This issue:

 News from Lithuania

* Seimas revises “minor protection” law

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania, TOP NEWS Dec 23, 2009

VILNIUS — The Lithuanian parliament agreed on Tuesday to change the wording in a controversial bill intending to protect minors and has removed any references to homosexuality. The new wording bans any kind of public discussion, in or out of schools, that encourages children to engage in sexual intercourse. Formerly, it had banned any discussion that [...]

* Lithuania confirms CIA prison

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania, TOP NEWS Dec 22, 2009

VILNIUS — Lithuania hosted two CIA prisons, dating back to as early as 2002, a parliamentary panel concluded in a report issued on Tuesday. The landmark report conclusively links Lithuania to the CIA after months of speculation. Specifically, the report concludes that upper administrators in the VSD, Lithuania’s State Security Department, were responsible for implementing the [...]

* Chinese ambassador’s car torched

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania Dec 18, 2009

VILNIUS — A car registered to the Chinese ambassador to Lithuania was set ablaze Thursday evening in the Žvėrynas neighborhood of Vilnius. The car was a 2003 Volkswagen Passat and belonged to the Chinese embassy. It was registered to Ambassador Tong Mingtao. Pictures of the incident show firefighters watering down a smoldering blue car with broken windows. [...]

* Russian plane violates Lithuanian airspace

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania Dec 18, 2009

VILNIUS — A Russian aircraft briefly violated Lithuanian airspace shortly after noon on Thursday near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. According to the Ministry of Defense, the aircraft was a non-military An26 aircraft registered in Russia. It was in Lithuanian airspace for about two minutes over the Šilutė district, and went about two kilometers in. The air violation “seemed [...]

* Kaunas police fatally run over another pedestrian

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania Dec 17, 2009

KAUNAS, Lithuania — A Kaunas police officer fatally struck a man in a vehicular accident on Wednesday evening, the second incident of its kind this month. The officer, whose initials are R.Š., was off duty and driving his own car, a Citroen Xsara Picasso. Lina Nemeikaitė, spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Police Department, said the officer hit [...]

* Man with guns, explosives stockpile arrested

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania Dec 17, 2009

VILNIUS — An organized crime unit of the Lithuanian Police Department arrested a man on Monday after he was found to be holding a large cache of weapons and explosives in his basement. The man, whose initials are A.V.B., is a Soviet military veteran. He had at least three rifles, one with optical sight, two small [...]

* House fire claims 3 lives

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania Dec 17, 2009

VILNIUS — A family of three was killed in a house fire late Wednesday evening in Valkininkiai, located near Alytus. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The members of the family include a 68-year-old father, 57-year-old mother and 31-year-old daughter. Firefighters extinguished the fire shortly after midnight on Thursday morning. No other buildings were [...]

* EU Gender Institute opens in Vilnius

Written by Nathan Greenhalgh Lithuania, TOP NEWS Dec 17, 2009

VILNIUS — The European Union Gender Institute officially opened in Vilnius Wednesday, although it is not yet fully staffed. The EU government agency will collect and analyze information on gender issues from across Europe to use in determining policy. This is the first EU agency to be located in Lithuania and only the second to be [...]

* Another dismissal for CIA involvement?

Written by Kevin Dugan Lithuania, TOP NEWS Dec 16, 2009

VILNIUS — The Lithuanian government continued its house cleaning of employees allegedly involved in allowing the CIA to host a secret prison within the Baltic state’s borders. President Dalia Grybauskaitė announced on Wednesday that she is recalling the ambassadorship of Mečys Laurinkus, currently serving as the Lithuanian ambassador to Georgia. Sources throughout the government said that [...]

* Presidents echo prime ministers

Written by Nathan Greenhalgh Lithuania Dec 16, 2009

VILNIUS — Wednesday’s meeting of the Baltic state presidents did not yield any groundbreaking announcements. Instead the public statements made the heads of state echoed those of the Baltic prime ministers when they met in Vilnius in November — that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will continue to strive for energy independence from their old imperial master, [...]

