LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) — Police battling to end the vast illegal trade in endangered species fear the eastwards expansion of the European Union this year could make their task even harder.
      The EU's existing eastern borders come down on May 1 with the accession to the 15-nation bloc of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Cyprus and Malta to the south.
      "There are a lot of anecdotal stories about stockpiles of protected species sitting in East European accession states, waiting for May," said Chris Kerr, head of Britain's National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit.
      "With the EU's single market, once goods enter there are no more checks as they move between countries," he added. "We will know if the stories are true if there is a sudden increase in certain species or products."
      But Kerr said it could be hard to identify all the illegal potential trade because during decades of communism the Czechs in particular had become expert breeders of species such as macaws that were endangered in the wild.
      "How can we be sure that a consignment of birds that comes onto the market was taken in the wild or bred in captivity," he said in an interview with Reuters at the unit's headquarters.
      The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans or limits the trade in rare wildlife from gorillas to snakes and stag beetles and in products such as ivory and tiger skins and bones.
      Apart from a thriving legal trade in wildlife, there is also a brisk illegal business -- sometimes involving the legal trade and sometimes organised crime, ranging from the Russian Mafia to small groups of people acting together.
      "We don't expect a flood. We think, if it comes, it is more likely to be a trickle of certain species like macaws. We'll just have to see," Kerr said.
      "But we are ahead of the game. We are in contact with our east European colleagues. Customs are aware of the issue and will move strongly to deal with it if it does happen," he added.
      The specialist police around the world whose job is to stop the illegal trade work closely with the legal traders who mostly cooperate because their own livelihoods are at risk.
      But resources are scarce, with governments giving top priority to tackling hard drugs.
      And the stakes are high.
      The poachers are often heavily armed and more than willing to use their guns in an illegal trade that some estimate to be worth billions of dollars a year.
      In the consumer markets like Europe and the United States the risk of violence is far lower, but the threat to endangered species is just as great with constant demand for imports of illicit species and their by-products.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvia's year-old ruling coalition on Monday appeared headed for yet another crisis after Prime Minister Einars Repse demanded that a key minister step down.
      Repse's demand that Deputy Prime Minister Ainars Slesers resign came just months after earlier friction involving both men nearly brought down the four-party, center-right government.
      The prime minister told reporters Monday that he wanted Slesers to go, but said hoped the deputy prime minister's party, the center-right Latvia's First, would stay.
      Slesers is responsible for attracting foreign investment into Latvia, which is joining the European Union in May. He is also a designated liaison between the Cabinet and legislature.
      A government spokesman told The Associated Press that Repse is unhappy with Slesers' job performance and believes he's been working against the interest of the coalition for months.
      "The prime minister is not turning against Latvia's First as a whole -- just against Mr. Slesers," said Guntars Gute, adding that he believed the government could continue to function with just three parties should Latvia's First decided to pull out.
      Slesers said recently that the removal of any of his party's representatives from the Cabinet would mean Latvia's First would leave the government.
      But by Monday evening, he had not said how he would respond to the prime minister's demand.
      His party's departure would mean the diminished coalition could either continue as a minority government, woo a party to replace Latvia's First or disband.
      Stitching together any new coalition from the badly fractured 100-seat Saeima would be difficult, as none of the eight parties in the legislature holds a majority. Repse's New Era is the biggest legislative party, with just 26 seats.
      Latvia's First holds 10 seats. The four-party governing coalition has 55 out of the 100 seats.
      Last September, similar infighting broke out when several parties in the coalition, including Latvia's First, accused Repse of being heavy-handed and demanded he be replaced.
      The parties later insisted they had patched up their differences, though commentators widely predicted it was only a matter of time before underlying friction again rose to the fore.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvia's year-old ruling coalition appeared headed for yet another crisis Monday after the prime minister fired a key minister.
      The dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Ainars Slesers came just months after earlier friction involving both men had nearly brought down the four-party, center-right government.
      "As of this evening, Mr. Slesers has been fired," Guntars Gute, a spokesman for Prime Minister Einars Repse, told The Associated Press. "For now, the prime minister will be taking over Mr. Slesers' responsibilities until a suitable replacement can be found."
      Repse said earlier Monday that he wanted Slesers to go, but said he hoped the deputy prime minister's party, the center-right Latvia's First, would stay.
      According to a Latvia's First official, Edgars Vaikulis, the party will meet Thursday to decide a course of action. Slesers said recently the removal of any of his party's representatives from the Cabinet would mean Latvia's First would leave the government.
      As deputy prime minister, Slesers was responsible for attracting foreign investment into the Baltic nation, which is joining the European Union in May. He was also a designated liaison between the Cabinet and legislature.
      According to Gute, Repse was unhappy with Slesers' job performance and believed he had been working against the interests of the coalition for months. Gute said Repse believed the government could continue to function with just three parties should Latvia's First decided to pull out.
      The departure of Latvia's First would mean the diminished coalition could either continue as a minority government, woo a party to replace Latvia's First, or disband.
      Stitching together any new coalition from the badly fractured 100-seat Saeima would be difficult, as none of the eight parties in the legislature holds a majority. Repse's New Era is the biggest legislative party, with only 26 seats.
      Latvia's First holds 10 seats. The four-party governing coalition has 55 out of the 100 seats.
      In September, similar infighting broke out when several parties in the coalition, including Latvia's First, accused Repse of being heavy-handed and demanded he be replaced.

      STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Warning massacres like those carried out in Rwanda and Bosnia could happen again, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday proposed an international committee to help prevent genocide.
      Annan made the proposal at the opening of a three-day conference in Stockholm on preventing genocide.
      More than a half a million people were slaughtered during the 1994 war in Rwanda. A year later in Bosnia, some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred in Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia, during the Balkan wars.
      "I long for the day when we can say with confidence that, confronted with a new Rwanda or new Srebrenica, the world would respond effectively, and in good time," Annan said. "But let us not delude ourselves. That day has yet to come."
      Annan suggested forming a U.N. committee on preventing genocide and having a "special rapporteur" who would report directly to the Security Council to monitor "massive and systematic violations of human rights and threats to international peace and security."
      Several delegates welcomed the idea, including Sweden's Prime Minister Goeran Persson and Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, who said "there have been many failures when it comes to preventing genocide during the last years."
      The event is the first major intergovernmental conference on the issue since the United Nations adopted its Convention against Genocide in 1948. Security was tight, with 1,500 police officers patrolling the area.
      The conference is the final one in a series of annual conventions called the Stockholm International Forum, which began with a conference on the Holocaust in 2000.
      Organizers said they hoped delegates would sign a declaration with commitments from 60 countries to improve efforts to prevent genocide.
      Participants include the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana; former chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Rolf Ekeus; International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and Nobel Peace Prize winners Bernard Kouchner and Elie Wiesel.
      Israel downgraded its representation after a Stockholm museum refused to remove a display showing a picture of an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber from an exhibit linked to the conference. Israel said the piece glorified suicide bombers.
      The Israeli-born artist who created the installation, Dror Feiler, was among hundreds who protested Monday against Israel's presence at the event.

