Sveiki, all!

Our Latvian Independence Day (November 18th) was one of quiet celebration. The following day, Saturday, Peters did participate with the New York Latvian Concert Choir at celebrations held at the Washington D.C. Latvian Church (in Rockville, Maryland).

In the news»:

• Eleven die as high winds pound northern Europe»
• Fierce storms from Ireland to Russia claim 16 lives»
• Norway set to assume role in patrolling Baltic airspace»
• Thousands in northern Europe still without power after fierce storms»
• Agency moves to stop Internet advertising for X-rated spam»
• Latvia's president to attend Russian World War II veterans commemoration»
• Former Polish President Lech Walesa says Eastern Europe transforming continent's image»
• EU goverments fail to meet, scale back protections»
• Duma "perplexed" by Latvian president's assessment of WWII»

This edition's link» is to an enterprising Brit making a go of it in Riga. (We have no commercial affiliation with... :-)

This edition's picture» is lifted from our latest travelogue to make it on to our site, Peters' visit in December, 2002.

As always, AOL'ers, remember, mailer or not, Lat Chat spontaneously appears every Sunday on AOL starting around 9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting until 11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this link in their AOL browser: Town Square - Latvian chat» (AOL only).

Ar visu labu,

Transplanted Max Matthews is making a go of it in Riga. He has assembled quite a collection of Riga information in pictures and factoids—well worth a visit.

http://riga-cd.infolatvia.com/indexnew.html

Jurmala, LV — The Belarusian-Latvian investment forum has opened November 10 in Jurmala. The conference with several ministries of the two states, heads of the largest companies and banks will last two days, the economy ministry of Latvia informs.

As Latvian mass media note, there has been no such a bilateral forum before. The event’s program includes three stages. The first is a presentation of Belarus informing on the country’s economic development and peculiarities of the investment market. The second stage is devoted to the banking activity and cooperation prospects in the financial sector, the third – to joint projects in the sphere of transit, transport and logistics.

According to the mass media, in the course of the forum, economy minister of Belarus Nikolai Zaichenko will familiarize with a new six-car passenger diesel train constructed at the Riga carriage works. The train, constructed by the request of the Belarusian railways, meets the standards of quality and safety of Belarus and the EU.

Yerevan, November 11 — Ashot Tovmasian, president of a Latvian TMH company, signed today in Yerevan an agreement with Armenian Menaghik company on export of Armenian perlite to the Baltic country and establishment there of a plant to process it.

The ethnic Armenian president of the Latvian company said $1.5 million will be invested in the Armenian-Latvian-Dutch company for processing of perlite, which is supposed to give first output in 2006 January. The processed perlite will be sold in Latvia and Scandinavian countries.

Tovmasian said $500,000 will be invested in another joint venture for processing of fish. The plant will be processing around 5,000 tons of fish monthly and sell the finished product in Latvia and Europe. He said there are plans to start export of Armenian mineral water to Latvia and Scandinavia.

Estonian Foreign Minister, Urmas Paet, denied Russian entry visa — Yesterday (November 10) Moscow denied an entry visa to Estonia's foreign minister. Although the move was allegedly prompted by the Estonian side failing to comply with certain diplomatic formalities, it appears to be a clear sign of continuing tension between the Kremlin and the Balts. Both Russia, the principal successor state of the Soviet Empire, and the Baltic countries, the former "captive nations," are still the unhappy victims of their shared past, mired in an intractable dispute over history that inevitably shapes their present-day attitudes.

Estonia's top diplomat, Urmas Paet, was due to travel to St. Petersburg to participate in a two-day roundtable discussion on how to improve cross-border cooperation between Russia and the European Union. Paet submitted his diplomatic passport to the Russian Embassy in Tallinn after receiving an invitation to the conference, which was organized by the St. Petersburg Center for International Cooperation. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected Paet's application, saying that only his Russian counterpart was authorized to issue an invitation for him to visit the country, so that he could be "provided with transport, means of communication, and security." Since such an invitation was missing, the Russian side could not organize the visit "at the appropriate level." Estonians "know these rules very well," a Russian Foreign Ministry official told journalists in Moscow, adding that the fact that Paet was denied a visa did not mean "somebody was seeking to offend the Estonian side."

But Paet seemed to take offence nevertheless, suggesting that with this demarche Russia had demonstrated its reluctance to develop good-neighborly relations with Estonia. "It is a very unfortunate situation," an Estonian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson quoted him as saying. "This shows that Russia is not interested in contacts with Estonia."

The general context of relations between Russia and the Baltic states, in particular Estonia and Latvia, would suggest that the Russian Foreign Ministry's decision is based on more than protocol technicalities. Moscow and the Balts are deeply divided by the divergent views on their recent common history as well as by the unresolved issue of the border treaties. As neither side demonstrates any readiness for compromise, a snub given to the Estonian foreign minister may well be interpreted as a sign of the Kremlin's displeasure and an attempt to exert pressure on a pesky neighbor.

The true motives of the Russian move become clearer if they are seen in light of the recent suggestions by the Estonian leadership that Russia must apologize for the Soviet-era occupation of the Baltic states. Speaking in the Estonian parliament on November 7, the country's Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said, "Estonia is waiting for Russia's apology." Remarkably, Ansip noted that there could be no guarantees that Estonia would not ask for compensation for the damage done during the decades of "Soviet occupation" even if Russia did apologize. But he also made clear that Tallinn views the issue of compensations as a kind of political leverage. "Whether we raise the issue of compensations or not will depend, above all, on what kind of relations with Russia we have," Ansip said. "It is absolutely clear that when relations are good, no one will try to spoil them by demands stemming from the past." (The prime minister did add, however, that the art objects taken from Estonia to Russia should be returned unconditionally.)

Estonians and other Balts are not going to make any concessions on the issue of the "Soviet occupation," as they regard Russia's readiness to revise the unsavory past as one of the symptoms of its ridding itself of what they call an "imperial syndrome." Moreover, they seem to be building a kind of a "united front" within the EU composed of other victims of Soviet "imperial aggression" from among the East European countries. In the opinion of Vahur Made, deputy director of the Estonian School of Diplomacy, "Estonia has to work within the EU for the sake of the Union reaching a solution on the topic of all of Eastern Europe falling into the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union." He suggested, in the new foreign policy yearbook, that the EU should pass a resolution that would condemn the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.

Clearly, this stance tremendously annoys the Kremlin. But Russia appears to be as firm as the Baltic nations in defending its position. There will be no repeated expressions of "repentance" by Russia for Latvia's "occupation," Modest Kolerov, the head of the Putin administration's department for interregional and cultural ties with foreign countries, said in Riga on November 8. He added that the very talk of "occupation" is pointless.

Kolerov's pronouncements echo statements made earlier by Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Russian State Duma's International Affairs Committee. In his November 1 interview with Estonian newspaper Postimees, Kosachev said he is "categorically against" legally describing the Soviet era in Estonia as an occupation. He also offered a reason why the Kremlin is so reluctant to revisit the issue of the incorporation of the Baltic countries into the Soviet Union in 1940. He suggested that by not giving Estonian citizenship to one category of residents, namely ethnic Russians, Tallinn made them hostages of the situation. "If we imagine even hypothetically that Russia would acknowledge the occupation, all of those people would become occupiers," Kosachev said. "It would be absolutely morally unacceptable to Russia."

As the two sides remain intransigent, the tension between Moscow and the Baltic nations will likely persist, negatively affecting the EU-Russia relationship as well.

(Polit.ru, APN.ru, November 10; Itar-Tass, November 8; NEWSru.com, November 7; Postimees, November 1)

RIGA, November 11 (RIA Novosti, Yury Guralnik) — The Latvian competition council plans to launch an anti-monopoly investigation of Lithuanian oil company Mazeikiu Nafta, the Latvian Economy Ministry said Friday.

According to the council, Mazeikiu Nafta, which owns the only oil refinery in the Baltic states, deliberately raises premium gasoline prices in Latvia using its dominant position on the market.

Mazeikiu Nafta General Director Nelson English arrived in Riga Thursday to convince Latvian ministers that his company was not a monopolist, explaining that other companies did not want to enter the Baltic market because of low prices.

English said Mazeikiu Nafta set its prices especially for the Baltic states with their traditionally low standard of living.

The competition council decided to launch the investigation anyway. If it proves that the monopolist has deliberately overpriced gasoline, tough economic sanctions could be imposed on Mazeikiu Nafta at a time when Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP and Russian oil major LUKoil are seeking to buy a 53.7% controlling stake in the company held by beleaguered Russian oil giant Yukos.

Premium gasoline currently costs about $1 per liter in Latvia, but the Latvian Economy Ministry has said the price should be 20% lower.

Commentary — Aleksander Lukashenka's lunatic, dictatorial regime has no place in the European community of democracies — Lenin once said that capitalists were so cynical that they would sell the Soviets the rope with which they would hang them. Lenin and communism have passed away, but that cynical indifference to suffering when profits are involved remains.

Belarus provides a glaring example. The European parliament has consistently denounced Belarus as Europe's last dictatorship, yet EU member governments continue business as usual with Aleksander Lukashenka, the country's wayward and near lunatic despot.

This is especially true when there is a chance to save or make money. For example, for more than a decade, Germany's police forces, customs service, and even the Bundeswehr have been ordering uniforms from a state-owned factory in the city of Dzherzinsky, named after the father of the Red Terror and founder of the Soviet KGB, Feliks Dzherzinsky. Similar examples of such indifferent cynicism abound.

By treating Lukashenka as a favored business partner at the same time that the EU is trying to isolate him as an international pariah, European hypocrisy stands naked. Instead of indirectly propping up Lukashenka's regime through such cozy deals, Europe's governments must begin to act in accordance with what Europe's parliament has long understood: underwriting Lukashenka economically only prolongs his misrule. It is more important than ever that European parliamentarians unite and make their position clear.

The European Parliament has, indeed, taken the lead. Since last year it has been enlisting people with historic knowledge and understanding of totalitarian regimes to help guide its response. This advice helped shape the parliament's strong stance against maintaining unnecessary economic engagement with Lukashenka and his henchmen.

But there are two radically different attitudes regarding Belarus's participation in European activities. On one hand, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has denied Belarusian politicians even informal access to meetings in Strasbourg. The Assembly condemned Lukashenka's usurpation of power when he twisted the constitution to grant himself a virtual lifetime presidency, and it has denounced the disappearance of those Belarussians who have dared to think differently from the regime.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has also taken a strong stand against the Belarusian dictator. As the Final Report of its mission last year to observe the Belarusian parliamentary elections clearly stated, the vote "fell significantly short of OSCE commitments."

Similarly, last year's referendum to eliminate term limits on the presidency "took place with unrestrained Government bias in favor of the referendum," and without "the conditions, particularly freedom of expression and freedom of the media, to ensure that the will of the people serves as the basis of government authority." But at the same time the OSCE is condemning these anti-democratic practices, its own Parliamentary Assembly maintains full-fledged cooperation with the Belarusian parliament. Indeed, the OSCE treats the Lukashenka-controlled parliament in the same way it does any EU parliament. So real parliaments and sham parliaments are treated as equals. The idea would be laughable if it were not so tragic.

This absurd situation must change. It is the duty of all members of EU national parliaments to reject this affront to their democratic dignity. Only democratic parliaments should sit as equals in Europe's democratic forums. The goal is not to ensure Europe's democratic purity, but to change the nature of Belarus's government. For that to happen, Europe's democratic voice must be heard within Belarus.

That won't be easy. Of the 1,500 different media outlets in Belarus today, only a dozen or so retain any form of independence. Even that small number is likely to diminish, as Lukashenka keeps up political, financial, and legal pressure on them. Indeed, Belarus's last independent daily newspaper recently went out of business.

The European Commission has allocated two million euros (US$2.3 million) to establish an independent radio station for Belarus, which must operate outside of the country because of Lukashenka. Working with the Belarusian association of journalists, this independent media outlet will broadcast from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and perhaps Ukraine.