- News from Latvia

* Dombrovskis: ‘we will just go bankrupt’

Written by James Dahl Latvia, TOP NEWS Dec 24, 2009

RIGA — The Constitutional Court’s ruling Monday that the decision by Latvia’s government earlier this year to lower pensions had violated the Satversme will, at the very least, force a new round of talks with international lenders and could trigger a new wave of political instability. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis suggested the spirit of the decision [...]

* Russia pledges to ease inspections on Latvian trucks

Written by Nathan Greenhalgh Latvia Dec 22, 2009

RIGA — Latvia’s foreign minister Maris Riekstins announced Tuesday that he received a promise from the Russian Customs Service that the inspections of Latvian semi trucks will be eased. The unwarned implementation of the inspections last week created major backups along the Latvian-Russian border as hundreds of lorries were forced to sit in sub-zero weather for [...]

* Swine flu kills 7 more, but spread slows

Written by Adam Mullett Latvia Dec 22, 2009

RIGA — Seven more people have died from swine flu in Latvia, the country’s Infectious Diseases Center reported, taking the total to 24 deaths. Two of the last week’s deaths were in Riga with two women aged 51 and 32 dying from the virus. One 46-year-old woman and four men aged 51, 58, 50 and 41 [...]

* Pension cuts ruled unconstitutional

Written by Nathan Greenhalgh Latvia Dec 21, 2009

RIGA — Latvia’s 2010 national budget, a painful mixture of tax hikes and benefit cuts, may need to be redone after the country’s Constitutional Court declared pension payment reductions unconstitutional. The court determined Monday that the reduction of payments by 10 percent for retired pensioners and 70 percent for employed pensioners violated Latvian citizens’ constitutionally-guaranteed right [...]

* Truck lines on border lengthen

Written by James Dahl Latvia, TOP NEWS Dec 21, 2009

RIGA — The lines of trucks at the two border crossings on the Latvian-Russian border have increased over the weekend and that together there were over 1,600 trucks in Latvia waiting to enter Russia. State Border Guard officials have informed that as of Monday morning some 1,100 trucks were lined up at the Terehovo crossing, while [...]

* How much gray will Latvia see?

Written by James Dahl Latvia Dec 17, 2009

RIGA — A curious debate has arisen as to the approximate size of the gray economy in Latvia — a question that has significant implications not only for measuring gross domestic product but for gauging the size of losses in unpaid taxes. Estimates vary widely, with government experts saying the unofficial economy amounts to 16 percent [...]

* Dombrovskis defends deal with IMF

Written by James Dahl Latvia Dec 16, 2009

RIGA — Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has come out in defense of the memorandum the government signed with the International Monetary Fund in order to dispel the “systematic lies” spread about the document — a clear jab at the People’s Party. The Wednesday statement came a day after the People’s Party lashed out at the memorandum, [...]

* Semi truck backup on Russian border

Written by Nathan Greenhalgh Latvia Dec 16, 2009

RIGA — Hundreds of semi trucks are backed up on the Latvian-Russian border Wednesday after Russian officials implemented stricter inspections overnight. The Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported that Russian authorities are accusing Latvian truckers of not paying taxes and violating customs laws. The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has contacted the Russian State Department, arguing [...]

* Šlesers wants PM job by February

Written by Adam Mullett Latvia, TOP NEWS Dec 15, 2009

RIGA — Deputy Mayor of Riga Ainārs Šlesers signaled his intent on Tuesday to take control of the country within 10 weeks by forming a new government as he calls for the current Cabinet to resign next month. Should the move go forward, Šlesers’ party, Latvia’s First Party/Latvia’s Way would join fellow opposition party Harmony Center [...]

* Tent protesters unrelenting after 11 days

Written by James Dahl Latvia, TOP NEWS Dec 11, 2009

RIGA — The small group of protesters outside Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers showed no sign of packing their tents and going home, and even appeared buoyed by the return of one of their ranks on Friday — a man who had fallen ill and required emergency medical attention. The LETA agency reported that the 57-year-old patient, [...]

