The left-wing For Human Rights has placed third in most polls, with about 13 percent support. One decisive loser is expected to be the center-right Latvia's Way, which has played an integral part in every Latvian government since the restoration of independence in 1991; it has consistently failed to draw more than 5 percent backing in most pre-election surveys. Around 20 parties are listed on the ballot, though only half of them are seen as having any chance of winning enough votes to enter the 100-seat Saeima legislature. 
       The campaign has tended to focus less on issues than on the personalities of the various party leaders; accusations and counter-accusations of corruption have also featured prominently. New Era, founded less than a year ago, is headed by Einars Repse, Latvia's brainy if dull former central bank president; Repse has pledged to clean up government if he comes to power. The strong showing of his brand new party will be the focus of attention in the election, though there are questions about whether he'll be in a position to join a coalition government. He has ruled out cooperation with what should otherwise be a natural political partner, the People's Party, saying its leaders aren't trustworthy; People's is headed by Andris Skele, a former prime minister who is closely associated with some of Latvia's most powerful industries. 
       The first election results aren't expected until the early morning hours of Sunday. But it could take days or even weeks before a new coalition government takes shape from what will almost certainly be a badly fragmented legislature. Most bets are that Latvia will get yet another center-right government, though center-left groups could hold the balance of power if they fare better than expected.
       All the main parties support Latvia's pro-West policies, though some members of the For Human Rights bloc have complained bitterly that the country has devoted far too much time and money to the NATO and European Union membership bids. Over a quarter of the electorate are Russian-speakers, and many are expected to back For Human Rights and other left-wing groups. 
       The current government is a three-party coalition that includes Latvia's Way, the People's Party and the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom. Prime Minister Andris Berzins belongs to Latvia's Way. The government has been viewed as competent but has consistently failed to prompt much enthusiasm among the Latvian public. In the lead-up to the election the ruling parties have also bickered between themselves. 
       (Election results will be posted on this site soon after they are released. For more details, you can also check the Latvian Central Election Commission website for detailed updates, here.) 

Thursday—October 3, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) When Rolandas Paksas said he would engage in a campaign stunt, he wasn't kidding. The former Lithuanian Prime Thursday launched his campaign for president, that is, by climbing into a turboprop stunt plane and flying it under a bridge in front of hundreds of onlookers. 
        The daredevil maneuver, considered among the most dangerous aerial stunts, went smoothly, the candidate's red Yak-50 dipping under the 7-meter high gap between the water and the overhang, then powering high above the Neris River near Vilnius. Two other planes also took part, swooping below the bridge in unison with the 46-year-old Paksas—the logo of his center-right Liberal Democratic Party, an eagle in flight, clearly visible on the wings. 
       The candidate cum pilot is considered a strong contender for the December 22 presidential election, though incumbent Valdas Adamkus is favored to win. Paksas was prime minister briefly in 1999, then again in 2001; as premier, security officials prohibited him from flying his plane, saying it was too dangerous. 

Wednesday—October 2, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) The center-left Center Party, headed by controversial Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar, looks set to score the biggest gains in upcoming local elections, according to an opinion poll released Wednesday. The Market Research polling agency reported that 32 percent of 500 voters asked in September said they would support Savisaar's populist party, which also shares power on the national level with the center-right Reform Party. The Reform Party itself is the second most popular party, with 15 percent backing. This level of support for the two ruling parties would ensure that their coalition in the Tallinn city government remains in place. 
       The main opposition parties, the center-right Pro Patria Union and the centrist Moderates both registered a mere 5 percent backing in the poll; the newly established Res Publica, a center-right group, would win 7 percent of the vote if the local election were held today, Market Research said. 
      The October 20 municipal election will be a measure of the popularity of the current Center-Reform Party Estonian government and may also indicate how the ruling-government partners will fare in national elections six months from now. Many Estonians have expressed concern that Savisaar—forced to step down as Interior Minister several years ago amid allegations he secretly tape-recorded his rivals—is now well positioned to become prime minister after the March parliamentary election.

Tuesday—October 1, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvia's three-party coalition government is facing a crisis just days before the October 5 election after Interior Minister Mareks Seglins was sacked for allegedly using his office to crack down on political opponents. The murky scandal has prompted rampant talk of conspiracies and counter-conspiracies but it appears that it won't topple the outgoing government as its term comes to an end. 
       Prime Minister Andris Berzins, of Latvia's Way, fired Seglins, from the People's Party, after police detained two members of Latvia's Way because of leaflets they had printed alleging criminal activity by several leading members of the People's Party. The coalition government is made up of the two center-right parties and one smaller rightwing group, Fatherland and Freedom—though all the parties are competing fiercely for parliamentary seats.
       The some 40,000 campaign leaflets in question contained accusations of criminal corruption against specific People's Party individuals, which police said violated Latvian laws; they hadn't yet been widely distributed prior to their confiscation by police Monday and their full contents weren't immediately released to the public. But critics said the move to arrest those involved was politically motivated and violated democratic principles of free speech. Leaders from both parties, including Seglins, denied any involvement in the leaflets or in ordering the detentions.
      People's Party leader Andris Skele said that Berzins had breached the ruling-coalition agreement by abruptly firing the Interior Minister, BNS reported. "The bad news is that the PM will no longer be able to count on the People's Party support, but the good news is that the elections are here in four days time and Latvia will no longer have this and such a prime minister....The elections will put everything in place," he was quoted as saying. He did not, however, threaten to withdraw his party from the coalition. BNS also reported that relations between Latvia's Way and the People's Party were now seriously strained but that the government would likely stick together at least until after the election. 
       A new center-right party called New Era (or New Time) is favored to win the most seats in the 100-seat Saiema, though the People's Party has registered similar support in recent opinion polls—of around 15 percent. No single party is expected to win enough seats in the badly fragmented legislature to form a government on its own, and the general consensus was that Latvia Way's and the People's Party would try to form another coalition after the upcoming vote.  That scenario now seems more doubtful.
       Berzins said Defense Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis would take over the Interior Ministry's portfolio from Seglins, doubling his duties in the Cabinet. Kristovskis belongs to Fatherland and Freedom. 