This meager effort, however, is an insufficient response by Europe's democracies to the full panoply of Lukashenka's dictatorship: his docile courts, brutal jails, and corrupt police. Are a few hours of radio broadcasting really all Europe and the democratic West can muster? If so, Lukashenka must be laughing.

Parliamentarians across Europe and the West must join their voice together in a well-defined, united and ringing declaration that forces Western leaders to apply real pressure to Europe's last dictator. Such pressure brought results a year ago, with the success of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Nothing less than a united position against the despot of Belarus is necessary if Lukashenka — and his Russian backers — are to be forced to change their ways.

Aldis Kuskis, a member of the European parliament from Latvia, is vice-chairman of its Delegation for Relations with Belarus.

RISMEDIA, Nov. 14 — Announcing three new countries at once, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, RE/MAX International has now expanded its real estate franchising to a total of 61 countries.

Eythor Edvardsson, a native of Iceland is the new regional director for the three Baltic countries which formerly were part of the Soviet Union. Edvardsson finished Commercial School in Iceland and has worked in real estate for a number of years and has been part owner of an independent Lithuanian real estate investment company.

“Through the years, my holiday travels to USA more often ended up in my exploring the real estate market. There I first came in contact with RE/MAX,” commented Edvardsson. “I learned about the atmosphere of this organization and it suited my personality well. I really love the active character throughout this international network. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are very active and attractive markets that are growing fast with the help of foreign investments. Knowing how creative, independent, educated and hard working Baltic people are, I am sure we can build a remarkable RE/MAX team.”

Edvardsson is also an accomplished singer, author and music events organizer and has served as chairman of the Fostbraedur choir since 1994. He was instrumental in organizing events and festivals in Denmark, Finland and Russia including a seasonal concert in Philharmonic Hall of St. Petersburg.

“We are pleased to welcome Eythor Edvardsson to the RE/MAX family,” said Peter Gilmour, RE/MAX senior vice president, international franchise sales and brokerage. “His background in real estate and knowledge of his region will certainly mean operations will be off and running quickly. His energy and experience will be most valuable to building a quality organization in these three countries.”

Estonia has a population of 1.3 million. It borders the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia. After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian rule it attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940, it regained its freedom in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the last Russian troops left in 1994, Estonia has been free to promote economic and political ties with Western Europe. It joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Latvia, which borders the Baltic Sea between Estonia and Lithuania, was annexed by the USSR in 1940 after a brief period of independence between the two World Wars. With a population of 2.3 million Latvia’s independence was reestablished in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Latvia joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Independent between the two World Wars, Lithuania borders the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Russia and was annexed by the USSR in 1940. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not recognize this proclamation until September of 1991. Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into Western European institutions and joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004. It has a population of 3.6 million.

Commentary — Everything that's wrong with the mainstream media can be found on “The Today Show.” The least unwatchable of the three unwatchable morning “news” programs spent much of its airtime last week answering that mystifying question, “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” Could I possibly care less about anything? Jennifer Aniston's post-Brad life, maybe?

Here's the truly mystifying question: Why was there virtually zero coverage of the Sept. 21 General Accountability Office's report on election security on that “news” program or any other, network or cable? Did print news do any better? A search of the Associated Press website comes up dry.

According to Brad Friedman of www.bradblog.com, which tracks the electronic voting fraud issue like a tenacious bloodhound, only columnist Arianna Huffington, Inside Bay Area and “The Daily Tar Heel” in North Carolina addressed the GAO report. Now add my name to that tiny list.

Does anyone else find this spectacularly alarming? We're talking about the sanctity of our votes, here — the very foundation of our democracy! Why is there a complete media blackout on this issue? What gives? To make the lack of coverage even more stupefying, the report is posted on the GAO website, www.gao.gov. You can even download a PDF of the entire 107-page report with a simple click of the mouse. If that's too difficult, I'll happily e-mail it to anyone who wants it.

The stunning report confirms the findings of studies done on electronic voting machines by Compuware and RABA Technologies (which I wrote about previously): the machines can be tampered with in various ways. And these machines were used in the 2004 Presidential election.

Bear in mind that the GAO isn't the tool of MoveOn.org or organized by Michael Moore. The GAO describes itself as “the investigative arm of Congress or the congressional watchdog . . . independent and nonpartisan.” The GAO works cooperatively with our government. This government. Yes, this Bush Administration. And it's reporting significant problems with the electronic voting machines used in the 2004 Presidential elections. Isn't this a tad more important than Lauer sipping lattes in Latvia?

The reports states, “Studies found (1) some electronic voting systems did not encrypt cast ballots or system audit logs, and it was possible to alter both without being detected; (2) it was possible to alter the files that define how a ballot looks and works so that the votes for one candidate could be recorded for a different candidate; and (3) vendors installed uncertified versions of voting system software at the local level . . . some of these concerns were reported to have caused local problems in federal elections — resulting in the loss or miscount of votes — and therefore merit attention.”

It also notes that election officials, computer security experts and citizen advocacy groups raised “significant concerns” about electronic voting security, including weak security controls, system design flaws, inadequate security testing, incorrect system configuration and poor security management. It further states, “there is evidence that some of these concerns have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes. In light of the recently demonstrated voting system problems; the differing views on how widespread these problems are; and the complexity of assuring the accuracy, integrity, confidentiality and availability of voting systems throughout their life cycles, the security and reliability concerns raised in recent reports merit the focused attention of federal, state and local authorities responsible for election administration.”

Included on the lengthy list of actual incidents of electronic voting glitches is this: “A malfunction in a DRE system in Ohio caused the system to record approximately 3,900 votes too many for one presidential candidate in the 2004 general election.”

Remember Ohio's role in the 2004 election?

To make this all even more surreal, Friedman noted that a joint bi-partisan press release issued by three Republican and three Democratic Congressmen — Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) and Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Judiciary Committee Chair F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), and Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Ranking Member Bart Gordon (D-TN) — praised the GAO report findings.

So. The GAO report on potential electronic voting fraud is readily available. A bi-partisan Congressional committee has endorsed it. Why isn't the mainstream media tearing into this like piranhas on a pig carcass?

Forget Matt Lauer. Where in the world is our news coverage?

GASTONIA, N.C. — When he logged on to his Ameritrade account earlier this year, George Rodriguez caught a cyber crook in the act of cleaning out his retirement nest egg.

He watched horrified as the intruder in quick succession dumped $60,000 worth of shares in Disney, American Express, Starbucks and 11 other blue-chip stocks, then directed a deposit into the online account of a stranger in Austin.

"My entire portfolio was being sold out right before my eyes," recalls Rodriguez, 41, a commercial real estate broker who alerted Ameritrade in time to stop the trades.

Rodriguez had just experienced a tech-savvy consumer's worst nightmare. But it's the reality of the digital world we live in: Everyone is now at risk of becoming the victim of an Internet-based crime — even folks who stay offline. And, once victimized, you can face more trouble than you might imagine.

Many consumers and small-business owners naively believe online transactions are safe if they use a firewall, keep anti-virus software updated and follow security tips posted on banking Web sites. Not so, say Internet security experts and federal regulators.

"What banks don't tell you is how easy it is to bypass those protections, and how prolific the threat is, because then you wouldn't do online banking," says Peter Vogt, a board member of Information Systems Security Association, an international group of tech security professionals.

During the past two years, banks, credit-card companies and credit agencies have made it easy to perform online tasks such as changing a billing address, extending credit and transferring large sums of money.

That has created fresh opportunities for swindlers and hackers, say dozens of banking and Internet-security executives, analysts, consultants, researchers and regulators interviewed by USA Today over the past four months.

Federal regulators are cognizant of the biggest blind spot: To gain access to most online bank accounts, you need nothing more than a user name and a password.

Bank of America told USA Today that it plans to require extra log-on steps for all Internet customers by early next year. It will become the first major U.S. bank to add another level of authentication, as banking and tech-security experts debate how to best balance convenience and security.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council last month called on all banks to toughen log-on procedures by the end of 2006. But the council, a consortium of five federal banking agencies, stopped short of specifying how to do that.

"No one knows what the right answer is yet," says Unisys banking security consultant John Pironti.

'They said it was safe'

The case of small-businessman Joe Lopez, closely watched in banking and legal circles, has emerged as a microcosm of e-commerce at a crossroads.

The bootstrap founder of Ahlo, a thriving Miami ink and toner cartridge wholesale business, Lopez says he opened a Bank of America online business account in October 2003 after being cajoled by bank representatives on more than 20 visits to his local branch.

"They said it was safe," Lopez, 42, recalls from his office in a gritty industrial neighborhood.

In April 2004, moments after logging on to his online account at work, Lopez spotted an entry revealing that someone had executed an electronic transfer of $90,348.65 to Parex Bank in Riga, Latvia. Lopez knew no one in Latvia. "I thought I was going to vomit," he recalls.

The next day, according to bank records, a mysterious figure named Yanson Arnold withdrew $20,000 in cash from Parex Bank, leaving $70,348.65 behind. Arnold has not been heard from since.

Secret Service investigators later discovered someone had slipped a Trojan — a small bit of malicious code — past the firewall and anti-virus software that Lopez assumed kept his computer protected. The Trojan, called Coreflood, had captured and transmitted Lopez's user name and password to a data thief, who probably sold it to Arnold or his associates.

Bank of America disavowed responsibility, prompting Lopez to sue the bank in federal court in Miami to get his money back.

"We fully investigated his claims and determined that all of our internal protocols and security measures were in place," says Shirley Norton, a Bank of America spokeswoman.

In its defense, the bank has invoked an obscure section of the Uniform Commercial Code, state laws governing commercial contracts, which banks helped draft. It limits liability in delivering online services to businesses if certain safeguards are in effect.

Norton says the bank considers Lopez a business customer doing commercial transactions, not a consumer doing household banking. Consumers are protected by federal laws that limit their fraud losses in most cases to $50. They must report discrepancies promptly and generally be able to show wrongdoing.

"It's a bank's way of saying, 'It's the customers' fault,' " says Gail Hillebrand, a senior attorney at Consumers Union.

Stealthy exploits

While financial industry executives acknowledge the Internet's security pitfalls, they say they have been mindful of minimizing risks to consumers and small businesses. Of the $1.3 trillion in transactions done with Visa credit cards in 2004, only 0.05 percent were fraudulent, the same level as 2003, and down from 0.07 percent in 2002. Visa does not break out online transactions.

Coreflood could have gotten on Lopez's PC several different ways. It is one of many tried-and-true tools ID thieves use to harvest user names, passwords, Social Security numbers, account numbers and other personal data.

Anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall defenses offer limited protection, primarily blocking the known malicious programs relentlessly blasting across the Internet, seeking unprotected PCs.

But elite identity data thieves have shifted to smaller-scale, more stealthy exploits, often aimed at compromising 1,000 or so PCs a day, says Joe Hartmann, director of anti-virus research at Trend Micro. Over time they can infect millions of machines, but go completely undetected.

In short, if your personal information resides in any database anywhere, it can become a target, even if you prefer to write checks and patronize bricks-and-mortar banks and stores.

KALAMAZOO — Western Michigan University's Dace Copeland has been awarded the Cross of Recognition by the president of Latvia.

The prestigious award is given to individuals who demonstrate outstanding patriotism and achievements for the good of Latvian society and culture.

Copeland, who serves as director of budget, finance and administrative services in Extended University Programs at WMU, has been a university staff member for more than 20 years and is a longtime leader in the Kalamazoo Latvian community. She was elected president of the American Latvian Association in 2002.

Ukraine — The speaker of Ukrainian parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn considers that the language problem artificially appears before elections. He said about that in his press conference in Kiev, Obozrevatel communicates.

Lytvyn noted that considering the complexity of the Ukrainian society one cannot apply a single norm or to conduct Ukrainianization in a moment. He added that in Ukraine it has historically happened so that for a lot of citizens Russian is the first language and today it is impossible to prohibit that.

In March of this year during his visit to Latvia Lytvyn stated that in Ukraine there is no necessity to provide official status to the Russian language. The speaker also noted that if Ukraine will have two official languages, Ukrainian will be lost, and along with it, perhaps, the state itself.