- News from Estonia

* Estonia faces toughest challenge to cut emissions

Written by Kevin Dugan Estonia Dec 23, 2009

TALLINN — Despite their similarities and geographic proximity, the three Baltic states will go down three very different roads in order to meet the EU’s climate change agreement made in Copenhagen last week. The United Nations Climate Change Conference concluded last Friday in Copenhagen, yielding neither a substantial victory or a crushing blow to environmental activists. [...]

* Freedom monument fix-up flops

Written by Kai Joost Estonia Dec 22, 2009

TALLINN — Tallinn’s War of Independence Victory Column, beset with technical problems ever since it was unveiled in June, will remain unlit as a Czech company renovating it have proved unable to fix the lighting. The Estonian Ministry of Defense dropped the contract, canceling a payment of 5.3 million krooni (€338,000) with the Czech company [...]

* Bumbling counterfeiters caught

Written by Kai Joost Estonia Dec 21, 2009

TALLINN — Five amateur counterfeiters who made 8,500 krooni (€543) on their home printer and used it to buy a car have been apprehended by police. The five criminals printed the 500 krooni notes on a standard home printer available from shops. On Dec. 8 and 9, the Northern Police Prefecture Office of Economic Crimes captured the [...]

* Pihl remains party leader

Written by Kai Joost Estonia Dec 21, 2009

TALLINN — Jüri Pihl will stay on as the leader of the Social Democratic Party even after falsely accusing the prime minister and two other Cabinet members of treason. Party members gathered Friday evening to hear Pihl’s explanations for the accusations that the prime minister and two other ministers may have committed treason. At the meeting Pihl [...]

* Social Dems demand explanation from Pihl

Written by Kai Joost Estonia, TOP NEWS Dec 18, 2009

TALLINN — Social Democratic Party members will gather Friday evening to hear their leader Jüri Pihl explain his accusation that the prime minister and two other ministers may have committed treason. Pihls statement to country’s Security Police Board, released to the public on Thursday, has developed into a national political scandal resulting in resentment even among [...]

* Tallinn approves 2010 budget

Written by Kai Joost Estonia Dec 18, 2009

TALLINN — Tallinn’s municipal government passed its 2010 budget in the wee hours of Friday morning after 12 hours of discussions, ending up with a 105 million krooni (€6.7 million) in an illusory surplus achieved with more than three times that amount in loans. The city’s 2010 budget, which stirred protests by establishing a sales and [...]

* Switch to digital health service stalls

Written by Kai Joost Estonia Dec 17, 2009

TALLINN — Estonians will be able to set up appointments and doctors can prescribe medicine online in 2010 as part of an EU-funded e-health project, but the system has hit some snags. The system, developed by the Estonian e-Health Foundation, simplifies the patient’s registration process for doctor appointments and makes medicine shopping easier. The cross-country e-registration [...]

* Bank robbery in Tallinn

Written by Kai Joost Estonia Dec 17, 2009

TALLINN — A SEB branch office was robbed Wednesday evening in Tallinn by a male assailant, whoever police are revealing little details. On Wednesday evening an unknown man entered the SEB bank in Priisle branch and threatened the personnel with an object that resembled a weapon. No one was hurt in the incident, however the [...]

* Social Democrat head accuses PM of treason

Written by Kai Joost Estonia, TOP NEWS Dec 16, 2009

TALLINN — In a move unprecedented in post-independence Estonian politics, Jüri Pihl, leader of Social Democratic Party requested that the country’s Security Police Board initiate a criminal investigation against the prime minister and two other top ministers for treason. Jüri Pihl made a statement to the Security Police Board on Dec. 2 that he suspects Prime [...]

* Estonian soldier killed in Afghanistan

Written by Nathan Greenhalgh Estonia Dec 16, 2009

TALLINN — An Estonian soldier was killed by an IED road bomb in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force announced. Junior Sergeant Kristjan Jalakas is the eighth Estonian to give his life trying to defeat the Taliban and restore democratic government to Afghanistan. Estonia has slightly less than 300 military personnel serving in [...]

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