* News from Estonia

 Tallinn’s Christmas market gets holiday cheer sta...

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT: Santa’s waiting with all his temptations. ...TALLINN - Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar together with the dean of Tallinn Jaan Tammsal kicked off the Christmas season on Nov. 29 as they lit the first Advent candle on the Christmas tree in Town Hall Square. Savisaar proclaimed the Christmas Peace, reading the Christmas declaration from the window of the Town Hall to the townsfolk and visitors below on the square. This will be the 8th year the Christmas Market is being held in the square. As we reported last week, the on-line edition of the British daily The Times recently compiled a ‘top 20’ list of Europe’s best Ch... Full story...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Land deals land former minister in jail...

TALLINN - The former Minister of the Environment, Villu Reiljan, was accused of taking 1.5 million kroons (96,100 euros) in bribes to facilitate numerous land exchange deals. The second court hearing of the former minister’s case was held on Nov. 17. Under the judgement delivered, Reiljan received a conditional sentence of 2 years and 3 months in prison with a 3-year probation period. ...

 Nov 11, 2009 - International conference to discuss youth’s role i...

TALLINN - The future of Estonia, as well as for Europe, depends on its youth. It is for this reason that it is important to recognize young people, as well as to support and encourage them to put their potential to use. This is also to establish opportunities for an effective and mutually considerate collaboration between various social institutions, young people and youth work leaders. The aim ...

 Nov 04, 2009 - Men still on top in latest gender study...

TALLINN - According to the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report for 2009, women earn 40 percent less, on average, in comparison with men in doing the same job in Estonia. The latest statistics showed that Estonia ranks 98th for wage equality for similar work among 134 countries which were surveyed for the report. The report measures the size of the gap between women and men in five critical ...

 Oct 28, 2009 - Missing sub resurfaces after 90 years...

TALLINN - A British submarine which was lost in action over 90 years ago in the Baltic sea has just been found. The submarine HMS E18, taking part in an extraordinary naval operation authorized by Winston Churchill at the outbreak of the First World War never returned from a routine patrol in May 1916. As no one witnessed her sinking, no trace was ever found – until now. The submarine was one of...

 Oct 21, 2009 - Pharmacies face closure under new law...

TALLINN - According to a study by Faktum & Ariko, completed in September, the decision now under discussion in the Riigikogu, which would allow for the sale of pharmaceuticals, or medicines, in shops, supermarkets and department stores would endanger the business of 90 percent of district pharmacies, with only 3 percent able to manage the change effectively. Today district pharmacies are f...

 Dec 02, 2009 - Eesti in brief...

The Estonian infantry company ESTCOY-E, which was dispatched to provide security during the elections in Afghanistan, together with the logistical ...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Eesti in brief...

The feasibility study of a rail tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki could start next October, reports LETA. The necessary support from Europe has t...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Flu vaccine may arrive too lat...

TALLINN - According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonia is not expected to experience a high incidence of A/H1N1 swine flu this season. It i...

 Nov 11, 2009 - Eesti in brief...

Estonian Defense Forces commander-in-chief Ants Laaneots said that an Estonian-U.S. joint exercise will take place next summer, in the course of which...

 Nov 11, 2009 - Leaders challenged to improve ...

TALLINN - On Nov. 6, the conference ‘History and culture, united or separated’ took place in the conference hall of the National Library in Tallinn, w...

 Nov 04, 2009 - Eesti in brief...

At their meeting on Oct. 30, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros discussed the need to guarantee greater tran...

 Nov 04, 2009 - Regional chiefs meet to discus...

TALLINN - The heads of government of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries met in Stockholm on Oct. 26 to discuss issues including energy security, an...

NEWS FROM ESTONIA

* News from Latvia

 Protests mark dissatisfaction with next year’s bud...