Czech Republic — After the successful implementation of Paralympic School Days (PSD) in Greece and Belgium, further PSDs were organized in Olomouc, Czech Republic, and Saldus, Latvia.

On 10 July, around 100 children with and without a disability from elementary and special schools gathered in "Heyrovského" Elementary School in Olomouc to attend classes in Wheelchair mobility, blind orienteering and Athletics.

Assisted by Czech Paralympians, the children were able to gain an inside view into Paralympic Sports such as Wheelchair Basketball, Goalball and Boccia. In addition, videos from the ATHENS 2004 Paralympics and Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Paralympics were shown.

Currently, the PSD Project partners, coming from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Latvia and Sweden, are each implementing five PSDs in elementary schools in each of their respective countries,

In Saldus, the first Latvian PSD took place on 4 November. Organized by the Public High School of Saldus, in co-operation with the Latvian Disabled Children’s and Youth Sport Federation, around 200 school children with and without a disability experienced Boccia, Goalball, Sitting Volleyball and Wheelchair Basketball.

Edgar Bergs, winner of a silver and a bronze medal at the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games and student of the Saldus high school, promoted the Paralympic Movement in order to inspire his fellow students. Representatives from the local municipality, the National Paralympic Committee as well as the National Olympic Committee attended the PSD.

The PSD Project, which was made possible by a grant from the European Commission, aims at creating awareness and understanding in elementary schools about persons with a disability. Furthermore, a focal point of this multicultural project is to change the attitudes of youth towards persons with a disability and provide an advocacy tool for elementary school teachers to use.

For futher information, please contact Mr. Bart Schell at bart.schell@paralympic.org.

MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) — A group of Russian public figures has appealed to Western leaders to pay greater attention to democratic issues and human rights in Russia and recognize Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky as a political prisoner.

"We, representatives of Russian human rights organizations, scholars, people of culture and politicians, note with concern that ongoing political processes in Russia clearly indicate that there is an actual threat of massive campaigns against people whose views differ from the official position, a return of arbitrariness and suppression of human rights," the group said in its address, which was posted on the Moscow Helsinki Group's website on Wednesday.

"We call on the leadership of the European Union, authoritative international organizations and the human rights community to openly and unambiguously demand that the Russian Federation strictly adhere to its human rights and humanitarian obligations, including the Helsinki Declaration," the document reads.

"The main motive behind the criminal prosecution of [former Yukos CEO Mikhail] Khodorkovsky and [his business partner Platon] Lebedev was their vigorous public support for opposition political forces and institutions of civil society," it reads.

The authors of the address call on Western leaders to "help recognize Valentin Danilov, Mikhail Trepashkin, Zara Murtazaliyeva, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev as political prisoners."

Copies of the address have been sent to the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, and Sweden.

The document was signed by 23 people, among them Russian State University of Humanities president Yury Afanasyev, Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Human Rights Institute head Valentin Gefter, Nobel prize winner and Russian Academy of Sciences member Vitaly Ginzburg, United Civil Front leader Garri Kasparov, Republican Party chairman Vladimir Ryzhkov, and Openness Foundation head Alexei Simonov.

RIGA (AFX) — German car parts producer Seeber is to open a plant in Latvia to produce parts for Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG cars initially and later for Volvo AB and Saab AB of Sweden, the head of the new factory said Wednesday.

'We will start working on Thursday and the plant will produce arm rests for car seats, handbrake handles and other parts for Volkswagen and Porsche cars,' Jolanta Gutmane, the head of the plant, said.

The plant is located in Milzkalne village, in western Latvia, about 60 kilometres from the capital, Riga.

The sole owner of the Latvian company, Germany's Seeber Systemtechnik KG, has invested about 1 mln euros in the plant, Gutmane said.

Seeber, which belongs to the Rochling Group, chose to set up the plant in Latvia because of the Baltic state's favourable location and low labour costs, Gutmane said.

NEW YORK, NY — (MARKET WIRE) — Baltia Air Lines (OTC BB: BLTA) today announced plans to launch its first international destination from Kennedy Airport, New York to St. Petersburg, Russia. The new flight, planned to start early summer, will offer nonstop service from Kennedy Airport to St. Petersburg. The commencement of nonstop service to this new destination from New York marks an important step in the start-up U.S. airline's expanding service to Russia.

"In our proposed three class seating layout Baltia will take passenger service to higher standards. Our in-flight chef will supervise the overall preparation of food and personally prepare specialties. Flying aboard Baltia's 747 luxury liner is going to be a unique experience even for the demanding traveler," stated Baltia President Igor Dmitrowsky.

About Baltia Air Lines, Inc.

Baltia Air Lines' (OTC BB: BLTA) objective is to become the leading airline in the U.S. and St. Petersburg, Russia market, providing full-service, nonstop passenger, cargo and mail service. Flight time is estimated at only 8 hours, versus 12-18 hours on stop-over flights currently offered by foreign airlines. Following the example of successful "niche" airline carriers such as Virgin, Southwest and JetBlue, Baltia's goal is to become the leading trans-Atlantic airline between U.S. cities and the growing Baltic Region, including Northwest Russia, Latvia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Statements contained herein, other than historical data, may constitute forward-looking statements. When used in this document, the words "estimate," "project," "intends," "expects," "believes" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements regarding events and financial trends, which may affect the Company's future operating results and financial position. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results and financial position to differ materially from those included within the forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release (as well as information included in written statements to be made) contain statements that are forward-looking, such as those relating to consummation of the transaction, anticipated future revenue of the Company's and success of current public offerings. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

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RIGA — Defense Minister Einars Repse held on as leader of the center-right New Era party, easily defeating Economy Minister Krisjanis Karins at a party congress Nov. 12.

Party delegates gave 329 votes to Repse and 205 to Karins.

The former Central Banker will hold the reigns of power for the next two years.

The choice of leader was crucial for the relatively young party, since New Era’s greatest challenge in the near future will be setting itself apart from the country’s other center-right parties, including the People’s Party and For Fatherland and Freedom.

Currently New Era is in coalition with the People’s Party and has close working relations with For Fatherland and Freedom, which is in the opposition.

Repse remained party chief despite growing unease within the party due to his business activities, which in recent weeks have come under increasing scrutiny and criticism. The former prime minister was heavily leveraged in a number of property deals, with his debts reaching, according to some reports, several hundred thousand euros.

In addition, Repse has been criticized for controversial statements about rival politicians and for his uncompromising personality, preferring to dispense orders rather than lead consultations.

Faced with this rising tide of discontent, Repse announced he would sell much of his real estate and began holding meetings with party members across the country shortly before the vote.

Speaking to party members, Repse said that he “takes [his leadership and responsibilities] very seriously” and that he “would put aside all that might hinder his work for the good of Latvia.”

The New Era leader attempted to mend fences and congratulated Karins for a strong showing.

Still, Repse has lost much of the popularity that helped his party become the largest in Parliament. For months now, he has been the most unpopular minister in government. A recent SKDS poll showed that a party lead by Karins or former Foreign Minister Sandra Kalniete would stand a much better chance in next year’s parliamentary elections.

Two members left the party earlier this year, including former Interior Minister Maris Gulbis, deprive New Era of two seats in Parliament. The main catalyst for their exit: Repse’s leadership style.

To be sure, much of the strong rhetoric that has landed Repse in hot water with his own party members has also helped New Era earn its points with the electorate.

At the same time much of New Era’s tough talk against corruption appears to have lost its sharpness. If, for instance, the party came to power in 2002 attacking the People’s Party, the two right-wing rivals are now part of the same coalition.

Many New Era members fear that the party will lose its momentum with a highly unpopular leader like Repse. Special Task Minister for Social Integration Ainars Latkovskis said the party risked becoming a “niche party.” He supported Karins as the party’s new leader.

On the other hand, some observers don’t see Repse’s paltry approval ratings as any indicator of the party’s future performance.

Aigars Freimanis, head of the Latvijas Fakti pollster, said that other unpopular leaders still managed to lead their parties despite being unloved by the public. “In many cases the country has had unpopular leaders,” he said. “Andris Skele is one example,” he added, citing continued support for the People’s Party despite Skele’s dismal approval ratings.

RIGA — The Castle of Light sank and vanished from the landscape in a celebrated poem of the same name by Auskelis. The disappearance would not be permanent, the poem promised, as the castle would rise again when the people began to call for it. The 19th century poem, which was later put to music and became a Song Festival favorite, is a thinly veiled allusion to the Crusades and an oppressed nationhood.

So perhaps it is not surprising that when the idea of a national library building came up in the heady and idealistic days of the independence movement in the late 1980s, the Castle of Light emerged once again, this time thanks to the country’s most celebrated architect, Gunnar Birkerts.

However, since the project was first proposed more than 16 years have passed. The high cost of the project and controversy over its design has led to serious criticism in some quarters, while the political will for building such a cost intensive library has often faltered. But with the country slowly rising out of poverty the project has recently gained new impetus and political support and may soon become a reality.

This year’s budget is the first to include funding for preliminary design work on the library, and if all goes according to plan, a difficult thing to predict in Latvia, the building is expected to be completed in time for Independence Day on Nov. 18, 2008.

Auseklis’ poem is not the only literary reference for the design of the Castle of Light. Janis Rainis’ fairy tale “The Golden Horse” also informed the drawing.

In “The Golden Horse” the protagonist Antins rides his golden steed to successfully scale the Glass Mountain on his third attempt to awaken the sleeping princess Saulcerite, something that Birkerts says was meant as a political metaphor for the awakening of the country.

“I didn’t have to wait in any way, because there was so much in me,” Birkerts says, referring to his inspiration for the design. It was “a synthesis I carried in me,” he adds, and one that “cannot be pulled apart.” The design was drawn from literature, architecture, the Daugava River, various architectural structures, such as wooden barns and castles, and a number of other areas and elements from around the country.

For Birkerts, who turned 80 in January, the national library is a long awaited project, and one of the most talked about in his long career in architecture. The advanced time table for completion has “been a very difficult process,” he says listing off the number of prime ministers and culture ministers he has had to work with over the years since the design was first put forward.

After its completion, the Castle of Light should spectacularly live up to its name, like a white mountain radiating light from across the Duaugava River. Birkerts, a well known architect in America where he has designed a number of libraries and museums, is an expert at using light and glass. The Castle of Light won’t be his last project though, as he is continuing to design libraries in the U.S.A.

Political will for the project, which may run to an estimated 105 million lats (151 mln euros), has been schizophrenic, with the Repse-led government seemingly bent on thwarting its completion when it was in power. The cost of the project has been one of the biggest areas of criticism, but Birkerts maintains that the cost of the library would be comparable in another country. Latvia will have to import skilled labor and some other resources it lacks at a national level to complete its construction.

“It was a lack of political will,” Culture Minister Helena Demakova explains as the reason behind the 16-year delay in the construction of the national library, adding that initially “the project was really too expensive for the new state in the beginning.” The library had to be scaled down from the original version to get the go-ahead.

“This project has developed together with our newly regained statehood, which means that it is filled with our aspirations, hopes and full of our metaphors,” Demakova says. She believes that there is strong public support for the project, with one recent poll showing nearly two thirds of the country in favor of it.

Unlike much of the new architecture located in Riga’s Old Town, which has vexed many in the country, the national library will be built across the Daugava River, facing the Old Town. The area chosen will be the center of a number of new development projects, including office buildings and possibly a concert hall.

“It’s definitely in the right place,” Ieva Zibarte, an architecture critic from the daily Diena said. Zibarte called the design “very interesting, brave, and unusual” when it was first submitted. She added, however, that although she was a supporter of the project, fatigue had set in due to the long process in getting the whole project underway.

Latvia remains the only EU member state without a specifically designed building to house a national library. The idea for constructing a national library has been around since shortly after independent Latvia was first created. There was talk of building one in the late 1920s and it is certainly possible that one may have been built long ago had history turned out differently.

At present the nation’s books are housed in a sprawling and complicated maze of small libraries that are poorly funded and difficult to use for those used to the standards of Western European and North American libraries.

