Reading a recent report on your publication's Internet site, "Latvian police have arrested two more Britons during the past week," (Aug. 3), I cannot help but be dismayed by your paper's attitude toward my countrymen (and women).
This particular case of a U.K. national arrested in Latvia was, admittedly, far more serious than the ones you've been reporting in the past, as it involved the theft of a sizable sum of cash and documents. However, the cases that have typically made headlines in your publication show a gross oversensitivity to the actions of relatively innocent tourists who, I have to point out, contribute a great deal of revenue to the Latvian tourist economy.
It seems that every time a British national sneezes in the wrong direction or looks at anyone cross-eyed it makes national news over there in Latvia. Recent examples from the past few months, the above story being the exception, typically involve a few lads getting rowdy or not being able to find an officially sanctioned public toilet when they need one (hardly their own fault 's the Riga city government would be wise to make more of these available, especially during high tourist season).
Contrast this to what Latvians (and Lithuanians and Estonians) do in my country. Here there have been thefts, murders, cases of prostitution and drugs rings run by immigrants from the Baltic countries. A crime by any of them would have to be fairly serious, however, before the press raised an eyebrow. If the British press reported every time a Latvian urinated in public, we would likely be up to our knees in newsprint!
My advice to Latvians, and to The Baltic Times, is to get some perspective. Before you go about shouting how badly we Brits are "ruining" your country, consider what the Latvians are doing over here in the U.K. The crimes they're committed over here are far more grave and permanent. Nearly all of what the British have done in Riga, however, will wash away with the next rain.