      RIGA, Jan 27 (Reuters) — Latvia's president urged the ruling coalition on Tuesday to put aside personal squabbles threatening to undermine the government and risk throwing the country into political chaos just months ahead of joining the EU and NATO.
      "Latvia has to fulfil several duties needed for the integration into the EU and NATO, and I would like to see that Latvia has a government that would start working on fulfilling these duties," Vaira Vike-Freiberga told a news conference.
      The government is in danger of losing parliament majority after a coalition partner said it may walk out after Prime Minister Einars Repse sacked his deputy Ainars Slesers on Monday.
      A rift between the two, which almost toppled the government after the Baltic state voted to join the EU last autumn, spiralled out of control last week amid continuing bickering.
      Slesers' Latvia's First Party, which now holds three cabinet posts, has said it will decide on Wednesday on whether to quit the four-party right-wing coalition.
      Repse's pro-business New Era has 26 seats in the 100-member parliament after winning elections in late 2002, while the Christian democratic Latvia's First Party holds 10 seats.
      The coalition also includes the Union of Farmers and Greens, with 12 seats in parliament, and the conservative For Fatherland and Freedom with seven seats. It is unclear whether they will remain in a minority government with Repse or pull out as well.
      Analysts give a minority government a slim chance of survival and some worry that Latvia would fall into a lengthy political limbo should the government fall as the way parliament is divided offers few workable alternatives.
      But the president said she expected lawmakers to ensure that Latvia's return to mainstream Europe is not put at risk.
      "I'm sure that politicians in parliament are already counting and trying to figure out how to create a government with a majority," Vike-Freiberga said.
      Repse led New Era to victory in late 2002 on promises to stamp out corruption, graft and mismanagement, and has remained popular among Latvians for his no-nonsense approach.
      But his strong-man leadership style has angered the three junior coalition partners, who almost managed to topple him last September.

      RIGA, Jan 28 (Reuters) — Latvian Prime Minister Einars Repse's government lost its majority in parliament on Wednesday when a coalition partner quit over a personal feud, threatening political crisis months before the Baltic country joins the EU.
      A rift between Prime Minister Einars Repse and his deputy Ainars Slesers, which almost toppled the government after Latvia voted to join the EU last autumn, deepened last week and Repse sacked Slesers on Monday.
      Slesers' Latvia's First Party said the deputy premier was "sacked without any grounds" and on Wednesday voted to leave the coalition, taking the party's remaining three ministers with it.
      Repse has already said he is prepared to continue without Latvia's First Party, but analysts give a minority government slim chances of survival.
      "At the moment, the government has not fallen," Krisjanis Karins, parliamentary leader for Repse's New Era party, told Reuters. "We shall continue to work as a minority government, but of course it won't be easy."
      The other two coalition partners, the Union of Farmers and Greens and the conservative For Fatherland and Freedom, had earlier hinted they too might pull out of the coalition. But both parties said late on Wednesday they would stand by Repse and his pro-business New Era for now.
      "The question is whether the prime minister can hold this together," a For Fatherland and Freedom spokesman said.
      Analysts said a crisis was unlikely to cause any shift in EU or economic policies, but may take focus away from the country's preparations to join the EU and NATO in a few months' time.
      EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
      The ex-Soviet republic of 2.3 million people has seen much political turbulence since regaining independence in 1991, but kept integration with mainstream Europe a top priority during a decade of reforms towards democracy and free-market policies.
      "Since independence, we've had government changes almost every year on average, but this does not mean a shift in foreign policy or a shift from right to left," said Artis Pabriks, a political science professor and opposition politician.
      He said Repse could either seek an awkward alliance with the left to regain a majority or be reduced to an opposition puppet.
      "I think this government is on its knees, but that does not mean it is dead just yet," Pabriks said.
      New Era has 26 seats in the 100-member parliament after winning elections in late 2002, while the Christian democratic Latvia's First Party holds 10 seats.
      The Union of Farmers and Greens has 12 seats in parliament, while For Fatherland and Freedom has seven seats. The two parties joined Latvia's First Party in a bid to oust Repse in September after the EU referendum, but Repse refused to step down and the four parties agreed to continue in coalition.
      Repse led New Era to victory on promises to stamp out corruption, graft and mismanagement, and has remained popular among Latvians for his no-nonsense approach.
      But his strongman style has angered the three coalition partners, who almost managed to oust him last September.
      (Additional reporting by Jorgen Johansson)

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — A teenager who gained notoriety two years ago for slapping Britain's Prince Charles across the face with a flower is once again in trouble, this time for allegedly setting fire to an Education Ministry door to protest school reforms in Latvia.
      Alina Lebedeva, 18, appeared Thursday in a district court in Riga, the Baltic state's capital, on suspicion that she and 21-year-old Aleksandrs Gridasovs started the blaze three weeks ago. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames and there were no injuries.
      Lebedeva, who created a sensation in Latvia and Britain for swiping the heir to the throne briskly across the cheek with a red carnation as he toured Riga in November 2002, hasn't been charged. But a judge ordered she be held in jail for a week while police complete their investigation.
      Lebedeva and her alleged accomplice were detained Monday in their hometown of Daugavpils, 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Riga, said police spokeswoman Kristine Mezaraupe.
      After the flower attack on the prince, which Lebedeva said was in protest of the Afghan war, she was initially charged with "threatening the life of a foreign dignitary," which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail.
      But that charge was reduced and a judge later declined to punish her, telling Lebedeva to go home and "stay out of trouble" -- advice that police suspect she did not heed.
      After the fire at the Education Ministry early this month, officials allegedly received an e-mail from the far-left National Bolsheviks group saying its members set it to protest a new law requiring that all Latvian public schools -- even those catering to Russians -- teach mainly in Latvian.
      Lebedeva, who is an ethnic Russian, was widely quoted two years ago as saying she admired the fringe National Bolsheviks.
      Russian speakers make up nearly 30 percent of Latvia's 2.3 million population and many argue that the school reform constitutes a state-sanctioned attack on their culture. Latvia's government counters that it is meant to help integrate minorities.