The current Riga library system is housed in eight different building spread across town. Andris Vilks head of the library system points out that the cumbersome system is one reason why a new library is necessary.

“Its very typical to be working for a couple of hours at one building and then running to another to get to the other books,” Vilks said. “The most circulated material will now be under one roof,” he added.

The project’s supporters say the new library building will be needed for a fast-expanding collection of national literature, as well as for providing a single, conveniently located research center for the numerous people who would want to use its resources.

An ambitious plan called Light Net is being planned to accompany the construction of the new national library, which will connect libraries across the country and provide Internet access to small regional areas. Funding for the Castle of Light and for Light Net is expected to come from a range of sources. The state is expected to pick up the construction costs, while other countries may help furbish the interior. The Gates Foundation is currently reviewing a grant for Light Net.

Naturally, not everyone is happy with the project. The Constitutional Court heard a case Nov. 15, by owners of property that the library will be built on.

The Castle of Light may have been a long time in the making, but it will surely be a welcome sight when it finally sees the light of day.

RIGA, November 17, 2005 – A leading Latvian theologian has been excommunicated by the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (LELC) for his involvement in a church service for gay men and women during Riga Gay Pride in July.

Juris Calitis, who is the dean of the theology department of the University of Riga and a pastor of the Riga Reformation Evangelical Lutheran and the Riga St. Savoir Anglican parishes, was dismissed from the church yesterday.

Another pastor, Varis Bogdanovs of the Cross parish, was given “a disciplinary penalty”.

In their statement, the Riga Reformation parish said that both pastors have been “punished for their connection with the first lesbian and gay Pride March and a church service that took place at the Anglican church of Riga following the March on July 23, 2005.”

Juris Calitis allowed the openly gay pastor and previously excommunicated LELC pastor Maris Sants, one of the Pride March organisers, to host a service at the Anglican church of Riga. Juris Calitis stated that the LELC tried to ban this service.

The Parish said that both pastors knew that “persecuted by society, lesbians and gays are also excluded by the church”.

The statement continued: “The church was central in provoking thousands of lynch-willing protesters to came out to the streets [and] Juris Calitis decided not only to allow the service but also to support excommunicated Maris Sants.

Archbisop Janis Vanags had on many occasions expressed his view on gays and had condemmed Gay Pride.

According to the LELC decision, both pastors were called to sign a document explaining their participation during the Pride service by November 16. But neither Juris Calitis nor Vairis Bogdanovs accepted the LELC decision since they were “called to demonstrate their obedient acceptance of the LELC power and its instructions”.

The Riga Reformation parish expressed their deep disappointment that despite the fact that the LELC leadership was invited to openness, discussion and tolerance during and after the meting between the parish and the LELC, the LELC leadership considered it more important to prevent any different views and strengthen their own controlling position.

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) — Russia has called on the Council of Europe (CE) to facilitate naturalization procedures for Russian speakers in Latvia and Estonia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Thursday.

At a session of the council in Strasbourg, Grushko said the status of Russian speakers in the two Baltic countries was a cause for concern.

He said that restrictions on Russian's language and education rights and the lack of citizenship involving the infringement of political rights had not been thoroughly studied by CE ministers.

Grushko called for the transformation of European organizations, including the Council of Europe, to meet the demands of the time.

Riga — Former leader of the People's Harmony Party and independent Member of Parliament Janis Jurkans stated that he would not participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Latvia. Instead, he said he intended to finish his 17 year-long political career. “I don’t see a place for myself in the parties of the present ruling coalition,” Jurkans told local BNS. “The ruling parties have led the state into a miserable economic situation and a horrible situation in social sphere and that is totally unacceptable for me,” he added. He also proposed that, after his term expires in Parliament, he could turn to political analysis or become a university lecturer. The AIA brings a dossier on Jurkans Janis...

One of leading politicians of the Latvian Republic for the last 15 years, the long-termed leader of the "People's Harmony Party" (TSP), Jurkans Janis was born in August, 31, 1946 in the city of Riga. Half Latvian (on his father's side), half Pole, he speaks Latvian, Russian, Polish and English fluently. He graduated the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Latvian State University (1974), receiving a degree in philology. He is married, has two sons and lives in small town of Garkalnes Pagasts, near Riga. In 1974 he started to teach philology at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Latvian State University. In 1981 he changed his professional direction and began working at the Factory of Decorative Art in Riga.

In 1989, after formation of the Latvian popular front (Latvijas Tautas Fronte — LTF), he left his work for a political career. Exactly a year later, on May 22 1990, Jurkans Janis became the first Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs. At that time Latvia was still one of the republics of the Soviet Union. He remained at this post for two and a half years until November 10, 1992. He remained a minister in independent Latvia for a short period — a year and some months, and resigned. The reasons for his resignation — sharp disagreement with the position of the official Latvian authorities concerning the status of the Russian-speaking minority, and his excessively obvious pro-Moscow orientation.

He became president of the "Supporting Fund for Latvia", and in 1993 created his own "People's Harmony Party" (TSP), whose main political goal was reaching full integration of the Russian-speaking minority into the Latvian society. During the same year active support from the Russian-speaking electorate ensured that Jurkans Janis, as head of TSP, became a member of the Latvian parliament, where he still remains.

In 1998, on the threshold of parliamentary elections, declining support from a disappointed electorate forced him to form an alliance with radical leftist politicians, such as Tatiana Zhdanok ("Equality" movement) and Alfreds Rubiks (Latvia's Socialist Party). Rubiks, a former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Latvia, served 6 years in a Latvian prison for supporting the Moscow putsch, which failed in August 1991.

In 1998, together with those radicals, Jurkans Janis created a new political association, named "For human rights in united Latvia" (Russian abbreviation "ZaPCHEL", Latvian — PCTVL). Until March 2003 he was the leader of the association's parliamentary faction. Sharp disagreements with his political partners made him declare that the association is "incapacitated". He left the union, and again headed the TSP. In the Latvian parliament’s 8-th convocation, TSP holds 9 of a total of 100 mandates.

Relations with the Russian leadership constitute a special chapter in Jurkans`s political biography. Despite of his former vigorous activity in the ranks of the Latvian Popular Front, unlike the majority of his ex-colleagues, it is impossible to characterize him as an anti-Russian oriented politician. On the contrary, after the declaration of independence of Latvia in the summer of 1991, Jurkans openly supported the strengthening of ties with Russia and even became a supporter of an official Kremlin position concerning the Russian-speaking minority in the country. For that reason he lost his post at the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Already at that time, his frankly pro-Russian position allowed some Latvian political commentators, and some of Jurkans`s political opponents to suspect him of confidential relations with the KGB, and the Russian special services.

It is well known, that at the end of the 1980s the KGB started to infiltrate its “agents of influence” into the Baltic political formations "designed" for long-term use, especially in the case of independence of the Baltic republics. Jurkans, in the opinion of the Latvian commentators, could be one such agents.

After creation of TSP, he supported rather close mutual relations with Moscow, which gradually and noticeably intensified after the formation of "ZaPCHEL" (1998) and after Putin`s coming to power (1999).

In September 2002, during preparations for parliamentary elections in Latvia, Jurkans`s influential patrons in Moscow organized a personal meeting with the Russian president for him, during which Jurkans was promised complete support (including financial) for his political ambitions.

Among his patrons are persons from the highest echelons of the Russian authority: the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Russian State Duma — Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy head of presidential administration — Vladislav Surkov, head of the Department on Affairs of Compatriots Abroad — Alexey Sitnin.

Besides them also the Russian Union of Industrialists and Businessmen, the Council on the External and Defensive Policy as well as the Commercial and Industrial Chamber of the Russian Federation took part in supporting the "ZaPCHEL" association. In view of such close relations between Jurkans and Moscow, many Latvian commentators have perceived the unexpected split of "ZaPCHEL" in 2003, as a result of an order from the Kremlin to dissociate from the overly radical politicians, Zhdanok and Rubiks. Indirect confirmation of this assumption may be found in a sudden desire by Jurkans to enter the government and to stand for the European Parliament from TSP. This was impossible if he stayed in tandem with left wing radicals. Thus the assumption, according to which, in 2003, the Kremlin tried to use Jurkans and his party to create an "intelligent" pro-Russian lobby in the European Parliament seems quite logical.

Subsequently the situation changed radically. Confidential Russian sources claim that the Kremlin, disappointed by Jurkans and his party’s inability to become a part of the Latvian government, ceased to support TSP after the presidential elections in Russia, in the spring of 2004.

The Russians decided to switch — to back the radical politician Zhdanok, whose views more closely correspond to the Russian’s current confrontational policy towards the Baltic states. As a result, in the elections of June 2004, Tatiana Zhdanok became a representative of the Russian-speaking community of Latvia to the European Parliament.

Meanwhile, in March, 2005. Jurkans suffered a new loss. His party failed to overcome a 5 percent electoral barrier during the elections to the Riga city parliament. Previously TSP had a significant influence in this body. At this point, everyone assumed, that the political career of Jurkans Janis is in a slump. Internal contradictions in TSP and loss of political and financial support for the party from Russia made it practically nonviable. Janis Urbanovics was named new head of the center left National Harmony Party after a party congress vote on November, 5. Jurkans, the previous long-time leader, stepped down from the position to show his displeasure with the so-called “business project” merger of his party with New Center, a break-away faction appealing to the same electorate. And this week Jurkans Janis decided to quit.

Against this background the success achieved in the last elections to the Riga city parliament by the new political association of "Russian patriots" "Native land" ("Dzimtene") seems sweeping. Businessman Yuri Zhuravlev and the previously mentioned leader of the Socialist party Alfred Rubiks lead "Dzimtene". This tandem, plus Tatiana Zhdanok, are the politicians the Kremlin counts on today in its struggle for influence in the Baltic region.

Summary — The State Duma voted Friday to allocate 500 million rubles ($17.4 million) to promote civil society in Russia and defend the rights of Russians in the Baltic countries.

Critics said the money was likely to go only to groups that support the Kremlin and was another step in the Kremlin's campaign to bring nongovernmental organizations under its wing.

(Angus Reid Global Scan) – New Era (JL) is still the most popular political organization in Latvia, according to a poll by SKDS. 15.8 per cent of respondents would support the party in the next parliamentary election.

The People’s Party (TP) is second with 11.2 per cent, followed by the Union of the Green and Farmers (ZZS) with 10.7 per cent, the Union For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK (TVP) with 8.6 per cent, and For Human Rights in Unified Latvia (PCTVL) with 8.4 per cent. Latvian parties require at least five per cent of the vote to win seats in the Parliament.

Support is lower for the Way for Latvia Union (LC), New Democracy (JP), the First Party of Latvia (LPP), the Harmony Centre (SC), the Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (LSDSP), Homeland (Dzimtene), the Latvian Socialist Party (LSP), the Social Democratic Union (SDS) and Light of Latgale (LG).

In the October 2002 election, New Era received 23.9 per cent of all cast ballots and secured 26 seats in the Parliament. New Era founder Einar Repse became prime minister in November 2002, but was substituted by Indulis Emsis of the ZZS in March 2004.

In November 2004, the Latvian government changed again after president Vaira Vike-Freiberga nominated TP leader Aigars Kalvitis as prime minister. Kalvitis formed a coalition administration which includes New Era, the ZZS and the LPP. Repse is currently serving as defence minister.

There is a large number of ex-patriot Russians living in Latvia, most of whom lack citizenship and therefore are ineligible to vote. Russia has urged Latvia to reform its naturalization process and deal with its disenfranchised ethnic minorities. The Baltic nation joined the European Union (EU) in May 2004, and hopes to switch its currency to the euro by 2008. Its remarkably high inflation rate—7.0 per cent in 2005—is seen as a possible stumbling block in the conversion process.

Polling Data

What party would you vote for in the next parliamentary election?