Monday—September 30, 2002
TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Authorities have broken up a criminal ring that smuggled Kurdish asylum seekers from Estonia to Finland, BNS reported Monday. Police arrested nine members of the alleged group, reportedly headed by a leading member of a Tallinn Kurdish association. Finnish border guards earlier this month detained an Estonian-registered yacht illegally transporting over a dozen Kurds—sparking off the investigation in Estonia. Each would-be European Union resident was required to pay 5,000 dollars to be taken abroad; the leaders of the gang had already pocketed over 100,000 dollars, the report said. Those arrested could face up to three years in jail if convicted by an Estonian court. Human trafficking became a serious problem in the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union when Baltic borders became more porous and were pegged by smugglers as among the best routes into mainland Europe. 

Monday—September 23, 2002
(CITY PAPER) Analysis: Hell on Wheels—Baltic officials vowed several years ago to take tough action to stem the carnage on local roads, where over 2,000 people were dying in accidents each year.
       They’ve failed.
       Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia continue to register among the worst traffic fatality rates in Europe—three times rates in some Western European nations, say respective Baltic statistics departments.
       Driving here is still distinguished by breathtaking recklessness, excessive speeding and drunkenness. While many drivers blame poor roads, analysts seem to put that low on the list of actual culprits.
       Experts say growing prosperity also enabled people to trade in their Soviet-made clunkers for more powerful Western-made cars, which means many people can drive faster, and more dangerously, than ever.
       Others point out that cash-strapped police have had to scale down patrols in places, providing comfort to worse-offending drivers that they’ll never get caught, and encouraging a culture of carelessness.
       Some officials have themselves aptly demonstrated just how pervasive lousy driving is.
       In Latvia this August, Justice Ministry State Secretary Aivars Maldrups was behind the wheel when his Volvo collided with a Lada, killing its driver. Police didn’t immediately identify the cause.
       The month before, the No. 2 official at Estonia’s Foreign Ministry was ticketed for drunk driving. Under Secretary Indrek Tarand was fired—though only partly because of the traffic violation.
       Fatality figures read like body counts from a small war.
       In Lithuania, 706 people out of a population of 3.5 million died in road accidents last year; 7,000 were injured.
       Its per capita rate of 20 deaths per 100,000 compares to Britain’s 6 per 100,000. (The European Union average is below 10).
       While Lithuania last year registered the highest per capita fatality rate in the Baltics, Latvia and Estonia never lag far behind.
       Latvia even had the dubious honor of being listed in the 1998 Guinness World Book of Records as having the world’s highest highway fatality rate. (Latvia’s expected to have some 500 roads deaths in 2002.)
       While Estonia’s government did launch a safe-driving ad campaign and parliament established stiffer fines for driving offenses, it hasn’t done much good.
       Estonia’s road-death toll has risen 20 percent since last year, officials said in July. Out of the nation’s 1.4 million people, 100 died in the first six months of 2002.
       “We’re now looking at over 200 deaths a year, and this is very serious,” Transportation Board spokesman Toomas Ernits said. “We have to think this through....We have to find solutions.”
       He added that a country of Estonia’s size should have fewer than 100 road fatalities annually.

Friday—September 20, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A 61-year-old Swedish man who was presumed dead by many of his countrymen has been rescued off Latvia's coast by the National Coast Guard, BNS reported Friday. Hans Roger Edstrom's small boat went adrift after his engine stopped; he was lost for almost three weeks and had no food for the last 10 days of his adventure. A Latvian fishing vessal spotted Edstrom late Thursday and rescuers brought him to the seaport town of Ventspils a few hours later. He was examined at a local hospital and released.

Thursday—September 19, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania and the United States Thursday discussed the possibility of President George W. Bush visiting Vilnius in the near future, BNS reported. Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania John Tefft spoke about possible plans during a short meeting at the presidential palace, the agency said. Speculation is that Bush may come to Lithuania right after the November 21-22 NATO summit—at which the Baltic states are expected to win highly coveted invitations to join the alliance. Several dozen American officials arrived in Lithuania earlier this week to begin preliminary preparations for the visit, though no firm confirmation is expected until November. Lithuania media reports say Bush would be accompanied by about 1000 people, including 200 journalists. The highest ranking U.S. official to have visited Lithuania was then-Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992. U.S. President Bill Clinton stopped in Riga briefly in 1994; he was the first and only serving president ever to stop in the Baltics. 