      STOCKHOLM, Jan 30 (Reuters) — Sweden slammed the door shut on workers from new European Union states on Friday in a policy reversal that drew criticism from Poland, the biggest of the 10 mainly east European countries due to join the bloc in May.
      Prime Minister Goran Persson signalled a U-turn that would align the Scandinavian country, famous for its generous welfare benefits, with Baltic neighbours Germany, Denmark and Finland.
      The 15-strong EU will admit 10 new members, eight of them poor central and east European ex-communist states, on May 1.
      "We would be naive if we didn't see the risks if we were to be the only country welcoming people from East Europe to work for peanuts and giving them access to our social benefits," Persson told reporters.
      A recent Nordic Council report envisaged an up to five-fold increase in the number of people from EU newcomers Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania crossing the Baltic to look for work in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and EU outsider Norway.
      "It is very easy to foresee a situation where very many will easily obtain work permits and then, once inside our country, have access to the entire social security safety net," Persson said. "I expect enormous problems unless we protect ourselves."
      However, he gave no details about how Sweden planned to go about doing that.
      The Swedish Migration Board expects from 10,000 to 20,000 work permit applications, mainly from Poland and the Baltic republics, spokesman Christer Lyck said. An official at Poland's embassy in Sweden said not many Poles had been making enquiries.
      After winning elections in 2002, Persson had said clearly Sweden would not limit access for workers from new EU states.
      IMMIGRANTS ON WELFARE
      The Swedish budget fell into deficit in 2003 for the first time since 1997, partly due to increased spending on unemployment and sick-leave benefits.
      Persson is also under pressure from political opponents who question Sweden's open-door asylum policy. A recent study said many immigrants live on welfare.
      Free movement of people, goods and capital is a cornerstone of the common European market but many EU members -- most with higher unemployment and bigger budget deficits than Sweden -- want limits on new EU citizens' access to their labour markets.
      "We see many countries are starting to question the idea of fully open borders and are in a sense going back on their word," Jerzy Czepulkowski, Polish ruling party MP and deputy-head of their parliament's European Committee, said on Friday.
      According to the Commission, only Ireland and Britain have said they would refrain from introducing any such limitations.
      Germany, the EU's largest economy, has said transition arrangements might be in place for up to seven years. Denmark and Finland are planning initial two-year restrictions.
      "We have to be realistic and understand that if everyone else says transition arrangements are necessary, then we must also be aware of the risks and protect ourselves," Persson said.
      Asked about his earlier assurances there would not be any barriers, he said: "It's a different policy now. When we gave that assurance we stood side by side with Denmark, the Netherlands and others in northern Europe. Now, by and large, there's only Britain left."
      The Netherlands said last Friday it would keep a lid on the number of workers it will accept from new EU members until May 2005. Current rules allow EU states to keep their national measures curbing access in place for two years.
      They can then ask for an extension for three more years. If, after five years, they still want to restrict access, they must present proof that access would cause disruptions.
      (Additional reporting by Reuters reporters in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Warsaw, Budapest, Brussels and Dublin)

      TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Leaning across the wooden helm of his boat, Vello Mass scans the Baltic Sea to the horizon and muses about the treasures lying beneath the cold, gray waves.
      "There are hundreds of Viking ships out there, hundreds of old trading ships, hundreds of warships," the 63-year-old wreck-hunter remarks. "The Baltic's an archaeological paradise."
      He's already pinpointed about a dozen wrecks, most recently the Russalka, Russia's first armored naval ship, which went down nose-first between Estonia and Finland in a storm in 1893 and rammed itself into the seabed like an enormous sword.
      Now, on the bridge of his tiny research boat docked in Estonia's capital, Tallinn, the burly, blue-eyed Estonian speaks excitedly about the next one he hopes to find: the passenger ship Vironia, torpedoed by German warplanes off Estonia during World War II.
      Politics and nature have conspired to preserve the secrets of the Baltic.
      The Cold War seriously hindered exploration, and the low salt content of the Baltic waters kept away the shipworms that feast on wooden wrecks.
      Sweden's royal warship Vasa, the most celebrated Baltic Sea discovery, was so well preserved after being raised in 1961, 333 years after it sank, that minute details were clearly visible, down to the flashing teeth of the carved lions that adorned its elaborate exterior.
      It was discovered 100 feet deep in Stockholm's harbor by a Swedish marine explorer, Anders Franzen.
      "If the Vasa had sunk in almost any other sea, you might find parts of it that were buried under the seabed, but any wood exposed to the sea would be gone," said Stefan Wessman, a marine archaeologist at the Maritime Museum in Estonia's Baltic neighbor, Finland.
      "The Baltic Sea has huge potential — and I believe this is recognized by scientists internationally," he said. "There is nothing comparable to it in the world."
      U.S. marine scientist Robert Ballard, famous for discovering the Titanic, also acknowledges "the discovery potential of the Baltic given its unique characteristics for preservation of ancient wooden ships."
      Sweden's Jonkoeping schooner, sunk by a German submarine in 1916 and salvaged off Finland in 1998, held nearly 5,000 bottles of top-quality French Gout Americain champagne, bound for Russia's last czar. They had been perfectly preserved at a constant 39.2 degrees. Several bottles were auctioned by Christie's in London at $4,000 apiece.
      The Baltic is only 180 feet deep on average, making wrecks much more accessible than those like the Titanic, resting more than 12,000 feet under the Atlantic.
      That worries Ballard, who said in an e-mail responding to The Associated Press' questions that easily accessible artifacts could be destroyed or spirited away before scientists could study them.
      New sonar also improves chances of finding wrecks — even by accident.
      A Swedish submarine crew doing routine scanning in 2002 was shocked to stumble upon an 18th century ship intact and upright -- as if set lovingly on the seabed, a carved sea horse presiding majestically at its stern. Human skulls on the deck were the only obvious signs of mishap.
      The mystery ship has never been identified or salvaged.
      During the Cold War, the Baltic's communist states — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland and East Germany -- forbade almost all underwater exploration.
      "The Soviets were paranoid about everything: that we might see underwater military equipment, that we might escape to the West," recalled Mass.
      With no courses available on marine archaeology, Mass taught himself, taking inspiration from the films made by the undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau.
      Now that the Iron Curtain is gone, the Baltic states are back in touch. Sweden, for instance, donated a modern sonar unit for Mass' converted fishing trawler.
      He's now one of just a few regional experts in the field, a one-man force in Baltic shipwreck hunting.
      Speaking in his office in Tallinn's Maritime Museum, he keeps excusing himself to answer phone calls from counterparts in neighboring countries asking about his latest discoveries.
      "There's a hundred years' worth of work out there," he said, estimating that 10,000 ships have sunk near Estonia alone. "Life's short. I've got to give it 100 percent."
      Mass thumbs through old newspaper clippings and quizzes fishermen for clues about the sleek white Vironia, which was torpedoed as it ferried Soviet officials fleeing the 1941 Nazi invasion of Estonia.
      In hours, 30 ships in the 90-ship convoy were sunk, killing 15,000 people, Mass said.
      Fishermen have told him their nets keep snagging near where the Vironia is believed to have perished.
      A prime source for data on older wrecks are the Danish National Archives, where customs records from 1490 to 1856 list details and movements of every ship entering the Baltic.
      Among ships identified using the Danish records was Holland's Vrouw Maria, which sank off Finland en route to St. Petersburg in 1771. It was listed as carrying artwork for Russian Empress Catherine the Great. It was found in 1999, but hasn't yet been salvaged.
      All 10 Baltic countries have salvage laws to protect wrecks and their contents. Sites of modern-day disasters, like the Estonia, a car-and-passenger ferry that went down in 1994 with 852 lives lost when waves ripped off its bow door, are considered graves and are legally off-limits to divers and salvagers.
      Mass said his fantasy is to find an Estonian-built ship from the Viking era, when Estonians themselves staged raids across the Baltic Sea.
      It's not only ships in the Baltic that are stirring excitement.
      Stone Age forts, overtaken by rising seas, have been found. In June explorers found a Swedish DC-3 shot down by Soviet fighters in 1952 while on a spy mission.
      And treasure? It's talked about all over the Baltic coast, though Mass doesn't believe it. "I've got history on my mind," he said with a short laugh, "not gold."
      — — —
      On the Net:
      Vasa Museum: http://www.vasamuseet.se/indexeng.html