                                             Nov. 2005  Aug. 2005
New Era (JL)                                    15.8%      15.0%
People’s Party (TP)                             11.2%      9.0%
Union of the Green and Farmers (ZZS)            10.7%      9.0%
Union For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK (TVP)    8.6%      7.8%
For Human Rights in Unified Latvia (PCTVL)       8.4%      7.8%
Way for Latvia Union (LC)                        3.6%      3.7%
New Democracy (JP)                               3.5%      3.2%
First Party of Latvia (LPP)                      2.9%      4.0%
Harmony Centre (SC)                              2.6%      3.3%
Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (LSDSP) 2.2%      2.6%
Homeland (Dzimtene)                              0.9%      1.6%
Latvian Socialist Party (LSP)                    0.7%      0.5%
Social Democratic Union (SDS)                    0.5%      1.2%
Light of Latgale (LG)                            0.4%      0.9%

Source: SKDS

Methodology: Interviews with 1,015 Latvian citizens conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 25, 2005. Margin of error is 4 per cent.

ESTONIA — The main topic of the week was the Russian authorities' refusal to grant a visa to Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet. Paet was to attend the St. Petersburg session of the EU-Russia round table on cross-border cooperation. "Moscow is avenging itself on Estonia, or perhaps is just continuing its condescending policy towards the neighboring state. Apparently Russia expects Estonia to swallow the diplomatic insult, because larger EU countries will not lock horns with Russia over the honor of a minor novice." (Parnu Postimees, November 11).

The press writes that Russia "has got into a silly situation," because after a strong reaction from the EU, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had to apologize for the regrettable incident. "[Lavrov's] telephone call to Paet followed soon after the ambassador of Britain, the country holding the EU rotating presidency, voiced concern and disappointment to Russia's Foreign Ministry ... It is one of the strongest manifestations of support for Estonia on the part of the European Union in Estonia's confrontation with Russia." (Postimees, November 12).

LATVIA — A visit by M. Kolerov, head of Russia's presidential department on inter-regional and external cultural ties, is at the focus of attention of the Latvian press. Analyzing his remarks, the national press concludes that Moscow is moving away from direct accusations of Latvian authorities to resolving problems of relations through EU structures and abandoning the policy of unconditional support for the Russians in Latvia. "It became evident in the course of the conversation that in its policy Russia has given up making direct charges against Latvia, and refers to 'European standards' when expressing its demands. When, to conclude the meeting, Kolerov was asked what Russian speakers in Latvia should do — it emerged from the conversation that they could not hope for any Kremlin support, and least of all financial — the visitor replied: 'They should fight for their rights.'" (Latvijas Avize, November 9, November 10).

The local press in Russian, on the other hand, quotes the Kremlin official as saying that Russia has not changed its positions on the discrimination of Russians in Latvia, rehabilitation of Nazism in the republic, a North-European gas pipeline, and compensation for the "Soviet occupation." "Kolerov has disappointed the Latvian ruling elite. He clearly stated that troubled times and absence of distinctly formulated principles in Russia's foreign policy were over in 2000. Today Russia has its own policy both in the West and in the East, and in relation to its compatriots. Russia will no longer conclude dubious deals like 'oil for human rights,' and others." (Vesti-Segodnya, November 10).

LITHUANIA — November 10 was the closing day for bids to purchase the Mazeikiai Nafta (MN) oil complex. This has evoked a spate of comments in the printed media. "Both the East and the West are putting pressure on Lithuania as it chooses an investor for Mazeikiai Nafta. The Polish oil company PKN Orlen is demanding that the buyer should be selected on financial grounds alone. Representatives of Russia's giant LUKoil are complaining that they have been disqualified from the game for political motives. On the one hand, Lithuania faces the possibility of Poland freezing transport and energy projects and on the other, provoking the displeasure of Russia, the energy supplier." (Lietuvos Zinios, November 12).

Some media are skeptical of the moves undertaken by the Lithuanian government, whose representatives met with potential MN buyers during the week. "The target of the negotiations is shares, which do not belong to Lithuania, to begin with. There is only an intention to buy them out from Yukos for later resale. Second, Yukos is not selling them yet, because they have been frozen by the Amsterdam court. And third, if they are sold, it will probably not be to Lithuania." (Litovskaya Nardodnaya Gazeta, November 14).

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Despite a widely held belief that U.S. students do well in mathematics in grade school but decline precipitously in high school, a new study comparing the math skills of students in industrialized nations finds that U.S. students in 4th and 8th grade perform consistently below most of their peers around the world and continue that trend into high school.

The study, conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) under funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education, reexamined data from three international surveys assessing mathematics achievement in 2003 — the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which assessed students in grades 4 and 8, and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which assessed 15-year-olds, most of whom were in 10th grade.

The study, "Reassessing U.S. International Mathematics Performance: New Findings from the 2003 TIMSS and PISA," focused on students in the United States and 11 other industrial countries that participated in all three assessments: Australia, Belgium, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and the Russian Federation.

U.S. students consistently performed below average, ranking 8th or 9th out of twelve at all three grade levels. These findings suggest that U.S. reform proposals to strengthen mathematics instruction in the upper grades should be expanded to include improving U.S. mathematics instruction beginning in the primary grades.

"The conventional wisdom is that U.S. students perform above average in grades 4 and 8, and then decline sharply in high school," says Steven Leinwand, principal research analyst at AIR and one of the report's authors. "But this study proves the conventional wisdom is dead wrong."

Previous studies compared U.S. performance with substantially more countries, whose characteristics vary widely. A total of 24 countries participated in TIMSS-grade 4, 45 countries in TIMSS-grade 8, and 40 countries in PISA.

According to widely publicized findings from those studies, U.S. performance was above the international average in grades 4 and 8, but below the international average at age 15, suggesting that the quality of American high schools is inferior to that of elementary and middle schools.

"We believe the narrower focus of this study more accurately reflects the state of education in the United States in relation to a common set of industrialized nations because we are comparing apples to apples," says Leinwand.

The reanalysis took advantage of the richness of the TIMSS and PISA data sets to present new findings on the strengths and weaknesses of U.S. and other countries' mathematics performance.

Countries that score well on items that emphasize mathematical reasoning (a higher-level skill) also score well on items that require knowledge of facts and procedures (a lower-level skill), suggesting that reasoning and computation skills are mutually reinforcing in learning mathematics well. Compared to other countries, students in the United States do not do well on questions at either skill level.

Many countries differ in their strengths and weaknesses among mathematical content areas (numbers, algebra, measurement, geometry, and data and statistics). The United States does relatively better in data and statistics and relatively worse in measurement in grades 4 and 8 and in geometry in grade 8 and at age 15.

Overall differences within countries between boys' and girls' mathematics performance are not large, although there is some evidence that the boys' score advantage is greatest on the more difficult items, especially at age 15. This finding is consistent with some prior gender literature. In addition, the study found that boys in the United States consistently outperform girls in all three assessments, a pattern shared only with Italy, but the differences are small.

"These findings suggest cross-national surveys of educational achievement at different grade levels and ages provide a broader lens than is possible from domestic research alone from which to determine the strengths and weaknesses of U.S. mathematics instruction," says Alan Ginsburg of the U.S. Department of Education, another of the study's authors.

Rankings(1) of 12 Countries Participating on the 2003 International Mathematics Assessments: TIMSS Grades 4 and 8, and PISA Age 15(2)

                           This New Analysis            Previous Analyses

    Country           Common Set of 12 Countries  Full set  Full set  Full set
                                                   of 24     of 45     of 40
                       TIMSS      TIMSS     PISA     TIMSS     TIMSS     PISA
                      Grade 4    Grade 8   Age 15   Grade 4   Grade 8   Age 15

    Hong Kong              1         1        1         2         3        1
    Japan                  2         2        3         3         5        6
    Belgium                3         3        4         5         6        8
    Netherlands            4         4        2         6         7        4
    Latvia                 5         6        9         7        11       27
    Hungary                7         5        8        10         9       25
    Russia                 6         6       11         8        11       29
    Australia             10         8        5        15        14       11
    United States          8         9        9        11        15       27
    New Zealand           11        10        6        16        20       12
    Norway                12        12        7        20        27       22
    Italy                  9        11       12        14        22       31

    (1) Country rankings for common set of 12 countries are from highest score
        (equals 1) to lowest score (equals 12). Country rankings from previous
        analyses are from highest score (equals 1) to lowest score (equals 24
        for TIMSS Grade 4, 45 for TIMSS Grade 8, and 40 for PISA).

    (2) Tunisia also participated in all three international results, but it
        is not an industrialized country and was omitted from our study.
        Source: Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez, and Chrostowski, 2004; OECD, 2004.

The full report is available on the AIR Web site:

http://www.air.org/news/documents/Release200511math.htm

About AIR

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research on important social issues and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity.

Source: American Institutes for Research

Riga — A former vice-president of the embattled Russian oil giant Yukos, Mikhail Yelfimov, has asked Latvian authorities to grant him political asylum, the Dienas Bizness daily reports.

A spokesman for the country’s Interior Ministry Krist Leishkalns said that 19 foreigners, including three Russians, applied for political asylum in Latvia in 2005.

Yelfimov headed Yukos’s subsidiary dealing with processing and distribution of oil products and led negotiations with Lithuania concerning the Mazeikiu Nafta refinery. In February 2005 a criminal case was started against the executive and a district court in Moscow sanctioned his arrest. The businessman moved to London and stayed there and Russian authorities have not demanded his extradition so far.

Last month another businessman linked to Yukos was granted provisional asylum by Latvia’s neighbor Lithuania.

Igor Babenko, the former manager of a Menatep St. Petersburg bank affiliate, is wanted in Russia on embezzlement charges. In June, a Russian court issued an arrest warrant for Babenko, a Lithuanian native, and his associates and put them on the international wanted list.

Babenko was detained in Vilnius July 1. He denied all charges.

An executive at the bank Babenko had been working for said the issue is not political, but a case of “criminal activity.” Lithuania decided to extradite Babenko to Russia but later suspended the decision.

BRUSSELS — European Union (EU) agriculture ministers struck a landmark deal yesterday to overhaul the bloc’s subsidy — laden sugar policy, slashing prices by more than a third and offering generous payoffs to farmers willing to abandon beet growing.

Their agreement means that the EU will see its sugar production and exports fall sharply as its 40-year-old regime falls into line with a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling that has branded most EU sugar exports illegal.

EU sugar policy has survived virtually all attempts at reform since its birth in the late 1960s and is often attacked for harming Third World producers as it floods world markets with millions of tones of subsidised EU sugar, lowering prices.

“It really is a great day. We managed to get a compromise with very broad support from the council (of ministers),” EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, said.

“We have had the usual bargaining, but the outcome seems to be a reasonable one,” she said.

“The final decision was a (price) cut of 36% over a four-year period and there will be compensation for farmers of 64,2%.”

Although the ministers did not hold a formal vote, diplomats said only Greece, Poland and Latvia voiced disagreement with the general consensus.

During the three days of talks, Fischer Boel ceded ground in a number of technical areas but stuck to her guns on the most difficult: the depth of the price cut, which was only diluted slightly from the 39% first proposed.

Countries, like Italy, Sweden and Austria, won concessions for their sugar industries as the commission slowly wore down a group of 11 states opposed to the reform, since their combined voting weight was enough to scupper a deal.

“This agreement respects the objectives set down by France that you should be able to use your relative competitive advantage,” French Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau said.

France, the largest beneficiary of EU farm spending, is often first to complain at market-oriented agricultural reforms.

But this time, diplomats say, it stands to gain since as the bloc’s top sugar producer, it should win market share as other countries see their less efficient sugar industries disappear.

Adding to the reform pressure, the WTO had declared EU sugar policy illegal and ordered the bloc to bring it into line by mid-May after a case brought by Brazil, Australia and Thailand.

The commission was keen to get a reform deal before a meeting next month in Hong Kong of the WTO’s 148 members to discuss a new global trade round.

Aid agencies criticised the agreement, saying the price cut would harm Europe’s raw sugar suppliers in poor countries such as Burkina Faso and Sudan, as well as former European colonies.

DUBLIN — The Irish Ferries decision to go ahead with its cost-cutting drive by hiring workers from Latvia and other Eastern European countries has triggered a blazing industrial row that has resulted in two Irish Ferries being held up as the management and crew are involved in a tussle in Pembroke Dock and in Holyhead.