Wednesday—September 18, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Lithuania has registered the highest second-quarter GDP growth in the Baltic states—6.9 percent compared to the same period the year before; Estonia posted a 6.5 percent rate and Latvia a still-respectable 4.9 figure, according to preliminary figures released by Baltic statistic departments. Healthy growth in all three countries is underpinned by what has been surprisingly strong domestic demand. A few analysts have questioned whether growth, at least in Lithuania and Estonia, might be a little too fast—raising a threat that their economies could overheat. 

LONDON (BNS-CITY PAPER) A larger Russian role in NATO could cancel out the benefits to the Baltic states of entering the U.S.-led alliance, Professor Henry Nau wrote in the London-based Observer newspaper Wednesday. He pointed in particular to the Council of 20, a new forum designed to give Russia a say (though not a veto) within the alliance. "To put it bluntly, it was a payoff to Russia to acquiesce in the admission of new members to NATO," wrote Nau, from George Washington University. "If NATO takes in the Baltic states and moves to the borders of Russia, Russia will have to move into the board rooms of NATO," he added. "But if this is the purpose of the Council of 20, it is deeply contradictory and totally nullifies the significance of NATO membership for the Baltic states." 
       Nau said the threat wasn't that Russia would apply direct military pressure on the Baltics, but that it would try to foment social instability in the Baltic states and use the Council of 20 to justify its actions. "The threat is potential Moscow support for disgruntled Russian minorities in Estonia and Latvia, covert aid to destabilize these countries and subtle commercial pressure to weaken their ties with the West," he wrote. "Moscow might claim direct responsibility for all these activities and argue that it was only defending itself against instabilities on its borders." 

Tuesday—September 17, 2002
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Estonia and Lithuania Tuesday added their denials that they had any intention of putting NATO nuclear weapons on their territories once they enter the U.S.-led alliance. "No intention, no plans, no need to deploy nuclear weapons," said Estonian Defense Ministry spokesman Madis Mikko; he added Estonia hasn't categorically ruled out the option for all time but that "in the foreseeable future there are no plans." Lithuania issued similar statements Tuesday, following Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins the day before (see Monday's news below). The strong denials came in response to an unnamed Russian Defense Ministry source telling the Interfax news agency Monday that "we have information that some Baltic heads have already expressed their readiness to deploy any type of NATO weapon, including tactical nuclear arms, after their countries join the alliance."
       Some analysts said the comments probably came from especially hardline anti-NATO factions within the Russian military; the main Kremlin leadership  over the past year has maintained its opposition to Baltic NATO membership but has generally softened its rhetoric on the subject. 

Monday—September 16, 2002 
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Riga Monday adamantly denied Russian suggestions that Latvia  was ready to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory after it joins NATO within a few years. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins described the assertion—reportedly made by an unnamed Russian Defense Ministry official to the Interfax news agency—as a "provocation...to create fear and panic among people." "The government," he told BNS, "has not considered such an issue and has not even heard that there could be something like that." While Moscow opposes their membership, the Baltics are seen as virtual shoe-ins to soon receive invitations to join NATO.

Friday—September 14, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Another 100 skeletal remains of Napoleon's ill-fated army that invaded Russia in 1812 have been uncovered at a new site in Lithuania, adding to the 2000 found last year, archeologists said Friday. The latest bodies were found about 100 meters from the mass grave accidentally discovered a year ago by road construction crews at a new housing development in central Vilnius. "This time we were quite sure we'd find something. It was expected," said Arunas Barkus, a Lithuanian archaeologist speaking by cell phone from inside the excavation pit. 
       Shards of French soldiers' uniforms and buttons were also found at the site, which Barkus said is in the shadow of a brand new apartment building. At least 3,000 other skeletons could be in the new grave—found as scientists resumed searching the area this week. Work to recover the bones would take at least a month, Barkus said.
       Experts had already said the grave found in 2001 was among the largest and most historically significant of its kind. At least 20,000 other skeletal remains may still remain undiscovered in the area, Barkus said. Studies of the earlier bodies have helped explain how soldiers in Napoleon's 500,000-strong army perished in one of history's most catastrophic military campaigns. 
       When Napoleon's army marched into Lithuania bound for Moscow, it was one of the largest forces ever assembled. Six months later, what was left of it, some 40,000 men, retreated back into Vilnius in freezing cold; most quickly died. Reoccupying Russians couldn't dig graves in the frozen ground, so they threw thousands of soldiers' bodies into a defensive trench dug earlier by the French—which the Lithuanian builders stumbled upon nearly 190 years later. Barkus said both mass graves are part of the same trench complex. 

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Confirmation this week that Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas is studying French has prompted admiration but also suspicion he's bucking for another job—at European Union headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Kallas has been taking private language lessons in his office several hours a day week over the past year, spokeswoman Hanna Henrikus said Friday.
       Estonians who oppose membership in the 15-nation EU have long argued that one reason leaders like Kallas are so enthusiastic about joining is because they could land lucrative jobs in the bloc's head office once Estonia's in. But Henrikus emphatically denied Kallas had in mind a job with the EU, where French is one of the main working languages. Influential France also strongly favors candidates for top EU posts who can speak French. "It's not true. He just really likes France and French culture," Henrikus said when asked whether Kallas might have his eye on a future EU position. "The idea is to learn something new. He's very interested in foreign languages." 
       She added that Kallas—who, in addition to his native Estonian, also speaks English, Finnish and Russian fluently—understood that speaking some French would help foster better bilateral relations with Francophone nations. "It's probably too much to say he wants to speak fluently," she said. "But he wants to be able to have a simple everyday conversation, and to be able to read papers—to understand political thinking in France." 
       Estonian ministers, including the prime minister, make less than 50,000 dollars a year. EU officials, even lower level ones, can make several times that. 
       The apparent rush to pick up some French isn't limited to Kallas. His immediate predecessor as prime minister, the staunchly pro-EU Mart Laar, is reportedly also studying French. Employees at Estonia's foreign ministry have also been required to achieve some level of proficiency in French. 
       Since the 1991, English has overtaken Russian in Estonia as the most widely spoken second language among Estonians around 40 or younger.
       (Also on this site, see EuroDoubts, about some underlying skepticism about EU membership.)