      Editorial — The Latvian parliament has passed a law dictating that from Sept. 1 all Russian-language high schools will switch to instruction in Latvian. The law makes an exception for subjects intended to preserve national cultural identity, that is Russian language and literature.
      Such news has always been presented and received in our mass media as yet another attempt by Baltic nationalists to abuse the rights of the Russian minority. Since the triumph of patriotic forces in the recent State Duma elections, statements to this effect have tended toward the obscene.
      Here is an excerpt from Russian nationalist web site rusedina.org (the name suggests United Russia): "The majority of deputies in the Latvian Saeima would hardly be pleased by the increasing frequency with which they are compared to fascists at protests held by Russian inhabitants of the country. At the same time, civilized people might have difficulty understanding why the current leaders of the republic find it necessary to naturalize and assimilate all national minorities .... On the day the barbarous law was passed, more than 2,000 people took part in a demonstration in front of the Saeima building to protect Russian schools. Most participants were schoolchildren. They were the first to say 'stop fascism!'"
      I can imagine how the schoolchildren, forgetting their walkmen, were driven by the impulse of national consciousness to draw up a "Stop Fascism!" placard and, instead of hanging out or going to a disco, assemble before parliament. I suppose in a crisis anything is possible.
      At the same time, it's clear that the protest is aimed mostly at the idea of what is effectively transplanting the Russian-speaking young people into a new political reality. That reality in which the prospects are bleak for those "Russian-language" political organizations that harbor a nostalgia for the U.S.S.R. I don't think the young people, who are quite easy to manipulate these days, will thank those who defended their "right" to live in the past and think in terms of a long-lost "state construct."
      After all, they will eventually go to college in Riga, serve in the Latvian army, and elect the deputies and presidents of their country of residence. Is it really so bad for young people to be fluent not only in the conversational, but in the cultural language of that country to which they have joined their fates? This they have done since we see no mass repatriation of the Russian-speaking minority to Russia.
      The real language situation in Latvia, as in the other Baltic states, is more balanced after a decade of independence. The logic of life has overruled nationalist obscurantism and today no one tries to keep Russians from speaking their language or publishing their newspapers. Many use Russian for business because most business there is Russian, and shop assistants do not refuse to serve Russian-speaking customers in their native language. Russian tourists are welcome. The Russian language, along with English, is becoming popular with Estonians, especially the young people, who understand that under the new globalism it isn't practical to refer to national roots. The language of the majority group is really only mandatory in the army and in legislatures at various levels. That's also how it is in Russia.
      But we forget our own problems when we express our sympathy for the Russian speakers in the Baltics. Are we ready for "southern" minorities to struggle to protect their national identity in Russia, where they already make up a hefty portion of the population? Most likely not. Professional "patriotic" politicians only postpone the time when we will have to find sensible solutions to the challenges of the new age. And the situation is only made worse by the Rusisan government quietly supporting such forces. The odious rusedina.org site is financed in part by the Press Ministry.
      Vladimir Gryaznevich is a political analyst with Expert Severo-Zapad magazine. His comment was first broadcast on Ekho Moskvy in St. Peterburg on Friday.

