• Russian ex-pats vote in the Baltics and elsewhere
• Vaira Vike-Freigerga's comments on the Russian election
• Lithuanians still trying to get back their embassy building in Paris
• The only beer called "Bud" you will be seeing in Latvia and Lithuania is Czechoslovakia's Budvar, not American Budweiser (whew!)
• Y2K air travel concerns in Russian and adjoining airspaces

Latvian ambassador to the U.S., Ojars Kalnins, retires

• Latvian tarrifs on pork upset Estonia
• The U.S. welcomed Latvia's new language law
• A Dzhugashvili returns to Russian politics
• Latvia's dependence on Russian trade is dropping
• Byelorussia plans to control airspace over Riga

• Sailors lost at sea off Liepaja
• Berzins presses EU/NATO; Baltics are no longer in Russian sphere of influence
• Russia complains new Latvian language law is discriminatory
• Belarus reunites with Russia
• Offensive graffiti is painted on the Latvian embassy in Moscow
• An in-depth article on the Belarus-Russia union
• The EU invites Lithuania and Latvia to entry talks; Russia attempts to spoil
• The Latvian Embassy press release regarding EU invitation
• The IMF issues a 16-month credit of $45 million for Latvia

• Latvian government looking to sell its stake in Air Baltic
• The Swedish prime minister supports Latvia's entry into the EU
• A Latvian scientist rebuilds a radio telescope left by the Soviets
• An excerpt from a report on the current Russian elections (TV commercials suggest Russia return to its 1900 boundaries and former greatness)
  
  
• And (!!) the sports section

• European defense minister conference held in Luxembourg;
• Russian Foreign Minsistry organises vote for Russians abroad (story actually appeared last week, but we just found it); and
• Latvian Saeima votes to continue (as is) the current requirement of a 200 person minimum to form a new political party

Treachery—no other word for it—of the Russian Duma tops the news!

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Editorial—What were the facts surrounding the loss of Baltic independence?

• Dates in history, November 18, 1918
• Vote on Latvian pensions
• Russian envoy complains at U.N. about silence over “evident discrimination” against Russians in Estonia and Latvia; On campaign trail, Gore warns of dangers from a weak Russia and recommends “not turning our backs”
• Estonia joins the WTO
• Russian Duma slaps trade sanctions on Latvia (Reuters report)
• Same, reported by Itar-Tass
• Latvia regrets Duma actions
• Vaira Vike-Freiberga says building up Latvia should be the priority for all ethnic groups; repeats importance of joining NATO
• Soviet—oops, Russian—Duma decries Latvian language law, reminds the Latvian Saima that Latvia's membership in the USSR “was grounded by fact and by law”

Lat Chat Contest Quiz Answers and Winners!

• A new pulp mill will be built in Jekabpils
• UNICEF (U.N.) issued a report about the deteriorating well-being of children
• Baltic presidentscalled for closer relations with Russia
• "Latvian Business Days" festival in Belarussia

• Controversy over the fate of 3,000 to 4,000 Soviet-era informer cards still filed away in Latvia
• The three Baltic states urge acceleration of EU and NATO memberships for themselves
• Latvia votes against Russian anti-U.S. ABM resolution at the U.N.; Yeltsin threatens U.S.

• Op-Ed—Vytautas Landesbergis writes about the Russian desire to carve out a post-Soviet sphere of influence including the Baltics
• CME International and Caterpillar Power Ventures are building a natural gas power plant in Liepaja
• Latvia is perceived as the most corrupt of the Baltic States in which to do business
• Lithuania and Latvia concluded a sea border treaty
• Latvia is reported as the country with the highest incidence of drug-resistant tuberculosis

• Sweeping WWII mines in the Baltics
• Changing the Latvian pension law
• After chill with NATO over Kosovo, Russians threaten further chill if Baltics join NATO
• "Peace Shield" military drills
• Soviets indicted in Latvia for war crimes
• Russians call indictments a “witch hunt,” threaten worsening relations with Latvia
• Skrunda early-warning radar station is closed
• Latvian President to meet with NATO

And... You Might Be a Latvian If... Part Deux

• Op-Ed—Serbs in Kosovo—Russians in Latvia
  –Aivars Slucis
• Op-Ed—Latvia Seeks to Reconcile the Past with a Multiethinic Future
  –Valdis Birkavs, Latvian Foreign Minister

“AOL Lat Chat” Contest Reminder

“AOL Lat Chat” Contest

• Russia complaints about the Baltics seeking to join NATO more widely reported
• Russia complains that citizenship for ex-Soviet military is restricted in Estonia

• Invitation to EU summit is expected
• Latvia/Hungary free trade agreement
• Anti-smuggling official shot
• Russian students prefer lessons in Russian
• Russians threaten yet again that Baltics joining NATO will seriously damage Western-Russian relations, suggest they are best choice as security guarantor
• President Vaira Vike-Freiberga's U.N. address

And... Indications you might be Latvian

• Baltics to Decrease Energy Dependence on Russia
• Latvia Seals Deal with IMF
• Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga in the U.S. 9/20 to 9/25

And... Things Latvian-Americans don't say

• New Yalta Conference
• North Atlantic Assembly Chairman in Riga

• Riga Bomb Blast
• Latvia Language Situation Improves
• Baltic Way 10th Anniversary

• Privatization Issues Impact Government
• "Y2K" at Lithuania's Chernobyl Style Nuclear Plant

• Russian human rights commissioner Oleg Mironov complains about Latvia
• U.S. backs up admission of several former Soviet republics (except Russia), to the World Trade Organisation

• Wild mushrooms contaminated with radiation from Chernobyl; contamination may be rising in certain species.