Thursday—September 12, 2002
RIGA (CITY PAPER) Renars Kaupers, the lead singer for the popular Latvian band BrainStorm, told CITY PAPER magazine that he and 2002 Eurovision winner Marija Naumova have a good chance of serving as the hosts of the Song Contest in Riga in 2002. "It's not 100 percent, but I think it will happen," he said in the September/October edition of the pan-Baltic publication. "I have had some talks with the Eurovision organizers about this and I am positive about it."
       Eurovision host is a highly coveted position, providing a chance for world fame before a TV audience of over 150 million. The hosts also help set the show's tone and are a crucial element in making the extravaganza a success. Both Kaupers and Naumova are seen as having bubbly, good-natured personalities, and many observers have already argued for months that they could make a Dream Team as the 2003 Song Contest hosts. 
       Kaupers himself rocketed to European-wide awareness after BrainStorm took part in the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest. The Beatlesque rock band came in third, but was widely pegged by critics as the contest's best performer.  BrainStorm has since gone on to significant commercial success around Scandinavia, in Poland and Russia, as well as in far away Indonesia. Their songs Maybe and My Star hit No. 1 in several markets. Naumova won Eurovision in Tallinn in May singing I Wanna.
       Kaupers also told CITY PAPER that Latvia had a chance to pump new life into the Song Contest, which critics sometimes deride as too glitzy and staid.  "Latvia hosting the Eurovision finals is a possibility to change something in this contest, to make it more exciting," he said.
       (Also see CITY PAPER's Eurovision homepage, here.)

Wednesday—September 11, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The three Baltic states marked one year since the terrorist attacks in the United States at church services and concerts, with many in the staunchly pro-U.S. nations laying flowers and candles outside American embassies. 
       In Riga, Mozart's Requiem was performed in the early morning as part of what was dubbed a rolling requiem, when choirs in 26 nations repeated the D minor opus at 8:46 a.m.—the time showing on clocks in New York as a first plane struck the World Trade Center. "On Sept. 11 last year we all were deeply shocked," said Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins before the concert began in Riga's Dome Church. "Then and today, all the world's honest people stood together with America and her people."
       Estonia's government organized an evening concert, featuring American jazz and rock music performed by local bands, within stone ruins of the 15th century Pirita Monastery in Tallinn. Half of Wednesday's 44-page Postimees newspaper, Estonia's main daily, was devoted to the anniversary; it included a full-page picture of the World Trade Center before the attacks with a headline in English that read, "We Love NY." 
       Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was in New York Wednesday to attend tributes there, as was Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus—who was in Washington last year when a suicide jet hit the Pentagon and who saw smoke billowing from the crash.

Tuesday—September 10, 2002 
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A new, upstart party continues to come out on top of opinion polls in advance of October 5 Latvian elections, though neither it nor any other single group seems destined to win an outright majority in the 100-seat Saeima, BNS reported. The center-right New Time, which is headed by the populist former Central Bank president Einars Repse, garnered almost 17 percent of voter support in a most recent poll; it's followed by another center-right grouping, People's Party, with about 15 percent. A leftist alliance, For Human Rights in United Latvia, would come in third with 10 percent if the election were held today. The ruling Latvia's Way, from which Prime Minister Andris Berzins hails, would fare badly, pulling in little more than 4 percent of the ballots. 
       The current coalition includes Latvia's Way and the People's Party plus the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom, which registered a mere 5 percent support in the latest poll, according to BNS. 

Monday—September 9, 2002 
PALANGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Thieves Monday stole what is believed to be Europe's third largest piece of amber from a museum in Lithuania. The nearly 4-kilogram amber, dubbed the Stone of the Sun for its unusually bright yellow glow, was the showpiece of the Amber Museum in Palanga, a resort town some 325 kilometers northwest of Vilnius; police declined to provide an estimate of the missing amber's value. 
       Palanga Police Chief Edmundas Krazauskas said several people probably took part in the well-organized robbery around 4:30 a.m. local time. A ladder was used to reach a window on the museum's second floor, where the amber was kept in a glass case. An alarm went off, but the thieves fled with the amber before security guards could force there way through an entrance door that the intruders had blocked with wood and barbwire.
       The same piece was stolen in 1990, though police recovered it within months. The Amber Museum—located in a 19th century manor house—has over 20,000 amber jewels, stones and carvings, though police said nothing else appeared to have been taken Monday.
       Most of the world's amber—40-million-year-old fossilized tree resin—is from the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The highly prized translucent material is also known regionally as Baltic Gold.