      BRUSSELS (Reuters) — The European Union is preparing a major review of relations with Russia following a disastrous EU-Russia summit last November, an EU official said Tuesday.
      A policy paper drafted for External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten will be completed by Feb. 10 and foreign ministers of the 25 current and future EU member states will discuss it on Feb. 23.
      The study will argue relations between the union and Russia -- which will border five EU states when the bloc adds 10 new members on May 1 -- are drifting along with few results and are too important for this to continue.
      "Russia and the EU are important partners, yet we don't seem to be making enough progress as fast as we want, and the Russians feel the same. We're frustrated and so are they," the official told Reuters.
      The review was prompted partly by an outburst by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hosting a November EU-Russia summit in Rome, when he endorsed Kremlin policies, prompting the EU executive and most member states to dissociate themselves.
      But EU officials are determined not to repeat a situation in which its institutions are publicly at odds on a key issue.
      "Clearly the way Berlusconi handled the summit was the last straw that showed the need for a more coherent EU approach," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
      ANTIPATHY
      At a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Berlusconi enthusiastically supported Moscow's military policy in the breakaway region of Chechnya.
      He also backed Putin's handling of the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man and former head of oil giant YUKOS. Brussels had criticized Russia in both cases.
      Relations with Russia are set to move up the agenda after EU enlargement on May 1. Eight of the new members were once in the former Eastern Bloc and some have a deep antipathy to Moscow.
      Three — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — were Soviet republics, and Russia has been arguing with Estonia and Latvia over the rights of ethnic Russians still living there.
      Moscow also has written to Brussels expressing concern about the economic impact of enlargement, particularly on its potential loss of trade with the new member states.
      Russia and the EU are also at odds on conditions for Russian entry into the World Trade Organization, and over Moscow's failure to ratify the Kyoto Treaty on climate change.
      EU officials have said the three issues — enlargement, WTO membership and Kyoto -- could be addressed together in a "grand bargain" before the May 1 enlargement deadline.
      "Our relations with Russia are too important to allow ourselves the current lack of results," the EU official said.
      He said the policy paper would cover political, economic and social relations, and attempt to clear up anomalies in ties.

      BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The 10 countries joining the European Union in May will get Ç5.1 billion (US$6.4 billion) in benefits from the EU's 2004 budget under a proposal put forward Wednesday by the European Commission.
      EU Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer proposed the money be taken from a fund of Ç11.8 billion that has been set aside for the new members in the next three years.
      The EU budget for 2004 is Ç112 billion. EU governments are expected to endorse Schreyer's proposal for additional funding for the 10 newcomers in March.
      "The year 2004 will see the phasing in of all expenditures agreed and the opening on equal grounds of all EU programs for our 75 million new citizens," Schreyer told a press conference.
      The payments will be used for economic growth, rural development and to bring the new members up to EU standards in everything from food safety to traffic signs.
      Under a 2001 deal, agricultural subsidies — which account for almost half the EU budget -- will be phased in over the next several years for the 10 newcomers.
      In 2004, they would get Ç287 million (US$360 million) in such subsidies under Schreyer's proposal.
      The 10 are Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. They join May 1, an event that will be marked by a meeting of EU leaders and all manner of festivities in Dublin. Ireland now holds the EU presidency.
      Schreyer said her proposal also included Ç770 million (US$965 million) to ready EU institutions such as the European Commission and the European Parliament for the union's most ambitious expansion ever.
      Those funds will go to hiring 780 "Eurocrats" at the EU head office.
      In unrelated action, the European Commission demanded that current EU states pay back Ç143.18 million (US$180 million) in misspent farm handouts.
      Citing "shortcomings in controls" over livestock premiums, vegetable quotas and crop subsidies, it demanded these reimbursements: France Ç91.12 (US$114 million); Italy, Ç20 million (US$25 million), Spain Ç11.2 million (US$14 million), Belgium Ç9.32 million (US$11.7 million) and Germany Ç7.5 million (US$9.4 million).

      RIGA, Feb 5 (Reuters) — Thousands gathered outside the Latvian parliament on Thursday to protest an education law that aims to reduce the use of the Russian language in schools, angering Latvia's large ethnic Russian minority and Moscow.
      The ex-Soviet republic, due to join the EU in May after a decade of reforms, has a Russian minority of almost one-third of the population. The minority rights issue has flared up recently and caused a war of words between Moscow and Riga.
      The education law has provoked many of Latvia's ethnic Russians, and last month the entrance to the Education Ministry was set ablaze in a protest against the reform. Around 5,000 students gathered outside parliament as the controversial law was debated, shouting "No reform!" and "Hands off our schools!."
      "We're born Russian and we should be able to speak Russian," Ivan, 18, told Reuters, adding: "If the reform goes through, I'll stop going to school."
      The Russian parliament condemned Latvia's language law proposal on Wednesday, and said in an appeal that it "runs counter to recommendations from authoritative international organisations of which Latvia is a member," prompting harsh replies from Riga.
      Prime Minister Einars Repse said the Duma appeal was a "gross interference in the internal affairs of a foreign state," while President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said Russian pressure on Latvia had almost become routine.
      Repse, at the helm of a minority government after a junior coalition partner quit over a personal feud between Repse and his deputy Ainars Slesers last week, said before the vote that he would resign unless the law was approved by parliament.
      Analysts expect the law to be passed without difficulty as Repse will likely get backing from right-wing opposition parties, but with the left-wing opposition voting against.
      (Additional reporting by Jorgen Johansson)

      RIGA, Feb 5 (Reuters) — Latvian Prime Minister Einars Repse's government resigned on Thursday, but the president pledged to ensure the Baltic country stayed on course for EU and NATO membership.
      "I will start looking for a new candidate already tonight," President Vaira Vike-Freiberga told state television.
      "The most important thing with a new government is that it is stable and can make sure Latvia will be ready to join the EU and NATO."
      Latvia is due to join the European Union in May.
      Repse lost his parliamentary majority a week ago and the decision to quit came after a parliamentary vote that would boost state spending, against his wishes.
      "There was no longer any way to get the parliament to make rational decisions," he told state television.
      The former Soviet republic of 2.3 million has seen much political turmoil since regaining independence in 1991, but has always kept European integration a top priority.
      POPULAR FIGURE
      Repse led his New Era to victory in late 2002 on promises to stamp out corruption, graft and mismanagement, and has remained popular among Latvians for his no-nonsense approach.
      But his strong-man leadership style has angered his three coalition partners, who nearly managed to oust him in September.
      Analysts say a new right-wing coalition is most likely to take power, but infighting between Repse and leading figures in other parties might complicate forming a new government.
      "We saw today that working in this government was chaos," New Era parliamentary leader Krisjanis Karins told Reuters. "At times it seemed like it was every man for himself."
      Thousands protested outside Latvia's parliament on Thursday as it passed an education law reducing the use of Russian in schools -- angering Latvia's large Russian minority and Moscow.
      Repse still had his party's support and hoped he would be asked to form a new government, Karins said.
      New Era holds 26 seats in the 100-seat parliament, while the Christian democratic First Party, which quit the coalition last week, has 10.
      The coalition also included the Union of Farmers and Greens, with 12 seats in parliament, and the conservative For Fatherland and Freedom with seven seats.

