- No linkage on conventional arms
A high-ranking Czech defense officer says he will not relate NATO enlargement and the future members’ — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — joining an agreement on armed forces deployment.
- U.S. fighters over Vilnius
There is a possibility that the U.S. Air Force will be called to assistance to ensure the safety of President George Bush during his visit in Vilnius later this week.
- GraffitI-covered trains from Moscow
Anti-NATO slogans on Baltic-bound trains leaving Moscow on Nov. 17 could be the work of Russia’s extreme National Bolsheviks.
- Troops arrive in Afghanistan
Troops of Lithuania’s special forces have reached their deployment location in Bahram, some 50 kilometers from the capital Kabul, to participate in the U.S.-led anti-terrorist operation Enduring Freedom, the Defense Ministry said Nov. 19.
- Danes to host another conference
Denmark is to host a conference on the separatist Russian republic of Chechnya, less than a month after a similar meeting led to a major diplomatic row with Moscow, organizers said Nov. 19.
- COMMON BALTIC TIME NEXT YEAR
Clocks in all three Baltic states will be showing the same time throughout the year as a result of Lithuania’s decision on Nov. 6 to start changing to summer time beginning in spring 2003.
- LUZHKOV INVITES SAVISAAR
Coming on the heels of his visit to Latvia, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov congratulated Mayor of Tallinn Edgar Savisaar on his re-election and invited him to visit Moscow in the first half of the year.
- NEW PM SUED BY FORMER POLICEMAN
The deputy head of the Latvian Security Police, Didzis Smitins, has filed a suit in court against Einars Repse, Latvia’s newly appointed prime minister, who had accused Smitins of link to contraband during the pre-election period.
- PARLIAMENT ADOPTS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
On Nov. 12 Lithuania’s Seimas (parliament) adopted a long-term strategy for the country’s development which envisages the creation of a “model welfare state” based on the priorities of a knowledge-based society, safe community and competitive economy.
- PRODUCTION OF BALTIC CATASTROPHE
The sinking of the passenger liner Estonia is being turned into a movie.
- ESTONIA AMENDS CITIZENSHIP LAW
The Estonian government endorsed on Nov. 12 amendments to the citizenship law which allow people who were not eligible for citizenship and Estonian passports, but who were granted them due to officials’ mistakes about a decade ago, to keep them.
- More Grand Army discoveries
Lithuanian and French specialists examining the remains of Napoleon’s Grand Army, found in Vilnius, earlier this year said many of the soldiers were suffering from syphilis.
- Crackdown on illegals
Lithuania’s Migration Department and state police said they had started exercising stricter control on foreigners who stay in the country illegally.
- Returning to his roots
Brazilian Foreign Minister Ceslo Lafer, whose family originally comes from a small town in southeastern Lithuania, began a four-day visit to Vilnius Nov. 3, during which he will meet with top Lithuanian officials and make a speech at Vilnius University.
- Free and clear
Latvia’s State Revenue Service said it had found no conflict of interest in outgoing Prime Minister Andris Berzins’ summer yachting trip on a boat owned by a prominent Latvian company.
- Presidential power
Most Estonians favor giving more power to the president, according to a survey conducted by the Emor pollster in October.
- Savisaar returns
The Tallinn City Council re-elected Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar as mayor Nov. 1 after his party won the largest share of votes in last month’s municipal election.
- Hardship pay
Three Latvians who were among the more than 800 people taken hostage by Chechen rebels in Moscow last month will each receive 1,900 euros in compensation from the Russian government.
- Nuclear cleanup tender
Latvia’s Environment Ministry has announced a tender for decommissioning an experimental nuclear reactor and nuclear fuel and waste storage site in Salaspils, some 20 kilometers from Riga.
- HIV OUTBREAK
AIDS prevention activists in Latvia said nearly one-third of the country’s HIV-positive people are inmates in prisons.