Friday—September 6, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Valdas Adamkus, a former U.S. citizen who shocked observers by winning Lithuania's presidential race as a dark horse in 1998, announced he'll stand for a second five-year term, his office said Friday. The lanky, white haired 75-year-old, who worked for decades as a top environmental regulator in Chicago before returning to his ancestral homeland in the late '90s, is favored to win the December 22 popular vote.
       "I can't remain calm if I don't attempt to complete unfinished business," he was quoted as saying by a spokeswoman, Lina Stonciene, in a speech late Thursday in which he formally declared his candidacy. He singled out high rates of poverty in the nation of 3.5 million people that has otherwise seen dynamic economic growth. "A part of our society is still impoverished and progress in dealing with this has been too slow," he was quoted as saying. 
       During his term as president, a mostly ceremonial post, Adamkus also has been outspoken about incompetence and corruption in some government sectors; he's been a forceful advocate for Lithuanian membership in NATO and the European Union. The president does play a key role in mediating the formation of governments and serves as the No. 1 foreign envoy. 
       Adamkus is the first major politician to say he'll run. But Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, of the leftwing Social Democrats, and Speaker Arturas Paulauskas, of the center-left New Union, could be formidable challengers. They're expected to announced their candidacies in several weeks. 

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Charges have been filed against 19 people allegedly responsible for Estonia's worst-ever case of alcohol poising that killed 68 last year; one suspect was indicted for murder, police said Friday. Police handed the indictments late Thursday to prosecutors, who were expected to ratify the charges—a last step before trials could begin later this year, said police spokesman Indrek Raudjalg.
       One 34-year-old man was charged with murder and faces a life jail sentence; he allegedly sold ten 200-liter barrels of methanol to distributors knowing the highly toxic substance would be sold on as a beverage. Most of the other suspects were charged with criminal negligence leading to death, which carries a maximum three-year prison term. Raudjalg declined to provide the names of any of those charged, but said their ages ranged from 17 to 76. He said the murder suspect remained in police custody, while the other accused were released pending trial. 
       Victims died after drinking the same batch of methanol-laced liquor in Parnu County; over 80 people were injured, including several who became permanently blind. They were mostly poorer Estonians who bought the alcohol because it was cheaper than legal brands, costing about 2 dollars per half-liter compared with at least 6 dollars in licensed stores. The man charged with murder made a profit of 50,000 kroons, or 3,100 dollars, from the sale of the methanol-based drink, according to Raudjalg. 
       Methanol, also called methyl or wood alcohol, is sometimes used by illegal distilleries to increase the potency of their liquor or added by mistake. It is used in antifreeze and blamed for hundreds of deaths worldwide each year. Alcohol poisonings have occurred sporadically each month in Estonia, where black-market alcohol is widely used, but never before in such large numbers at one time.

Thursday—September 5, 2002
WASHINGTON (BNS-CITY PAPER) Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas met President George W. Bush in the White House Wednesday to discuss, among other issues, NATO expansion and a dispute over the International Criminal Court—which Washington opposes and the European Union staunchly backs. Kallas told reporters later that he was told U.S. requests for the Baltics to sign deals granting immunity from the court to its citizens weren't linked to NATO expansion; the EU has signaled it opposes such agreements. "Estonia is not in a situation where it has to choose between mother and father," between the U.S. or the EU, Kallas reportedly told Radio Free Europe. 
       Also in on the 45-minute meeting was White House National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Chief of Staff Andrew Card and U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Joseph DeThomas. Kallas was slated to meet former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore on Thursday. 

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) A record number of wildfires, some 1,500, have broken out this year in Latvia—illustrating just how dry the entire Baltic region has been over the past several months. Nearly 20 of the fires, the vast majority starting during the summer, have burned at least 10 hectares of forest and marsh land, BNS reported. Forests across the Baltic states remain extremely dry and fire-hazard warnings have been in effect in all three countries for weeks. Levels of rainfall have been among the lowest in decades. 

Wednesday—September 4, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Five people died and three were injured in an early morning fire in a residential building in the town of Dagda, in southeastern Latvia, BNS reported Wednesday; three of the victims were children. Police said they suspected arson was the cause of the fire in the two-story wooden building, though they didn't immediately provide details. When firefighters arrived at 4:30 a.m., the bodies of two adults and two boys were found at the scene; a small girl died in an ambulance en route to a local hospital. It was one of the worst incidents of its kind in recent years. 

Tuesday—September 3, 2002
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Santa Claus is reportedly preparing to establish an office in Riga, which would be his first full-fledged representation in the Baltic states, BNS reported. The Santa Claus in question hails from Finland's Lapland, where there is a multi-million dollar industry catering to wintertime tourists pursuing Old St. Nick. The Man himself is set to arrive in the Latvian capital on Sept. 6 to lay the business groundwork for the office, which would be the first of its kind outside Finland. BNS said his expenses are being paid for by the Riga City Council and the Forma Pro TV company. 

RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) Latvian officials turned down a request by Russian nationalist Parliamentarian Vladimir Zhirinovsky for a visa to visit the Baltic state, with reports that he has long been on a blacklist of people not welcome in the country, according to BNS Tuesday. He requested the visa to take part in a TV program, the news agency said. In a letter concerning the visa request—republished in the local press—Zhirinovsky warned Latvia's ambassador to Russia that "if any rude and discriminating measures are used against me as the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Duma, I will categorically demand the withdrawal of your presence from Moscow." The scandalous Russian politician in the past has bitterly condemned the Baltic states and said they were destined to be reabsorbed into a Greater Russia.
       (Also on this site, see Zhirinovskyisms.)