      RIGA (Reuters) — Latvia sought to form a new right-wing government Friday after the ruling coalition collapsed among squabbling, and the president said the country's image was being damaged ahead of European Union entry in May.
      President Vaira Vike-Freiberga told a news conference she wanted a swift end to the crisis to ensure EU and NATO preparations remained on track.
      "I will listen to all parties and see what kind of platforms they have, and then try to find the best solution," she said, but added that right-wing parties should be able to find a solution.
      Prime Minister Einars Repse's rightist coalition resigned on Thursday after losing its majority last week when a coalition partner quit over a personal spat between Repse and his deputy.
      Analysts expect a right-wing coalition to emerge eventually but quarrelling between Repse and other right-wing leaders could complicate negotiations.
      Latvians have lived through years of political turmoil since regaining independence from Soviet rule in 1991, but successive governments have kept integration with Europe a priority.
      "I wouldn't be surprised if it takes more than a month before we find a solution," said Artis Pabriks, a political scientist and member of the conservative People's Party.
      His party is willing to work with all right-wing parties as long as Repse does not continue as prime minister. Relations between Repse and Latvia's First Party, which walked out last week, also remain cold.
      Repse, a former central banker, led his New Era to victory in 2002 on promises to stamp out corruption and mismanagement, and is popular with many Latvians for his no-nonsense approach.
      But his strong-man style angered his three coalition partners, who almost managed to oust him last September.
      RIGHT-WING TALKS
      Vike-Freiberga is not likely to give Repse a second chance in her search for a way out of the political deadlock in the country of 2.3 million, but his party is hard to bypass due to the way parliament is divided.
      "Repse has had nearly 15 months to rule the coalition, and his resignation yesterday shows that maybe it is time for somebody else," Freiberga, who was re-elected by parliament last summer and is not affiliated to any party, said.
      A spokesman for the People's Party said coalition talks were under way, and added his party hoped to see all five right-wing parties forming a solid majority coalition.
      "But it's up to the other parties to decide whether they are willing to cooperate," he said. "It could take up to two weeks before we have a concrete proposal."
      Repse's New Era party holds 26 seats in the 100-member parliament, while the Christian democratic Latvia's First Party, which walked out of the coalition last week, holds 10 seats.
      The coalition also included the Union of Farmers and Greens, with 12 seats in parliament, and the conservative For Fatherland and Freedom with seven seats.
      In opposition are the pro-business conservative People's Party with 20 seats as well as three leftist parties.
      Excluding New Era, the other right-wing parties have 49 seats in parliament -- two short of majority.
      (Additional reporting by Jorgen Johansson)

      SIGULDA, Latvia (AP) — Latvian Tomass Dukurs won Saturday's men's World Cup skeleton race -- leapfrogging nine competitors in his second run and sending the hometown fans into celebration.
      Dukurs, competing on his home track, posted a total time of 1 minute, 49.71 seconds, to edge Germany's Frank Kleber by just .01 seconds. Japan's Kazuhiro Koshi finished third, .02 seconds behind the winner.
      Britain's Kristan Bromley, winner of the first three World Cup events this season and the overall World Cup points leader, finished in seventh place.
      Rounding out the top six in Sigulda, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the Latvian capital, Riga, were Canada's Duff Gibson, Germany's Martin Rettl, and Canada's Jeff Pain.
      Chris Soule, last season's overall points champion, was the highest-placing American, finishing in 15th place. Soule and compatriot Brady Canfield led after the first run but slipped in the standings after posting slow second run times.

      MUNICH, Germany (AP) — Russia's defense minister on Saturday urged NATO to give his country permanent access to any new alliance bases in Poland or the Baltic states, underscoring Moscow's concerns about a possible eastward redeployment of U.S. troops in Europe.
      Sergei Ivanov told the gathering of leading security officials and experts from around the world that Russia should have monitoring facilities at NATO bases "to verify the fact that the ways of use of those facilities, as we are told, pose no threat to Russia."
      Ivanov's comments come as the United States prepares a major redeployment of its forces in Europe. The plans are expected to include moving some troops further east to new NATO members, but nothing concrete has been announced.
      Poland joined NATO in 1999 with Hungary and the Czech Republic; the Baltic states are to join with Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria by May.
      NATO officials said Ivanov's demand went beyond existing agreements that allow spot checks on each other's bases and observers at maneuvers.
      The Baltic states said there were no plans to set up the bases yet but rejected the proposal. They said Russia had no right to impose conditions if NATO decides to locate bases there.
      "We do not see the necessity even to think about such monitors ... it's very strange," Latvian Defense Minister Girts Kristovskis told The Associated Press. "It's our own task to solve our security problems; it's not the responsibility of Russia."
      Ivanov acknowledged that new facilities in Romania and Bulgaria could be needed as "hopping bases" for anti-terrorist operations in the Middle East. But he asked NATO to explain the terrorist threat that necessitated new military facilities in Poland and the Baltics.
      Visiting Moscow last week, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted America's troop redeployment plans would not threaten Russia.
      Ivanov also repeated long-standing Russian concerns that Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia were joining NATO without having signed a Cold War-era treaty to limit forces in Europe.
      The base disputes have clouded generally improving relations between Russia and NATO since the former Cold War foes signed a partnership agreement in 2002.
      Still, Ivanov had praise for increased NATO-Russia cooperation in areas ranging from counterterrorism to submarine rescue.
      However, he also complained that NATO's peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan was not doing enough to crack down on burgeoning drug smuggling there which was "posing a serious threat" to national security in Russia.
      He called for NATO, Russia and Central Asian nations to create a "joint group" to counter drug trafficking from Afghanistan.
      "The situation where international terrorist communities merge with drug lords and organized crime ... is extremely precarious," he warned, asserting that such links were visible in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