DETENTION: Worried about a cut in funding for higher education and science next year, protesters too...RIGA - The start to this week was marked by the rallying cry of thousands of angry voices, protesting under a multitude of different banners, all in outcry over the anticipated Dec. 1 final budget vote by the Saeima. Several hundred representatives from trade unions and their supporters gathered on the morning of Dec. 1 at the entrance to the Saeima, many holding placards with messages such as ‘If A Hen Lays Golden Eggs, It Must Be Fed, Not Beaten,’ ‘Bring Godmanis To Court!’, ‘Latvia - Superpower of the Unemployed?’ and more. Some people waved flags. All... Full story...

 Dec 02, 2009 - A country more united, for those still here...

RIGA - In an interview on the apollo.lv news site on Aug. 25 this year, Prime Minister of Latvia Valdis Dombrovskis stated that the current policy executed by his government is not to try and stop people from leaving Latvia, but rather to encourage their ultimate return. Dombrovskis explained that it is unreasonable to expect people to stay in the country at a time of such high unemployment, an...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Smooth sailing ahead as major budget negotiations...

RIGA - The major decisions on the 2010 budget have been agreed, with any minor changes not expected to interfere with Saeima’s vote on the bill on Dec. 1, says Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (New Era), reports news agency LETA. The budget has been debated under a stiff negotiating position from the IMF-led coalition of the willing international lenders, leaving the government little ch...

 Nov 11, 2009 - Children’s Hospital officials nabbed in corruption...

RIGA - In what seems like a page torn out of a Charles Dickens novel, Children’s Clinical University Hospital administrative manager Aivars Lisenko and board member and procurement committee member Arnis Kramzaks were arrested on Nov. 3 on charges of misuse of power, taking and giving bribes, document forgery and fraud in connection with a construction contract with the state-owned children’s hosp...

 Nov 04, 2009 - Report claiming Latvia lacks savings’culture flawe...

RIGA - Research conducted by GFK Custom Research and commanded by GE Money Bank reveal that 44 percent of Latvians are unable ‘to give up spending in favor of their financial stability,’ a press release on the bank’s Web site reads. This inability to save is attributed to an inability to give something up – 22 percent of respondents mentioned a lack of self-discipline in this regard and 17 percent...

 Oct 28, 2009 - On the dole: Latvians work on the unemployment blu...

RIGA - Adversity sometimes brings out the best in people – and these are far from easy times in Latvia. The can-do spirit is epitomized by Signe Senfelde, a journalist who found a creative solution to being out of work. Senfelde was the editor of Labu apetiti (Bon Appetite), a popular gourmet magazine, until the publisher closed it down in January in a round of cost cutting and she found hersel...

 Dec 02, 2009 - Latvija in brief...

In protest against developments in Latvia, a man has started a hunger strike at the Cabinet of Ministers’ building, reports LETA. The middle-...

 Dec 02, 2009 - City council member hurt in il...

RIGA - Chairman of the Harmony Center faction in the Riga City Council Nikolajs Zaharovs (Harmony Center) was seriously wounded while hunting in Je...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Latvija in brief...

In a slap to the face the people of Riga, City Council members have decided to give permission for commercial development along the right bank of t...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Stability is key for today wea...

RIGA - The current unemployment level in Latvia is around 13 percent, according to recent data from the State Employment Agency. Numbers are higher...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Proposed law to limit mortgage...

RIGA - Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority said there is no need to worry that a proposed Latvian law that would put a limit on a mortga...

 Nov 11, 2009 - Latvija in brief...

Russia’s recent military exercises in Belarus, near the borders of the Baltic states, simulated a ground and nuclear attack on Poland, according to se...

 Nov 11, 2009 - Voters not fazed by sleazy rep...

RIGA - Ventspils Mayor Aivars Lembergs’ return to lead the Union of Greens and Farmers’ (ZZS) charge in the run for the prime minister’s office in nex...

NEWS FROM LATVIA

* News from Lithuania

 Reaction to the new EC portfolio

THE CHIEF OF THE EU TRIBE: On Nov. 27, Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EC, held his press conf...VILNIUS - On Nov. 27, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso unveiled the EU executive’s new line-up during his press conference in Brussels. Good news for the Balts - Barroso handed the key portfolio of economic and monetary affairs to Finland’s Olli Rehn. Lithuania’s Algirdas Semeta got a less important portfolio than in the previous Barroso-led commission. The most influential Balt in the new EC will be Estonia’s Siim Kallas, who will be commissioner for transport issues - it could mean the resurrection of the Rail Baltica project. Latvia’s Andr... Full story...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Outrage over crime against a dog...