The crew claims that the management is using security guards who boarded the ship in camouflage, to ensure that the overseas staff began their jobs smoothly. As of Saturday, the two ships in question, The Isle of Inishmore and Ulysses were still at port. The dispute started on Thursday and the Irish Ferries maintained that the security was to ensure that the new staff would familiarize themselves with their duties on board. It has emerged that four officers are locked up in the control room of the vessel at Pembroke Dock. The crew of the Holyhead ship is refusing to allow the normal agenda to proceed.

Unions say that the members are upset in the manner the security personnel were introduced onto the ship. It seems they boarded as passengers, but changed into their gear as soon as they boarded the vessel. "We have secured the engine room/control room because there's a presence of — the company has now told us — a security firm on board, trying to remove us from the vessel and replace us with cheap European labour," said Gary Jones. an engineer and an officer barricaded in the control room of the vessel. He is also a member of the Irish SIPTU union.

But Irish Ferries maintained that it had been pretty open about its intentions and was not indulging in questionable practices. The decision to hire cheap labour was already told to the members as well as the unions, the company said, "The security measures were necessary because in December of last year Siptu staged two strikes... and totally locked up the ship in Holyhead and would not allow regulatory agencies or any management on to the ship," commented Irish Ferries spokesman Alf McGrath. He added that the firm had the duty and responsibility to ensure that their assets were safe. Irish Ferries has also announced that it does not expect the services to resume until early next week.

The workers who are to lose their jobs have been offered generous severance packages and it is reported that 90 percent of them have ABCmoney.co.uk

Komersant — Tallinn hosted the 24th session of the presidium of the Baltic Assembly this weekend where law-makers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland passed a resolution concerning the construction of the North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP) urging Russia and Germany to consider ecological and economic interests of the four states. These demands have got no reaction from Moscow so far. What is more, Gazprom is set to show the welding of the first joint of the NEGP in Vologda Region to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The resolution adopted in Estonia contains an appeal to the parliaments of the countries situated in the area of the Baltic Sea and the Council of Ministers of Baltic states to pay a special attention and look into the North European gas main project for its compliance with treaties on the protection of the Baltic Sea and laws of the European Union. The deputies pointed out to the impending global ecological catastrophe due the construction of the pipeline under the Baltic Sea where after the WWII, the USSR used to store massive depots of chemical weapons.

The Baltic Assembly was set up in 1991 as a deliberative body on the cooperation between parliaments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It consists of 20 people from each of the countries. The assembly coordinates actions, consults parliaments of the three countries and declares its own position in special resolutions, decisions and recommendations.

Gazprom stated yesterday: “We are going to consider every possible risk and make an ecological examination in keeping with all norms and accords that act for this kind of projects.”

We should note that the Geneva Convention on the Law of the Sea as of 1958 and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Russia, the EU and EU-candidate-members are signatories to them) codified the principle of the common international law on the freedom of laying of pipelines on the bottom of the international sector of high seas and the continental shelf. The 1982 convention restricted the construction of pipe lines on the bottom of the continental shelf by the consent of littoral states with the route of the pipe line.

The session of the Assembly invited foreign guest including the Polish delegation headed by Pavel Zalewski, the chair of the foreign affairs commission at the Polish Sejm. The presence of the Poles was quite understandable since the Russian-German project topped the agenda that day. The North European Gas Pipeline disregards interests of Baltic states as well as those of Poland. Gazprom has already said that it will start considering a rise in the throughput capacity of gas pipelines that pass on the territories of these countries only if these countries are willing to buy extra amounts of gas. However, Poland does not even consume the amounts of gas agreed for the construction of the first branch of the Yamal-Europe gas main, over which Gazprom has constant problems with its Polish counterparts.

Lithuania, where gas pipelines from Russia to Kaliningrad pass, has adopted a new scheme of tariffing which has immediately made the transit of the Russian gas to Kaliningrad unprofitable. Lithuanian authorities also announced a 30 percent rise on the Russian gas to $120 per 1,000 cu. meters in 2006, and with an eye to a lift to $200, and warned ultimate customers of the coming rise in fuel prices. We should mention that there are no investors in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia to with enough funds at their disposal to join the NEGP project.

Meanwhile, Gazprom is getting ready for the launch of the construction of the North European Gas Pipeline. The ceremony of the welding of the first joint of the NEGP is set on December 9 in Vologda Region where German Chancellor Angel Merkel has been invited. Gazprom confirmed that “wide political and business groups of Germany” had been encouraged to attend the festivities.

RIGA, November 28 (RIA Novosti, Yury Guralnik) — The Russian ambassador to Latvia said Monday that the Baltic states have only themselves to blame for the North-European gas pipeline's planned bypass of their territory.

Viktor Kalyuzhny criticized the Baltics for letting political principles override the importance of economic issues.

"Otherwise, the pipeline would have crossed Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to the satisfaction of everyone," Kalyuzhny said.

The North-European gas pipeline (NEGP) will connect the Russian coast of the Baltic Sea near Vyborg with the German coast. The pipeline will enable Russia to diversify its export routes and bring natural gas to Western Europe avoiding transit states along its route. The pipeline will pump 55 billion cu m of gas annually and will begin operating in 2010.

The Baltic countries and Poland are dissatisfied with the NEGP project because the pipeline will bypass their territory.

Riga — Riga Christmas market will take place on 27 November – 27 December. The Grand Opening of the festive season is on the First Advent Sunday by turning on the Christmas lights of the main city’ s Christmas tree at the Dome Square.

According to some historic sources, Riga is the city where the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree was born. In 1510, Riga merchants decorated a fir tree with flowers in honour of the birth of Christ. The tradition gradually evolved and spread throughout the Christian world. The tradition continues and the Mayor of Riga lights the main decorated Christmas tree in special ceremony.

But Christmas traditions in Latvia are much older than that. In ancient Latvian culture the rebirth of the Sun maiden where celebrated and these traditional rituals are still very much alive and performed. The best known tradition is mumming. The masked mummers travel from street to street of the Old Town bringing blessing, good luck and fertility by singing and dancing. Another characteristic Christmas tradition is the dragging and burning of a Yule log. This is explained as the symbolic collection and burning of last year’s problems and misfortunes.

During Christmas season various folk, classical and choral performances take place all around the city – outside as well as in concert halls. Several ice-skating rinks are laid out in many squares and special attractions for kids are set up at Lido Recreation Centre as well as Ethnographic Open-Air Museum.

The Christmas market is held in Old Town selling various crafts such as linen, amber, wood crafts, pottery, textiles, jewelry, books as well as traditional foods and many more. It’s great chance to sample traditional piragi, ginger breads, cheeses, sausages and beverages. Special winter drink is warming hot black current juice with a dash of alcoholic herbal drink Black Balsam.

Every restaurant has special Christmas offer as well as hotels have special packages. Small boutique shops and workshops are particularly popular for Christmas shopping.

Dublin — The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has arranged a national day of protest for December 9 to show solidarity with workers at Irish Ferries.

The company is currently trying to replace all its seafaring staff with cheaper labour from Latvia in an effort to cut costs.

The company wants to hire Latvians on less than the minimum wage and on weaker employment terms than its existing crews.

ICTU is already refusing to enter talks on a new social partnership deal unless it receives assurances from the Government and employers that such "job displacement" will not be allowed to happen.

It has now decided to arrange a national day of protest to allow members of the public and other workers to show their support for Irish Ferries staff.

ICTU said the event would see protests taking place in a number of locations across the country on Friday, December 9, with the main march due to take place in Dublin.

Moscow/Berlin — Vital gas supplies to Western Europe are under threat because of an acrimonious dispute between Russia and Ukraine over that country’s recent embrace of the European Union and Nato.

The row is focusing attention on the West’s growing dependence on Russian gas, and raising fears that the Kremlin has started to use its status as a leading energy producer as an instrument of foreign policy.

Russia wants to triple the price of the gas it sells to Ukraine, starting from January 1, in part because the country has shifted its allegiance to the West.

Ukraine is resisting. If the two fail to resolve their dispute in the next month, Ukraine could halt the flow of Russian gas to Western Europe, nearly 80 per cent of which goes through a pipeline that crosses the country. Both nations openly acknowledge the threat to Western Europe’s supplies.

A spokesman for Naftogaz Ukraine, the state energy company, said that Russia would have to carry the blame for any delay in gas supplies to Western Europe.

Sergei Kuprianov, a director at Gazprom, the main Russian gas producer, countered: “Ukraine is blackmailing us by using the issue of European gas supplies . . . The security of these European supplies is a matter of the highest importance for us, and should not be used for haggling.”

A break in gas supplies from Russia could have a devastating effect on Western Europe.

Russia, which is the world’s largest natural gas producer, supplies roughly a quarter of the EU’s gas. It is the sole gas supplier to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia. It also supplies about 80 per cent of the gas to Hungary and Poland and more than 70 per cent to the Czech Republic. That gives Moscow considerable muscle in countries that once belonged to its sphere of influence.

But Russia has also been making increasing inroads into traditional Western markets: about 40 per cent of German gas and 25 per cent of French gas comes from the Siberian gasfields.

Britain is less dependent than most EU states, but is nonetheless due to double its purchases of Russian gas from five billion cubic metres next year to ten billion in 2010. The dispute between Ukraine and Russia erupted this month when the Kremlin announced that Russia would no longer sell gas to former satellite states such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova at subsidised rates.

It has traditionally used subsidised fuel exports as a means of keeping those states within its sphere of influence. However, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, which pushed it closer towards the EU and Nato, prompted a rethink in the offices of Gazprom.

Russian relations with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have worsened in the past two years as they have moved towards the EU and Nato, and called for the withdrawal of Russian military forces.

“The era of Russia subsidising its neighbours has gone on too long,” Mr Kuprianov said. “These countries’ economies are now strong enough to pay normal market prices. Why should we subsidise them, whether they want to join Nato or not?” Gas prices for the more Russia-friendly Belarus and Armenia were under discussion, he said.

Ukraine faces the steepest price increase, of 300 per cent. But both Moldova and Georgia will have to pay at least double the present rates for their Russian gas imports. This will particularly hurt Moldova, which is one of the poorest countries in Europe.

The governments of these countries are convinced that the price rise is an act of revenge. President Voronin of Moldova said: “We are ready to live in the cold, to freeze without Russian gas, but we won’t give in.”

A European energy crisis could still be averted. Adam Landes, an energy analyst at Renaissance Capital, said that a deal was still possible. “The transit role that Ukraine plays is so vital to Europe that I believe an eleventh-hour compromise will be reached.”

Interrupting Russian gas supplies to Ukraine would be almost equally disastrous for both the Russian and Ukrainian economies. Russia depends on its substantial hard currency earnings from gas.

The dispute underlines the need for Russia to find alternate routes for its imports to Western Europe, which are expected to grow by one third in the next decade. It is about to begin construction of an 1,189km (739 mile) pipeline through the Baltic Sea to Germany.

TURNING UP THE HEAT

# In 2003, nearly a quarter of the EU’s gas consumption depended on Russian imports

# This figure rises to 74 per cent for new member states and 74 per cent for Ukraine and Belarus

# Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia are completely dependent on Russian gas

# Russia has the world’s largest gas reserves and is the largest producer and exporter of gas

# Gazprom is the largest gas producing company in the world with a share in the world gas production of about 20 per cent. It controls almost 60 per cent of the Russian gas reserves and produces about 90 per cent of Russian gas

# The company is responsible for 8 per cent of Russia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and supplies gas to generate about 50 per cent of domestic electricity

Source: Gazprom, Centre for Eastern Studies

Nicosia — Beleaguered Irish Ferries has applied to register its fleet under the Cyprus flag, amid accusations it is trying to replace its Irish workers with cheaper labour.

Sergios Sergiou, Director of the Cyprus Merchant Shipping Department, yesterday confirmed that Irish Ferries had applied to register its vessels under the Cyprus flag, which is an open registry and has the third largest fleet in the EU after Greece and Malta.