      RIGA Latvia (AP) (AP) — Several center-right parties on Monday appeared poised to form a new Latvian government, replacing a sundered ruling coalition that collapsed last week.
      Their bid to govern the Baltic state received a major boost when five left-wing deputies dramatically defected to the right Monday, throwing off the balance of parliamentary power.
      "We are still in negotiations with other parties, but we could have a new government soon," said Latvia's First leader Eriks Jekabsons, whose party welcomed the defectors into its ranks.
      The turmoil began when Latvia's First withdrew from the coalition after Prime Minister Einars Repse dismissed one of its leaders from the Cabinet. After a week heading a minority government, Repse said last Thursday that the administration was no longer tenable, and he resigned.
      Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga met with party leaders Monday to hammer out a new coalition. After the government fell, she said it was imperative to get a new administration in place quickly in the run-up to Latvia's entry into the European Union and NATO in May.
      Until Monday's defections, it appeared that stitching together a new coalition would be extremely difficult as none of the eight parties in the fractured Latvian parliament holds a majority. Repse's New Era is the biggest, with just 26 seats.
      But now, four of five center-right parties could form a majority government on their own, with 54 seats in the 100-seat Saeima. They would no longer have to woo New Era and Repse, who is deeply disliked by many center-right politicians.
      The five legislators who abandoned the left-wing People's Harmony -- Vjaceslavs Stepanenko, Valerijs Karpuskins, Anatolijs Mackevics, Pavels Maksimovs and Dainis Turlais -- are from Latvia's large Russian-speaking minority.
      They were quoted as telling the LETA news agency that they made the switch so that Russian-speakers -- who make up nearly a third of Latvia's 2.3 million residents -- would have the chance to have a strong voice in a government for the first time.
      New Era, which dominated the outgoing government, criticized the move.
      "It's peculiar at best," said New Era parliamentary leader Krisjanis Karins. He added that "now, five out of ten (of the Latvia's First deputies) come from a camp that is quite opposed to their party's principles. It is mercantile politics based on getting a certain number of votes."
      He and other commentators said that some center-right parties, especially For Fatherland and Freedom, might now be put off from joining a government that relies on the backing of what were before this week members of the left-wing opposition.
      (tj-mt-mpm)

      COPENHAGEN/LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) — Eastern European brewer Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) reported strong growth in fourth-quarter beer volumes in its key Russia market, but shares in its owners slipped as profit margins were squeezed.
      BBH, 50-50 owned by Denmark's Carlsberg Breweries and Britain's Scottish & Newcastle, said its key Russian beer volumes rose nine percent in 2003 in an overall Russian market up seven percent after a strong fourth quarter.
      The brewer, whose key asset is a majority stake in Russia's biggest brewer Baltika which provides 80 percent of BBH profits, said it expected the fast-expanding Russian beer market to grow volumes around five percent in 2004.
      But profits margins were squeezed by higher input costs, due largely to the strong euro, and big investments in new brewery openings and spending on Baltika's distribution network.
      The brewer reported 2003 earnings before interest, tax, amortisation and depreciation (EBITDA) down 14 percent at 352 million euros, with EBITDA margins dipping 2.7 percentage points down to 30.3 percent compared to 2002.
      Analysts noted the pressures on profit margins and Carlsberg shares were marked off 2.6 percent at 265.50 crowns and S&N;shares down 1.8 percent to 412-3/4 pence by 1600 GMT.
      They added that although BBH Russia saw beer volume growth at 14 percent in the fourth quarter it failed to keep pace with a buoyant overall market -- up 18 percent in a relatively mild winter in late 2003 -- and so BBH Russia must have lost market share. Its Russian market share averaged 33 percent in 2003.
      The recovery in Russian beer volumes came after a poor start to 2003 with national volumes slipping five percent in the first quarter due to the coldest winter in Russia for 40 years.
      Carlsberg and S&N see BBH as a major area of growth as they both operate in mature western European beer markets, while Russia -- the world's fifth-biggest beer market after China, the U.S., Germany and Brazil -- is one of the fastest growing with annual growth of nearly 20 percent over the last five years.
      The BBH results were affected by currency movements with the Russian rouble gaining slightly over the dollar but it was 17 percent weaker against the euro. The weak U.S. currency helped results in dollars with EBITDA up four percent at $400 million on sales of $1.31 billion, up 13 percent from 2002.
      "BBH remains confident in the prospects for its markets and believes that it is well positioned for good volume and profit growth in 2004," said BBH Managing Director Christian Ramm-Schmidt in a statement.
      BBH which also operates in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, said its overall 2003 sales volumes rose eight percent in 2003 after a strong 15 percent boost to volumes in the fourth-quarter.

      RIGA, Feb 10 (Reuters) — Latvian right-wing coalition talks neared deadlock on Tuesday with personal feuds, bickering and broken promises threatening to cause a lengthy political limbo less than three months before EU membership.
      "I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel," said Guntars Krasts, a parliament member for the For Fatherland and Freedom party that has been taking part in coalition talks. "But we're not at a dead end just yet."
      The former government led by Einars Repse resigned last week after losing its majority two weeks ago when a coalition partner quit in anger after a personal spat between Repse and the deputy prime minister ended with Repse sacking his deputy.
      "No one is paying any attention to EU preparations, and there are hundreds of things that need to be done," political analyst Karlis Streips told Reuters.
      Latvians have lived through years of political turmoil since regaining independence from Soviet rule in 1991. Ten cabinets all failed to last the full term, but successive governments have kept integration with Europe a top priority.
      President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has urged a swift end to the crisis to avoid any trouble in the run-up to EU and NATO entry this spring, clinching the return of the Baltic nation of 2.3 million people to mainstream Europe.
      But despite her efforts to negotiate with party leaders to avoid an embarrassing political vacuum that would harm preparations join the two Western clubs, politicians seemed unable to heal rifts.
      REPSE BACK IN GAME
      The sacked deputy Ainars Slesers quickly emerged as a front-runner for the premiership after his Latvia's First Party managed to woo three other right-wing parties.
      The foursome was two seats short of majority in parliament, until five members from a leftist party abruptly crossed the ideological divide to join Latvia's First Party on Monday.
      That move backfired as the conservative For Fatherland and Freedom said it now needed to reevaluate its stance on the proposed four-party coalition, but warned that Latvia cannot afford a to be without a government now that EU entry nears.
      "Much remains to be solved before May, and without an active and stable government it will very difficult," Krasts said.
      Repse, who remains popular for his no-nonsense approach but is scorned by his former coalition partners for his strongman style, looked isolated when the crisis first broke.
      But the former central banker has softened his insistence that he should be prime minister and has figured in coalition talks with a three-party majority proposal.
      "Yesterday, Repse was talking to the People's Party and he suggested a coalition between us and them and For Fatherland and Freedom," a People's Party spokesman said.
      Both parties have said they are open for talks with Repse's New Era as long as he is not a candidate for the premiership, but analysts said the proposal was full of stumbling blocks as New Era says any partner must agree to a long list of demands.
      New Era has 26 seats in the 100-member parliament after winning 2002 elections, and formed a coalition with Latvia's First Party, which now has 15 seats, The Union of Farmers and Greens with 12 seats and For Fatherland and Freedom with seven.
      The opposition consisted of the conservative People's Party with 20 seats in parliament and three left-wing parties.