Monday—September 2, 2002
VILNIUS (CITY PAPER) Lithuania this week launched a novel program to deal with a shortage of traffic police: It's cut new ones out of cardboard and propped them up on the side of streets to scare motorists into slowing down. About 300 of the cardboard cops have been placed at road crossings near 90 schools in Vilnius a spokeswoman for the municipality, Rasa Razgaitis, said. She said the program coincides with the start of school in the nation of 3.5 million people. The life-sized replicas, painted turquoise green of actual Lithuanian police uniforms, are expected to stay in service for several months. The some 10,000 dollars of materials required to fashion the police impersonators were donated by Kappa Packaging Baltics, a leading producer of boxes in this Baltic Sea coastal country.
       Razgaitis said anecdotal evidence suggests the sight of the replicas, first deployed Monday, has, as hoped, caused drivers to hit their breaks. She said Vilnius has made improving traffic safety a high priority. Lithuania, like her Baltic neighbors, registers among the highest road fatality rates in Europe, with over 700 people dying each year, or around 20 deaths per 100,000 residents. The average annual rate in European Union countries is under 10 per 100,000. 

Friday—August 30, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Britain's BBC broadcasting giant has made a rare apology to Lithuania for misreporting that the Baltic state was on a United Nations list of countries that have violated a worldwide arms embargo on Somalia, BNS reported Friday. Lithuanian officials said the UN actually listed Latvia earlier in the summer, while both the BBC and the AFP news agency wrongly singled out Lithuania in July reports. Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Justas Vincas Paleckis had made a direct appeal to the BBC to acknowledge the mistake, saying such erroneous dispatches "harm the country's image as well as understanding and trust between people and nations." The BBC said in a letter address to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry—released to local media this week—that "we admit Lithuania has not been mentioned and the fact confirms that our information was wrong." 

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Three workers at the Baltic Ship Repairers company in Tallinn were killed Friday after being exposed to a poisonous sewage gas in a water treatment facility; one person was injured. The men had gone to a basement where pipes collect and divert sewage when they inhaled the deadly fumes. Chemical experts told BNS that the gas was most likely a mixture of methane and hydrogen sulfide, which are byproducts of natural decomposition. Officials said it was the first such accident on record since Estonia regained independence. The full names of the victims were not given. 

Tuesday—August 27, 2002
(CITY PAPER) Analysis: Human Trafficking—Baltic and Nordic officials said recently that the trafficking of women for prostitution in the region has boomed over the past five years. There are an estimated 10,000-20,000 women working as prostitutes in the Baltic states, and scores more who have traveled to the Nordic countries to work there—sometimes after being coerced. “We want this problem to be on the agenda,” said Carita Peltonen, a leading Finnish women’s activist. “If there is political will, you can end this business.” 
       In a June State Department report, the United States also chimed in on the issue, putting Latvia and Estonia in a group of countries that “weren’t meeting minimum standards” but at least “making significant efforts” to halt human trafficking; they were in dubious company with the Philippines, Sierra Leone and several dozen other nations. Lithuania, where anti-prostitution laws are stricter, was said to be “complying fully.”
       The regional sex trade usually involves poorer women from the Baltics or Russia going to the richer Nordics to serve as prostitutes—transit made possible when the Iron Curtain came down. Swedish Minister for Gender Equality Affairs Margareta Winberg said that each year some 500 prostitutes are brought into Sweden—mostly from the Baltics and Russia; she said the practice was not widespread prior to 1997. Thousands of sex tourists from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark also travel to the Baltic states to use prostitutes, many of whom are under 18; Finnish tourists account for nearly 50 percent of those paying for sex in Estonia, according to the Estonian Health Ministry.
       Worldwide, up to 4 million women and children have been lured, tricked or forced into the sex trade, said Gunilla Ekberg, an expert on the subject. “Trafficking of women has become a relatively low-risk, high-profit activity attracting individual traffickers and organized crime groups,” she said. The trade in women generates some 7 billion dollars every year internationally and, in some ways, is more profitable than the trade in narcotics, according to Peltonen. “A drug you use once,” she said. “You can use a woman til she dies.”
        Officials around the Baltic Sea region began focusing in earnest on the problem after a major women’s conference in Vilnius last year, organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Baltic ministries of health. A similar conference was held recently in Tallinn and another will be held in Riga later this year. The Nordic Council and Baltic governments earlier in 2002 year launched a 200,000-dollar campaign aimed primarily at education—including of Baltic women about the pitfalls of prostitution.
       There’s not unanimity, however, about how to combat prostitution. Laws around the Nordic region vary, for instance, with Sweden implementing strict prohibitions on buying sex and Denmark legalizing some forms of prostitution. “Legalizing prostitution is a way of giving up and bowing to pressure from the international sex industry,” Winberg argued. “I’m convinced these nations won’t be able to effectively deal with trafficking.” Over the years, Estonia and Latvia have discussed ways of legalizing aspects of prostitution—though there now seems to be significant local opposition to the idea.