“We have had the application for a few weeks now,” Sergiou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. “They applied to us because they are having some problems in Ireland.”

Sergiou said the move would involve two to three vessels, if Irish Ferries manages to secure permission from the Irish government. “They are waiting for that and we are ready to register the ships,” he added. “It will take no time at all once we have the necessary documents.”

The Irish Ferries row has been raging for weeks after the company said it had to bring in foreign staff as part of a cost-cutting drive to remain competitive. It had proposed hiring workers from Latvia at less than half the set Irish minimum wage of 7.65 euros, in a move that has been widely criticised by the Irish government.

Registering under another flag would assist the company in avoiding its minimum wage obligations in Ireland, critics say. Irish Ferries, which operate car ferries between Ireland, the UK and France, have rejected a non-binding Labour Court recommendation and pledged yesterday to press ahead to replace more than 500 employees, as Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney warned the company could collapse if an agreement was not reached soon with the unions.

“I very much regret what is happening – I think if people don't see sense, there will be no Irish Ferries. The workers will lose out, the company will lose out and the entire country will lose out,” she told reporters in Dublin.

Irish Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the government must raise the issue at next Monday’s meeting of EU transport ministers, as plans to register the ships in Cyprus meant it had become an EU problem.

But according to reports in Ireland, the government cannot legally prevent the company registering in Cyprus. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, had refused the transfer application last week.

Irish Ferries had originally tried to register in the Bahamas, another open registry but chose Cyprus instead because the island was an EU country.

It is not known whether Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will raise the issue with President Tassos Papadopoulos, who is currently on a four-day visit to Dublin.

TBILISI. Nov 30 (Interfax) — "An axis of democratic countries that do not wish to be in the orbit of Russian influence will in effect be created" at a planned international forum in Kyiv on Thursday, said the Georgian president's chief of staff, Giorgi Arveladze.

Arveladze told Georgia's Imedi television that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was leaving for Kyiv on Wednesday to take part in the forum of the "Community of Democratic Choice."

The forum participants will also include the presidents of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and some Balkan states. The secretaries general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, Marc Perrin de Brichambeau and Terry Davis, are expected to attend the event.

RIGA — The Council of Europe closed its monitoring in Latvia after the organization voted on Nov. 23 to cease following the country’s minority situation on a day-to-day basis.

Latvian delegates said the vote was aided by the absence of several country representatives, allowing for a vote of 10 to 9 in favor of ceasing the continued international scrutiny.

RIGA, November 30, 2005 – A new independent department that will keep an eye on discrimination has been set — up by the government in Latvia. And the National Human Rights Office will be embracing the gay and lesbian community as well as other sections of society as well as racism and other forms of discrimination.

The department will oversee national issues regarding tolerance and will also provide help to individuals who find themselves victims of discrimination.

According to the department, there no large-scale hatred towards minority groups in Latvia. However, it is admitted that there are low-tolerance levels against gays and lesbians.

Additionally, the department will have a “watchdog” role on the government and Parliament and will be able to initiate inquiries

Last July’s Riga Gay Pride saw high levels of homophobia from a small section of right-wing demonstrators, who were encouraged by the remarks of political leaders.

While homosexuality is legal in Latvia, politicians are often homophobic in their rhetoric, saying what the electorate want to hear them say.

Tomorrow (December 1), the Latvian Parliament is scheduled to discuss the ‘second reading’ of a bill would change the country’s constitution to include the banning of same-sex marriage. It is expected that this Bill will pass through the legislative process, which requires a 75% or better vote in favour to pass.

KIEV, Dec 1 (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Thursday the European Union's future budget would have to be smaller if it was not possible to achieve fundamental reform of farm subsidies now.

Blair, seeking a deal on the long-term budget as holder of the EU's revolving presidency, was speaking ahead of talks with leaders from central and eastern Europe, anxious over reported British plans to cut aid to the poorest new member states.

"If we cannot get a large deal which alters fundamentally the way the budget is spent, then there are four things that follow: we will have to have a smaller EU budget," Blair told a news conference after an EU-Ukraine summit.

Britain would pay its fair share of the cost of enlargement to 10 mainly ex-Communist east European states that joined last year, but it would not give up its annual rebate from EU coffers which was "inextricably linked" to farm spending, he said.

"The third thing we can do is, if we're intelligent, agree to a mid-term review of the budget, led by the (European) Commission which would allow us — not force us — on the basis of the review to change the second half of the (2007-2013) financial perspective," he said.

Blair added that a deal would have to deliver rough parity between the net positions of Britain and like-sized countries — a reference to France and Italy.

He acknowledged he faced a tough task to convince the new members to accept his proposals, which diplomats say include cuts of about 10 percent in proposed aid to the newcomers.

"I'm now going to the Baltics and to central Europe and I will discuss this with people. None of this is going to be easy, but I do actually believe it is in the interests of Europe to get a deal. It's not going to get any easier.

"Meantime, I will get attacked, probably from all sides, but then ... that's part of political leadership," he added.

ROBIN HOOD

Blair was speaking alongside European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who warned him on Wednesday against acting like the Sheriff of Nottingham in the Robin Hood legend and robbing the poor to give to the rich in his budget proposals.

The proposed cut would help offset a reduction in payments to the EU by Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden and help London salvage more of its own annual rebate from Brussels.

Blair shrugged off that jibe, telling reporters: ""Before we did this press conference, we went through the full range of responses to that, including Little John, Maid Marion, Richard the Lionheart and even Saladin at one point.

"This is a tough situation to resolve the budget and that's why we haven't resolved it so far."

British officials insist the newcomers do not have the capacity to absorb all the money earmarked for them in the proposal of previous EU president Luxembourg.

Instead, London aims to make it easier for them to spend their allocations, possibly providing an extra year on top of the existing two-year limit to spend EU money and reducing the percentage of matching funds required, diplomats said.

The executive European Commission kept up its drumbeat of pressure on Britain on Thursday, warning that its proposal could deepen divisions in the 25-nation bloc.

EU Budget Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite from Lithuania, one of the new members, told the French daily Le Figaro: "If the scenarios circulating at the moment become reality, it will be a politically short-sighted budget creating a two-speed system which will divide Europe even more."

Britain is expected to unveil its proposal on Monday, just 10 days before a crunch Dec. 15-16 Brussels summit.

Agreeing a long-term budget is vital to restore confidence in the EU after a series of setbacks and to improve Britain's standing in the bloc after it torpedoed a deal in June, refusing to accept any curb on the rebate unless it won a pledge to cut farm subsidies that benefit France most.

Blair was to meet the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in Tallinn on Thursday and Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Budapest later that day and on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor in Brussels)

RIGA, Latvia — Lelde Kurme graduated from a top Latvian university and could take her pick of jobs from a long list of "accountant wanted" ads found in most of the nation's newspapers. But Kurme, 28, is moving next year to London where she expects to start out waiting tables or even washing dishes while her English improves.

"I plan to work one year at jobs that Brits themselves wouldn't do to improve my English," Kurme said, adding she later wants to study in Britain and get an accounting job there.

Kurme will join the hundreds of thousands of workers from former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe who have left their homelands in search of better wages since the nations joined the European Union last year.

While there are no exact numbers on the workers going West, concerns are growing among new member states that the migration is depriving them of much-needed labor and threatening to slow some of the fastest-growing economies in the EU.

Fears among more established EU nations that the bloc's expansion would lead to a massive flood of cheap labor have not materialized. For one thing, only Britain, Ireland and Sweden have fully opened their labor markets to new members. But even in those countries, authorities say the influx of workers from eastern and central Europe has been manageable.

EU citizens can live and work anywhere in the bloc, but most established members imposed special restrictions on the newcomers in the east, fearing a massive flood of cheap labor. However, the three countries that fully opened their labor markets to new members — Britain, Ireland and Sweden — say the influx of workers from eastern and central Europe has been manageable.

The real labor crisis appears to be in the nations where workers are leaving.

"It is a big problem. Before Lithuania joined the EU, workers used to appreciate their jobs. Now they leave to the West for good," said Robertas Suliauskas, a spokesman for Palink, which owns Lithuania's second-largest supermarket chain, Iki.

Iki has lost about 10 percent of its work force this year, or about 200 employees per month, Suliauskas said.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are home to just 7.2 million residents, estimate the numbers that have left are in the tens of thousands — possibly more.

And the trend seems to be growing. A recent poll of 800 Riga high school seniors showed that 78 percent intended to leave Latvia after graduating.

To counter the loss of workers going West, new EU members find themselves looking East.

A Latvian parliamentary committee concluded last week that the country may need to invite workers from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in the next four years because its homegrown workers were leaving en masse.

Iki's competitor, VP Market, is considering importing workers from Ukraine, said its co-owner, Ignas Staskevicius.

"The only way to prevent employees from leaving is to raise salaries. It is not easy to do this while keeping prices at the same level," Staskevicius said.

The westward flight of workers is already hurting these countries' economies and could seriously slow growth over the next few years, said Morten Hansen, an economics professor at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.

"They need more, not fewer workers, to keep their economies running at current levels," Hansen said, adding that shrinking work forces will face a greater burden caring for their nations' rapidly aging populations.

In Poland, an estimated 500,000 people have left to find work elsewhere in the EU in the past 18 months. However, Polish officials are less concerned about the migration, given the country's high unemployment rate.

But Deputy Labor Minister Jacek Mecina said the country needed to prepare for the prospect of specialists leaving for better paying jobs abroad. It may already be happening: Polish hospital administrators recently said they may look to Ukraine to replace some doctors and dentists who have gone West.

Istvan Eger, president of the Hungarian Doctor's Chamber, blamed deteriorating job conditions in Hungary for the exodus of that country's doctors.

More than 1,000 doctors have asked the chamber for certificates needed to work in other EU countries in the past 18 months, and Eger said they were drawn by wages that are sometimes up to 15 times what they could earn in Hungary.

The countries receiving the new workers are largely grateful for the extra help.

A British Home Office report found immigrants from the new member states were "contributing to the success of the U.K. economy, whilst making very few demands of our welfare system, or public services."

In Ireland, Poles, Latvians and Lithuanians are now ubiquitous in most of the lowest-paid lines of work, such as waiters and farm workers, and it's common to see Baltic license-plated cars contributing to Dublin traffic jams.

Ireland's Central Statistics Office found that 133,000 people had moved there from the 10 new EU states between their admission in May 2004 and October this year, and just 1 percent of them were claiming welfare benefits.

Ireland has the EU's lowest unemployment rate, 4.3 percent, and the rate has dropped since May 2004.

Sweden, whose Parliament rejected a government plan to restrict immigration from the EU newcomers, has seen only 7,000 people from the new member states receiving work permits this year in a country of 9 million.

"We have had no bad experience whatsoever from the expansion," Employment Minister Hans Karlsson said.

Experts predict the westward flow of labor will slow as wages rise in the new member states. Slovenia, the wealthiest former Yugoslav country that achieved EU-like standards even before joining the bloc last year, has seen relatively few of its citizens head west.

Associated Press Writers across Europe contributed to this report.

Press release — Tony Blair has met with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Mr Andrus Ansip, the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Mr Algirdas Brazauskas and the Prime Minister of Latvia, Mr Aigars Kalvitas for talks on the EU budget.

Mr Andrus Ansip:

Dear colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is a great pleasure hosting my colleagues from the United Kingdom, from Latvia and Lithuania here at Stenbock House today. The main issue under discussion today was of course the next financial perspective. Overall we had very fruitful discussions today, now I hope the Presidency will better understand our positions, and we or the Baltic States, we got more information about the Presidency's latest proposal.

We, the three Baltic States, would like to have the next financial perspective as soon as possible. If we will not get the next financial perspective very soon, we will have a lot of problems in the year 2007. We need some time for preparations. But we cannot agree with every kind of financial perspective. We would like to have a good, a very good financial perspective. Every member state of the European Union has been satisfied, has felt comfortable in themselves with their new financial perspective. This financial perspective has been based on the principles of solidarity. We would like to get a very modern financial perspective. Enlargement was, and still is, and I hope it will be in future also so that enlargement is a very successful, the most successful project of the European Union in history. And the next financial perspective has to support enlargement also.