VILNIUS - On Nov. 14, 22-year old Svajunas Beniukas threw a middle-sized mongrel dog off a 20-meter high bridge. On Nov. 16, footage of the act was placed on the Web site www.15min.lt and later on YouTube. Many outraged foreign animal lovers were calling to Lithuanian embassies in the Netherlands, Germany, the U.S., and other countries. The story attracted huge interest in the Lithuanian media ...

 Nov 11, 2009 - Kaunas’ most colorful son buried...

VILNIUS - On Nov. 5, Shabtai Kalmanovich was buried near the graves of his mother and father in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv. He was probably the most controversial Lithuanian. On Nov. 2, during rush-hour at 5 p.m., this 61-year-old Kaunas-born multi-millionaire businessman and former Israel-convicted KGB spy was shot dead in central Moscow, close to headquarters of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir P...

 Nov 04, 2009 - 70th anniversary of reclaiming Vilnius...

VILNIUS - On Oct. 28, Lithuania celebrated the 70th anniversary of regaining its capital city Vilnius. Some of these celebrations were official, while some of the youth showed their joy in a quite spontaneous demonstration via the Old Town of Lithuania’s ancient capital. The celebration was rather modest because soon after regaining its capital in 1939, Lithuania lost its independence in 1940. ...

 Oct 28, 2009 - Passions aroused over CIA prison...

VILNIUS - A frightful hobgoblin stalks throughout Lithuania. Lithuanians are haunted by the ghost of the alleged CIA prison for al Qaeda members. Those passions over the prison were fueled by statements by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. On Oct. 15, Grybauskaite rejected the idea of taking prisoners from Guantanamo. “There will be no decision on this issue until the shadow of the alleg...

 Oct 21, 2009 - Old new Lithuanian commissioner...

VILNIUS - On Oct. 15, the Lithuanian parliament confirmed the candidacy of Algirdas Semeta to occupy a post in the European Commission. The decision was approved by the votes of the ruling center-right majority in the parliament - 64 MPs supported his candidacy and 28 MPs voted against, while 21 MPs abstained. Semeta will be kind of an old new commissioner because, since July, he has been working...

 Dec 02, 2009 - Lietuva in brief...

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius says the government is “ready to commit” to increase old-age pensions after the current hard times, rep...

 Dec 02, 2009 - Taxation of a Permanent Establ...

ECOVIS Miškinis, Kvainauskas ir partneriai advokatų kontora, Pylimo g. 6, Vilnius Tel. 8 5 2124084; fax: 8 5 2122741 According to the...

 Dec 02, 2009 - Paulauskas calls for people to...

VILNIUS - Leader of the New Union Arturas Paulauskas has initiated calls for a protest rally against cutbacks in pensions and, as he says, the impo...

 Dec 02, 2009 - Defending animals against hum...

VILNIUS - On Nov. 26, about 50 people demonstrated in front of the Lithuanian parliament demanding an increase in penalties for cruelty against ani...

 Nov 25, 2009 - GAMBLING LEGISLATION PROSPECTS...

ECOVIS Miškinis, Kvainauskas ir partneriai advokatų kontora Pylimo g. 6, Vilnius Tel. 8 5 2124084; fax: 8 5 2122741 Over the last f...

 Nov 25, 2009 - Lietuva in brief...

Sweden has changed its defense policy and would intervene militarily to help its Nordic neighbors and the Baltic states, reports LETA. There is a S...

 Nov 25, 2009 - The first deaths arrive from s...

VILNIUS - On Nov. 18, Lithuanian Health Care Minister Algis Caplikas announced the first victim of swine flu, which is known as the H1N1 virus. A 1...

NEWS FROM LITHUANIA