Monday—August 26, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Arvydas Sabonis is reportedly close to signing a contract that would see him return to his former team in the NBA, the Portland Trail Blazers. The 2.20-meter (7-foot-3) center was expected to sign a one-year contract worth 7 million dollars, according to the Saturday edition of Lietuvos Rytas, a leading newspaper in Sabonis' native Lithuania. The daily reported Monday that Sabonis attended his brother's wedding in Lithuania over the weekend. It added that the 37-year-old was expected to sign the contract this week but that it didn't know where or when. Neither he nor his agent, Herb Rudoy, were immediately available to confirm the reports and it wasn't clear whether Sabonis was still in Lithuania or already en route to Portland. 
        Sabonis, considered one of the best basketball players to hail from Europe, announced his retirement from the NBA last year—though he played briefly this year for Kaunas Zalgiris, a Lithuanian team he partly owns. His three-year, 30-million-dollar contract with Portland ended last year. While he was included on the team roster before the 2001-02 season, he refused to play after he broke two toes while vacationing. Sabonis, who turns 38 in December, was a fan favorite during six seasons in Portland. He averaged 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in the team's 2000-01 campaign. After the season, he opted not to renew his contract.

TALLINN (CITY PAPER) Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said Monday the European Union won't force EU-candidates to adhere to the bloc's policy on the International Criminal Court—a body the U.S. opposes. "It's not for us to tell them what to do," Moeller, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told a news conference during a one-day meeting of Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers to discuss EU and NATO issues. "I hope, of course, they want to have a common position with the EU as members of the EU very soon," he said in Tallinn, Estonia's capital. "But we're not putting pressure. We inform, so everybody knows what's going on."
       The U.S., fearing its citizens could be prosecuted for actions in peacekeeping or combat, upset the EU by asking countries striving to enter the 15-nation bloc to grant immunity to Americans from the court. Israel and Romania, one of 10 nations hoping to join EU, are the only countries so far to have signed immunity deals with Washington. The EU says it'll set its policy on the immunity requests within a few weeks. Moeller declined to comment on reports the EU was leaning toward the view that such bilateral immunity treaties violate international law. Most countries vying to join the EU are also bidding to join the U.S.-led NATO or are already members of the defensive alliance, putting them in an awkward position of trying to please both the EU and U.S. The U.S. ratcheted up the pressure when Pierre-Richard Prosper, U.S. ambassador for war crimes, recently said Washington's relations with NATO would be affected if the EU opposes immunity deals. He didn't elaborate. 
       Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are considered front-runners to join both the EU and NATO, and are among those now put on the spot. The three Baltic states, all of whom have been approached by the U.S. about signing immunity deals, have said they'll wait for the EU policy—but stopped short of promising to follow the EU's lead. Latvian Foreign Minister Indulis Berzins said he was clear about the U.S. position but looking forward to knowing the EU's official stand. "It's difficult to say if we're caught in the middle since we still don't know the EU position," he said. "We're candidates to the EU and NATO and we'd be happy to see a common position between the EU and U.S." 

Friday—August 23, 2002
BRATISLAVA (BNS-Reuters) U.S. Senator John McCain said Thursday he expected a "big bang" expansion of NATO, but that the alliance's planned enlargement would be the last for some time. NATO is expected to choose new members at its November summit in Prague. "I think you are going to see the big bang. I think you are going to see a large number of countries (granted membership), and I think you are going to see a bridge that goes all the way to Turkey," the Republican senator, a member of the U.S. Senate's Armed Force Committee, said in Bratislava. 
       Nine states are vying for entry, but seven—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria—are seen as having the best chances for entry. NATO diplomats say there’s pressure from Washington for as wide an enlargement as possible to support the United States' "war on terror."

Thursday—August 22, 2002 
TALLINN (CITY PAPER) The U.S.-based NRG Energy is suing Estonia's power utility for 153 million dollars after the collapse of what was this country's largest privatization, officials announced Thursday. NRG seemed close to finalizing the purchase of Estonia's main power plants when the government annulled the unpopular deal on Jan. 8 this year—citing NRG's failure to meet a deadline to secure loans to refurbish the aging, shale-driven stations. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and majority owned by Xcel Energy, NRG was to buy 49 percent of two plants producing over 90 percent of Estonia's electricity; it was to pay 70 million dollars and invest 300 million more.
       Estonian Energy received papers Wednesday that the damages claims were filed in a British court. The state power company's spokesman, Erki Peegel, said NRG accused the utility of "not fully cooperating in concluding the sale." "This suit is completely ungrounded," Peegel said. Representatives for NRG, one of the world's largest energy producers that has faced financial hardships over the past year, weren't immediately available for comment. 
       U.S. diplomats strongly backed NRG in five years of sometimes tense talks that culminated in a signed agreement in 2000. They urged Estonia to salvage the deal when it fell apart, though Estonians disregarded that appeal. Critics regularly lashed out at the power plant sale, saying it promised unfairly high profits to NRG and would lead to higher electricity prices. Others said both NRG and supportive American officials applied undue pressure on Estonia.
       Backers argued the sale would raise capital needed to update the Soviet-built plants and strengthen already close ties with Washington, enhancing Estonia's national security. In the end, the disintegration of the privatization deal ended up causing rare strains in U.S.-Estonian relations. 
       (For a report about the NRG deal from before it seemed doomed to fail, see Power Play, on this site.) 

VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The pending withdrawal from Lithuania of the U.S. energy group Williams International, which managed the Mazeikiai Oil conglomerate here for the past three years, will mean the loss of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic's most generous patron, BNS reported Thursday. Philharmonic Director Egidijus Miksys told BNS that the pullout of the company's investments from Lithuania will hit the orchestra especially hard. "We deeply regret the Williams withdrawal," he said. He said Williams had allocated more money to the National Philharmonic than any other single source; the report didn't provide a figure. Miksys expressed the hope the orchestra would now be able to foster similarly good relations with the new majority owner of Mazeikiai Oil—Russia's Yukos. 
       (For a full report about the planned buyout of the Williams stake in Mazeikiai Oil, see Tuesday's news below.) 

Wednesday—August 21, 2002
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) The new wife of Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas may enter politics for the first time, telling a local newspaper that she's thinking about running in December local elections. Kristina Brazauskiene told the Respublika daily that she may vie for a place on the Vilnius city council on the list of the left-wing Social Democrats, her husband's party. Prime Minister Brazauskas, 69, married the 53-year-old former hotel director in April amid intense press speculation in the Catholic country about his marital status. Journalists questioned whether or not he had actually divorced his wife of several decades before courting his current spouse; Brazauskas insisted he had divorced his first wife Julija a year before he married again. 

Tuesday—August 20, 2002 
VILNIUS (BNS-CITY PAPER) Russia's Yukos oil company agreed Tuesday to buy a majority stake in the partly U.S.-owned Mazeikiai Oil refinery—Lithuania's largest enterprise—though several leaders in the Baltic state sharply criticized the deal. Yukos would raise its current stake to 53.7 percent by purchasing the 26.85 percent shares held by the Texas-based Williams International for 85 million dollars, spokesmen for the two companies announced. Yukos would also assume management control from Williams, according to Williams official and current Mazeikiai Oil chairman Randy Majors. He said he expected the deal to be approved by the government and finalized next month. 
       The announcement seemed to take Lithuanian officials completely by surprise, angering many. President Valdas Adamkus denounced Williams, suggesting any talks should have included the government, which has a 40.66 percent in Mazeikiai Oil. "Such backstage actions are unacceptable," he said in a statement. "(This) pushes Lithuania into a complicated situation." 
       Leaders have expressed reservations in the past about Russian companies gaining too large an economic foothold in Lithuania, fearing it could give Moscow dangerous political leverage. Mazeikiai Oil which also includes a pipeline and offshore oil terminal, accounts for around 10 percent of Lithuania's annual gross domestic product. It had a turnover of more than 500 million dollars last year. 
       In 1999, after heavy lobbying by U.S. diplomats, the government picked Williams to be the core owner of Mazeikiai to strengthen ties with Washington and bolster the country's bid to join the U.S.-led NATO alliance. The privatization of Mazeikiai Oil, some 300 kilometers northwest of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, was the biggest since Lithuania regained independence. The sale to Willimas was politically unpopular and prompted fierce debate; it also contributed to the collapse of two government coalitions. 
       Mazeikiai has struggled over the past two years, losing some 100 million dollars during the period. Inconsistent deliveries of Russian crude have underpinned its financial difficulties. In June, Yukos bought an initial 26.85 percent stake in Mazeikiai for 75 million dollars in cash and 75 million dollars in investment and guaranteed annual supplies of 35 million barrels of crude for 10 years. With that agreement Yukos was given priority to buy stocks that other shareholders wanted to relinquish—opening the door for the deal announced Tuesday. While the government would now have the option of purchasing a majority stake itself, most analysts said it was unlikely to do so and would reluctantly give the Yukos-Williams agreement the nod. 

Monday—August 19, 2002 
RIGA (BNS-CITY PAPER) The European Union will establish its policy regarding a dispute between Brussels and Washington over the International Criminal Court and says EU candidates, including the Baltic states, should follow it. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said during a Baltic-Nordic meeting in Riga that the EU will set firm policy guidelines on Sept. 4. "We have informed the candidate countries and I'm satisfied that most indicate they will follow this common decision," he told a Riga news conference. 
        The EU earlier asked candidates not to sign deals granting immunity to U.S. troop, saying the agreements contradict its strong backing for the court; U.S. diplomats have recently approached all three Baltic states about signing such immunity deals. Washington strongly opposes the international court, fearing its troops could face prosecution for actions in peacekeeping or combat missions. Washington failed to get the U.N. Security Council to agree to blanket immunity for American personnel before The Hague-based court and so has sought agreements from individual nations. So far, only Israel and Romania have signed. 
       The Baltics are considered leading candidates to join both the EU and the U.S.-led NATO alliance in part because they've succeeded in cultivating close relations with both the EU and U.S. This is a rare case where they are caught in the middle, and risk offending one or the other. The Baltic prime ministers said at the same news conference in Riga that they would wait for the EU policy ruling and they strongly hinted they would follow it; but they stopped short of saying they necessarily would. Some commentators have questioned whether the EU demand for candidates to fall in line is a violation of their national sovereignty.

TALLINN (BNS-CITY PAPER) Russia's Foreign Ministry has paid for Moscow lawyer Vakhtang Fyodorov to defend former KGB agent Vladimir Penart against crimes against humanity charges in Estonia, BNS reported Monday. The Foreign Ministry's legal department has also helped prepared the case for Penart, the report said, citing a statement by Russian officials to the RIA Novosti news agency. The Kremlin has criticized Baltic prosecutions of ex-Stalinist agents in the past, but hasn't normally taken such an active role in the defense of an accused. 
       Penart, 77, was indicted last year for hunting down and executing men who had withdrawn to Estonia'