We are still awaiting the whole financial perspective for the whole proposal, and we hope to get this proposal on Monday. We will support the Presidency to have to prepare this financial perspective. But now I would like to ask the Presidency to say some words.

Prime Minister:

Thank you Andrus, and thank you very much indeed for welcoming me here to Tallinn, to Estonia, and to say thank you to your colleagues for what has been a very good and useful meeting.

Now I hope you will forgive me if I don't go into the details of the proposal that we will put down early next week, but I just wanted to say one or two things about the importance of the negotiation we are about to have. The reason why this is important is that for those new European countries, those that have come into the European Union, they need to have the certainty that comes from a budget agreement, they need to be able to access the European money, they need to be able to plan ahead on the basis of the money that they have, and the principal reason frankly why I am going to do my best to reach an agreement on the financial perspective is because of these people, is because we have always supported and championed enlargement and we want to make it work.

There is no desperate and urgent reason in many ways for a country like Britain to reach the financial perspective deal now, but there are I think very good reasons why you need to have this agreed so that you can plan ahead properly. And I said when I was speaking earlier today in the Ukraine, that there are really two types of agreement that we can reach here, and there is a meeting coming up this weekend of the G7 Finance Ministers, which now will also include India, and Brazil, and China and South Africa, which has relevance to this question too. Essentially our view very clearly is that the best deal the European Union could have, as I said in June in my address to the European Parliament, is one in which there is a fundamental recasting of the European budget, so that we spend in the future on the things that are really going to make the difference to our countries' dynamism, innovation and prosperity for the future.

A major part of that obviously is reform of the agricultural policy, and it is the existence of that policy that is of course the primary reason for the existence of the British rebate, which is why, as you will know, the two are always talked of together. Now I hope very much, as part of an overall agreement on world trade, where we desperately need, our industry and our service industries need to bring these tariff barriers down in order to be able to boost our industrial and economic success, I hope we are able in that world trade round negotiation to have a much bolder and more ambitious meeting in Hong Kong than is at present envisaged.

Now if we can, then that opens up the possibility of a radical perspective for the financial perspective as well for the European Union, because then we will be talking about a true and radical reformation of the European budget. If we can't, then we are in a situation where it is still important obviously particularly for the accession countries, for the new European countries, to have the budget agreed in the European Union. In those circumstances, as I said earlier in the Ukraine today, it will be at a smaller overall budget level, but it is important that we have the possibility to review the European budget again mid-way through the financial perspective.

So I won't, as I say, go into further details about this now because obviously this is something that we need to discuss, and discuss in a sense between us, all the countries of the European Union, and discuss in the context of the formal proposals that we table. But I do want to reiterate again that it is our desire, if we possibly can, to reach agreement at the December Council. But as Andrus has just said, quite rightly, it has got to be the right deal — the right deal for you, the right deal for us, the right deal for the whole of the European Union.

I think that is really all I would like to say at this stage, except thank you again.

Question:

Is there a Plan B, Prime Minister Blair, if this idea of yours which has been talked about, and which details you are not going to tell us, is there a Plan B if it is not accepted by the Eastern European countries?

Prime Minister:

A Plan B, and a Plan C, and a Plan D, and you could work your way down the alphabet. Look the important thing is to recognise what is our key strategic objective for all of us — it is to get the budget agreed so that Europe can move forward. Now as I say at the present time we have not been able to reach agreement, and actually there was not just Britain, there were I think six countries at the European Union summit in June who were not able to reach an agreement. Why is it so important to try and reach an agreement in December? Precisely because countries like Estonia, but also the other new members of the European Union, need the certainty that comes from a budget deal. So I am not at the stage yet of talking about Plan B, or Plan C, or even further plans, I am simply at the stage at the moment of seeing whether it is possible to make our way in this. And as I indicated to my colleagues, I think once we have had the discussions on the basis of the formal proposal next week, then probably towards the end of the week we can make an assessment of whether there is a sufficient possibility of agreement to move forward and to try and get it done in December.

Question:

A question to Prime Minister Blair. According to what is supposedly the EU Presidency's EU budget proposal, it seems that it leaves everyone more or less happy in the old member countries, I mean Britain keeps it rebate, and France keeps its farm subsidises, and it seems that those who are left out in the cold are the new member countries who are in the weakest money position here. Is that a fair approach, Prime Minister?

Prime Minister:

Well again, without going into the details of this, let me tell you that anything that is agreed will mean that countries like Britain carry on being major net contributors and the new countries will be major net beneficiaries. But I just wanted to pick up on one point that you made. I think, and this is why I think it is important that whatever deal that we do includes the prospect of a review mid-way through the next financial perspective, it is important in the end that we get to a more rational way of calculating the European Union budget. If you look at any of our countries, not just the new members, but Britain as a country, our future is going to lie in the knowledge economy, in developing science, and technology, and education, in research and development, in all the things that frankly Europe should be collaborating on and doing more on. And that is why one essential part of this is at least to be able to see, if we can't get it agreed now, to see a pathway into the future where we can get a more rational budget.

Question:

First to the Estonian Prime Minister, since you seem to be the spokesman for your Baltic counterparts. Can you just say bluntly, do you see this proposal that Mr Blair brought today, something that you can work with? If you are not 100% happy with it, is it something worth pursuing? And secondly for Mr Blair, I get the impression that over the past months you have been using the financial perspectives issue, the rebate more precisely, as a bit of a lever to make the French, if you don't mind, come to their senses on farm subsidies. You seem to be giving up on that now. Do you think with the G7 meeting this weekend, with the WTO coming up in Hong Kong, that the French position is simply untenable? If they won't cave in now in return for the rebate, they will have to cave in later on the farm subsidy issue.

Mr Ansip:

Thank you. I am happy that we started with negotiations again. It will be not good to say no in the very good beginning. If we will say no in the very beginning, we will not get the next financial perspective in December. We have to go on with the negotiations, but solidarity is important for us. We hope that Estonia will develop very quickly. Our growth is now 10% per year, our exports are growing, more than 28% per year, the number of tourists visiting Estonia is growing rapidly from the United Kingdom, more than 120% per year, the unemployment rate was just 5 years ago 14%, now it is 7%. Things are going on here in Estonia. We hope that we will stay as net payers in the European Union. But now solidarity means for us that rich countries, they have to help those countries who are still not so rich. I am not 100% happy with the ideas of the proposal we don't have yet, because it seems for us that only the new member states, they have to pay to find consensus, but I know that people in the United Kingdom, they will feel that only they have to pay to find consensus. It is not a good feeling. I think that it is not a good feeling for Estonians, it is not a good feeling for British people also. Every country has to give its contribution to find a very good solution. We have to go on with the negotiations, and I am looking forward quite hopefully.

Prime Minister:

On the points that you raise, Robert, first of all this is not just a problem in relation to France, but many other countries share this perspective. And I have always said incidentally that we can never change overnight the Common Agricultural Policy, that is not the issue, the issue here is how do we, over time, get to a more rational budget and a more rational position that helps our own industry? And the reason why the World Trade Organisation talks are so important, and the reason why we are holding this meeting this weekend, is because if we get a good deal at the World Trade Organisation, that is good for the very poorest countries in the world who desperately need access to the wealthy countries' markets, it is good for the emerging economies like China, and India, and Brazil, and it is good also for countries in Europe and America, the vast bulk of whose industry and business is not in agriculture. And therefore if we were able to unlock the World Trade Organisation deal so that Europe moved on agriculture, and on tariffs, Brazil, and India and other countries moved on non-agricultural market access, and the United States played its part, both on agriculture and on industry, Japan too, if we got those major countries working together, we would all be more prosperous. And what is more then, in the European Union, we could have a budget that would be aligned with the actual interests of the EU. So I have not given up on this at all, all I am saying is that we would, as it were, leave this whole issue until it could be resolved, except for the fact that for these countries — for the Baltic countries, but also the other countries I will be seeing later today and tomorrow — they need some certainty on the EU budget. And that is why it is important that we are trying to do this. And of course Britain has always said, and we will pay our fair share of enlargement, of course we should do that, but the relationship between the rebate and the Common Agricultural Policy is fundamental. So as the Prime Minister has just rightly said, look in any such negotiation, Estonia has got to be happy with its interest, Latvia and Lithuania too, and the UK as well, but I think at the very least what we have found here is a desire at least to see whether it is possible to reach agreement or not, and I think that is important.

Question:

As both of you mentioned, one of the great successes, you said, of the European Union was expansion and the idea of solidarity, but this kind of budget that is obviously raising, to say it mildly, discontent amongst the new members, because they are bearing the brunt of potential cuts, that doesn't do much for solidarity and countries that are seen as your partners in their vision for the future of Europe.

Prime Minister:

Well this is exactly the point, and that is why it is important that if possible we get to a budget deal that actually sorts out all the issues to do with the European Union budget. All I am saying to you is that if we can't do that, then we have got to look at how we get a budget deal that gives accession countries the certainty that they need. And I would make one other point to you which I think is important. Obviously there will be some intensive negotiations over the next few days, but we championed enlargement in Britain, we believed that what the new members have brought into the European Union has been important, it has been distinctive and it has been positive for the European Union, so we will have that well in mind over the discussions in the next few days.

Question:

Can we make it clear, are you making proposals, you have talked in the Ukraine about the need possibly for a smaller EU budget, does that mean smaller cuts, does it mean cuts to aid money, fund money to the Baltic states and the new EU states which joined last year?

Prime Minister:

Well as I have just said Patrick, I think you will have to wait until we put the formal negotiations down, and there will no doubt be very intensive negotiations over the next few days, but it has got to be a deal that is obviously satisfactory for everybody, for the new member states, but also for countries like ours that are going to be major, major, net contributors on any basis at all.

Kyiv (Kiev) — Victor Yushchenko met with President Vaira Vika-Freiberga of Latvia to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the President's press office reported.

The Head of State asked her to recognize officially 1932-1933 famine as genocide against the Ukrainian nation.

The sides also agreed to activate political contacts between the states.

Victor Yushchenko also conducted a meeting with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus.

Besides the discussion of economic cooperation between the two countries, they also spoke about Ukraine’s EU integration.

Yushchenko said he was grateful to his counterpart for supporting our reforms and thanked Lithuanian parliamentarians for recognizing 1932-1933 famine as genocide against the Ukrainian nation.

The leaders also agreed to enhance political cooperation between the states.

Riga — One of Latvia’s top maritime officials believes Irish Ferries will be forced to look elsewhere for ships’ officers because “even Filipinos would not work for such a wage”.

Jazeps Spridzans, the director of the Latvian seamen’s register, told Leta, the Latvian national press agency, that the Riga-based firm tasked with recruiting staff at €3.60 an hour will have to source contract staff from poorer former Eastern Bloc countries rather than Latvia, where ships’ officers command better rates on German and Scandinavian ships.

Spridzans confirmed that Irish Ferries had recruited about 70 Latvians to work aboard their vessels since February but said all of them were receiving far higher wages than the €3.60 reputedly on offer to the 500-plus contract employees the company is seeking to hire as replacements for its current workforce.

Most of the Latvian employees are sailors, mechanics and floor staff working for a minimum rate of $9.80 (€8.37) an hour. None is a ship’s officer, he said. They receive meals, uniforms and round-trip transportation to their country of employment.

Irish Ferries is looking for a further 110 Latvian contract employees but the vacancies have only been partially filled despite Latvia’s relatively low monthly minimum wage of LVL80 (€115).

Spridzans believes the agency, Dobsona Kugniecibas Agentura, will find it impossible to find crew of the requisite calibre in any of the Baltic countries at Irish Ferries rates.

Baltic Ship Management, a rival recruitment company, also said any officer with the requisite English skills would not work for the rates on offer from Irish Ferries.

Irish Ferries refused to comment on the level of interest in Latvia. “We will only employ EU crew on our Irish Sea routes and, unlike some of our competitors, that remains our position,” the company said.