Baltics in Brief

FARMERS WON'T BACK EU: A decision was made during the Bauska Farmers
Union conference on June 17 not to back Latvia's accession to the EU,
Rudite Jaunzeme, head of the union, said. Jaunzeme noted that the
farmers agreed to oppose Latvia's accession to the EU until rural
residents are provided with a normal life and subsistence level.
Farmers from Bauska, Dobele, Jelgava, Riga, Liepaja, Cesis and
Jekabpils districts took part in the conference. The farmers will
inform the president and Parliament about their decision.

POWER ALMOST BACK: Power supply was almost completely restored in
Latvian Latgale province June 19 following a storm June 12.
Electricity supply to the Ludza district was fully restored on June
18, Rita Gaidule, spokeswoman for the Eastern Grid of the state
joint-stock power utility Latvenergo, said. Thirty-two Eastern Grid
customers were still waiting for electricity June 19 while the
Eastern Grid estimated the total losses because of the damage done by
the storm.

50 MILLION CONFISCATED: German law enforcement institutions have
detained 22 persons, who are being charged with large-scale
contraband of cigarettes from Latvia, the Latvian daily newspaper
Diena reported June 19, quoting the German newspapers Sudwest Press
and Sudkurier. The 22 were detained through cooperation efforts
between several European police forces. Fifty million cigarettes were
confiscated, as well as several vehicles and various technical
equipment.

NEW RUSSIAN SPEAKING PARTY IN ESTONIA: The Russian Baltic Party in
Estonia held its founding congress in Tallinn on June 11 hoping to
unite interest groups and politicians split between different parties
to become an equal partner with Estonian parties. The new party must
become an open organization of a clear ideology, different from the
existing, splintered groups with corporate interests, an initiator of
the new party, member of parliament and the Tallinn City Council
Sergei Ivanov said. The Russian Baltic Party in Estonia intends to
rely on round-table discussions as its main method of activity, thus
rejecting all external influences, be they from Russia or the West,
Ivanov said.

JUSTIFIES CLAIMS: Prime ministers of the Baltic countries, meeting in
Parnu, Estonia, on June 9 for a session of the Baltic Council of
Ministers, justified claims of compensation from Russia. They said
such claims were justified, because Russia was the legal successor of
the Soviet Union, which occupied Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in
1940, and praised a recent decision by the Lithuanian parliament to
start talks over the compensation. Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar
said after the Baltic heads of government meeting that he was in
favor of the idea of speaking about the compensation of damages
caused during the occupation, and as chairman of the Pro Patria Union
he had spoken about it with Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius
Kubilius.

ID FOR CALLING: To clip the wings of makers of bomb threats, the
Estonian Interior Ministry plans to push through the idea that
pre-paid mobile telephone cards be in future sold only upon
presentation of identification. Interior Minister Tarmo Loodus said
the idea is as yet being thrashed out in brainstorming sessions, but
that its implementation is seen to be of great benefit in combating a
recent rash of bomb threats, the daily Postimees reports.

LIBERAL BLOC BROADEN: A conference of four Lithuanian parties - New,
Center and Liberal Unions, and Modern Christian Democratic Union -
convoked at Lake Bebrusas June 18 to discuss partnership in an
informal electoral bloc, preparation for "new policy" conference and
program issues. Vytautas Bogusis, the leader of Modern Christian
Democratic Union which joined the cluster, said the influential
chairman of Liberal Union, Rolandas Paksas, declared on June 16 he
favored much the accession of Christian Democrats to an
earlier-formed coalition of Liberals, Centrists and New Union.

PARLIAMENT ABORTED BILL: A populist motion of Lithuania's New Union
(Social Liberals) to re-distribute this year's budget to disadvantage
of the national defense system suffered a fiasco in Parliament June
8, with PM Andrius Kubilius recommending the newcomer and popular
Union to participate in electoral campaigns with responsibility in
future. The Parliament voted down the Union-penned draft amendment to
the 2000 budget law which curtailed defense allocations by almost 148
million litas ($37.5 million) in order to bolster the fund's stripped
education sector. This anti-defense campaign of Social Liberals
garnered support from nearly 100,000 citizens.