      RIGA Latvia (AP) — Some 5,000 Russian teenagers and school children on Wednesday staged the third demonstration this month against a new law requiring that all public schools -- including those with all-Russian student bodies -- teach mainly in Latvian.
      The protest came a day after Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga announced she would sign the bill, disappointing opponents who had hoped she might refuse to ratify the legislation. The 100-seat Saeima parliament overwhelmingly approved the law last week.
      Demonstrators gathered by the president's palace headquarters in Riga, the capital, waving placards and chanting, "No to the reform!" There was no violence and no arrests were reported.
      "I want my kids to grow up speaking Russian," said 16-year-old Russian Alexander Baranovski, a Riga resident taking part in the protest. "How will I get smarter learning in a foreign language next year?"
      The new law mandates that at least 60 percent of classes in public schools, even those catering to the large Russian-speaking minority, must be taught in Latvian starting in September.
      The president met several Russian students in her office Monday, but decided there were no grounds to reject the bill, her spokeswoman, Aiva Rosenberg, said. Vike-Freiberga was expected to sign the legislation Thursday.
      Partly to counterbalance the imposed dominance of Russian in many areas during decades of rule by Moscow, the Baltic state declared Latvian the sole official language after it regained independence amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
      That decision, and other steps taken to entrench Latvian, has angered Latvia's Russian speakers -- mostly ethnic Russians -- who make up more than a third of the 2.3 million residents of Latvia. The language rule for schools has been among the most hotly debated reforms.
      Russians call the requirements discriminatory and say they are an attack on their way of life, charges echoed by Moscow. Latvians counter that they are meant to help integrate minorities, adding that those who don't learn Latvian will find it hard to secure good jobs.
      The Kremlin has accused Latvia of violating the rights of minorities, while Latvia, in turn, says Russia is manipulating the issue in a bid to spoil Latvia's image abroad.
      Latvia, along with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia, is set to join the European Union in May. The EU has said Latvian language laws conform to European minority rights standards.
      (tj-mt-mpm)

      RIGA, Feb 11 (Reuters) — Thousands of ethnic Russians rallied outside the Latvian president's office on Wednesday to protest an education law that has also angered Moscow by reducing Russian language use in schools.
      The former Soviet republic, due to join the EU and NATO this spring to clinch its return to mainstream Europe, has an ethnic Russian minority of close to one-third of the population, and many want closer ties with Russia than with western Europe.
      Police estimated the crowd to be up to 8,000 mainly young students, who shouted "No reforms!," "Hands off our schools!" in a second wave of protests after a similar rally last week when parliament passed the law.
      "Today we're protesting against the president approving this discriminating division of ethnicity in Latvia," Jurij Petropavlovski, one of the organisers, told Reuters.
      President Vaira Vike-Freiberga approved the law late on Tuesday, saying she failed to see why any minority should find the law -- which requires that at least 60 percent of teaching at minority schools will be held in Latvian -- provocative.
      Petropavlovski said there would be new waves of protests this spring, including on May 1 when Latvia joins the EU.
      Last month the entrance to the Latvian Education Ministry was set ablaze in a protest against the law.
      The language law has soured relations between Moscow and Riga, and Vike-Freiberga has warned Russia about meddling in domestic affairs in her nation of 2.3 million.
      "Russia's protests are part of our everyday life, and the president has said that the closer we get to EU entry, the more pressure they are likely to put on us," her spokeswoman said.
      RUSSIA FUMING
      Russian state television put lengthy reports on the protests near the top of its newscasts, saying they had brought together students from Russian-language schools throughout the country and even some support from Latvian-language schools.
      The State Duma lower house of parliament agreed to a proposal on Wednesday by a member from the nationalist Rodina faction to decide within a week whether to proceed with legislation providing for sanctions against Latvia.
      Such a move would require approval by the upper house and could only go into force if backed by President Vladimir Putin.
      Russia's Foreign Ministry said last week the Latvian law would lead to the crumbling of Russian-language education.
      "Russia appeals to Latvian authorities to prevent further intensification of confrontation in society and take heed of the just demands by the country's Russian-language residents," the Foreign Ministry said.
      (Additional reporting by Ron Popeski in Moscow)

      RIGA, Feb 13 (Reuters) — Latvia, in political limbo since its right-wing coalition government resigned amid internal feuding last week, could be without a new administration for another two to three weeks, a political party said on Friday.
      Talks to form a new coalition deadlocked earlier this week, despite a call by President Vaira Vike-Freiberga for a swift end to the crisis to avoid any trouble in the run-up to the Baltic's nation's entry into the European Union and NATO this spring.
      "It's difficult to say when a new government could be formed -- it could still take two to three weeks," Arno Pjaktins, a spokesman for the conservative People's Party, told Reuters.
      Prime Minister Einars Repse's government resigned after losing its majority two weeks ago when a coalition partner quit in anger. The walkout was sparked by a spat between Repse and the deputy prime minister that ended with Repse sacking his deputy.
      A spokeswoman for Repse's New Era party said it would hold talks later on Friday with the People's Party, which was in opposition during the previous government and highly critical of Repse. The spokeswoman downplayed the chances of a swift deal.
      Latvians have lived through years of political turmoil since regaining independence from Soviet rule in 1991 -- with 10 cabinets all failing to last the full term -- but successive governments have kept integration with Europe a top priority.
      The past week has seen a flurry of parliamentary deputies abandoning their parties to join others, but no clear majority coalition alternative has yet emerged.
      New Era, which won the 2002 elections on promises to stamp out corruption, graft and mismanagement, now has 27 seats in the 100-member parliament, while the People's Party has 20.
      Latvia's First Party has 14 seats after gaining five new parliament members from a leftist party and losing one to New Era. For Fatherland and Freedom has seven seats and the Union of Farmers and Greens 12, while three left-wing parties excluded from coalition talks have a total of 20 seats.